Houston Texans star J.J. Watt suffered a torn pectoral injury Sunday against the Oakland Raiders and will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Monday that "Watt will have surgery in the middle of this week to repair a torn pec that ended his season, source said. He’s looking at a recovery time of four months or so, which puts him ready in plenty of time for OTAs and minicamp."
Watt confirmed the injury on Twitter after the 27-24 win: "This game can be beautiful and it can also be brutal. Absolutely gutted that I won't be able to finish the season with my guys and give the fans what they deserve. I truly love this game and can't stand letting you guys down. Thank you for all of the thoughts & well-wishes."
Nobody questions how good Watt is when he's healthy. He finished with 61 combined tackles, 16 sacks and 18 tackles for loss in 2018 en route to his fifth Pro Bowl and fifth first-team All-Pro honor.
However, injuries limited him to eight games between 2016 and 2017. He underwent season-ending back surgery in September 2016 and suffered a tibial plateau fracture in October 2017.
While the problems weren't related, there was a question of whether they foreshadowed a general decline for Watt in the years ahead.
His performance upon his return seemingly put that doubt to bed for the time being.
Watt is by far Houston's best defensive player. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the No. 33 player overall and No. 6 edge defender coming into the 2019 campaign.
He had three tackles for loss and four sacks through seven games entering Sunday.
Led by Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins, the Texans have the framework for a dynamic offense—albeit one that fell short of expectations in 2018. Since the defense will inevitably take a step backward without Watt, it will be up to the offense to shoulder the load the rest of the season.
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