Houston Texans star J.J. Watt suffered a tibial plateau fracture on Sunday night, but if you don’t know what that is you’re not alone.
The Houston Texans will be without star defensive end J.J. Watt for at least the next six weeks after an injury he suffered on Sunday night. Watt fractured his tibial plateau and needed to be carted off the field before eventually being taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
If you don’t know what a tibial plateau fracture is, you’re not alone.
Here’s an official explanation:
"A tibial plateau fracture is a bone fracture or break in the continuity of the bone occurring in the proximal part of the tibiaor shinbone called the tibial plateau; affecting the knee joint, stability and motion."
To put that in simple terms, it’s a layer of bone above the shin where the thigh bone rests. It’s a big part of the knee’s function and is one of those things you don’t really think about until it becomes a problem.
How big of a problem a fracture is really depends on the degree of the fracture. There’s a chance Watt comes back in six weeks but it could be longer. If he can put pressure on the knee and feels no pain, he’s good to go. As we saw in Watt’s reaction, you know when you can’t put pressure on your knee so you’ll know when it’s recovered enough to return to action.
There’s no need to rush Watt back from his injury. Houston will be competing for the AFC South title this year, and the team needs Watt healthy later in the year. It will be hard to move on without him but it’s better to wait and have him for the playoffs than rush him back and risk further injury.