J.J. Watt is intent on playing Week 1
By Cody Rivera
J.J. Watt doesn’t see anything holding him back from taking the field against the Patriots in Week 1, which will be huge for the Texans.
Fans of the Houston Texans will be plenty pleased with how J.J. Watt feels about his chances of playing against the New England Patriots in Week 1. He’s pretty positive that he’ll be on the field at Gillette Stadium.
When asked about it by reporters, Watt gave a pretty simple answer.
“Oh yeah, I mean, there’s no doubt,” Watt said, according to the official Houston Texans website.
The Texans suffered devastating injuries to a few of their biggest stars, including quarterback Deshaun Watson, who tore his ACL in practice and missed the entire second half of his rookie season. As for Watt, he’s had a handful of different issues over the last few seasons; most recently, he suffered a broken leg last season that caused him to miss 11 games. In 2016, he only appeared in three games due to a back injury.
Widely considered to be the face of the Texans as a whole, but most definitely of their defense, it’s been tough for the fans to see Watt miss so much time. But there’s no doubt nothing would make them happier than seeing Watt take the field and face Tom Brady to kick off the 2018 season.
Watt himself doesn’t see anything holding him back from making that happen. The Texans will definitely need him if they hope to knock off the Patriots at home. If he’s 100 percent, they will have a chance to give Brady’s offense some trouble.
“I feel great” he said. “I love being on the field. I’ve had great work out here. I’m just controlling what I can control.”
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Having Watt back will not only be exciting for the fans, but it will provide a huge boost to a Texans defense that ranked 20th in the league, allowing 346.6 yards per game, as well as 23rd in sacks with 32. Houston missed the playoffs last season, but having a healthy Watt and a healthy Watson for a full season can turn that around.