J.J. Watt Injury: Updates on Texans Star's Back and Return

Houston Texans superstar J.J. Watt had surgery on a disc issue in his back that will sideline him for the rest of the season, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Continue for updates. 

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Watt Will Not Return This Season

Friday, Sept. 30

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien confirmed Watt would miss the rest of the season after undergoing back surgery, per ESPN's Sarah Barshop. 

The Texans announced they placed Watt on injured reserve on Wednesday, after Rapoport reported Tuesday, citing sources, that Watt "re-injured his back and is expected to be out for an extended period of time. Could be the season."

Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported Wednesday that the Texans are concerned with Watt's ability to play in the NFL in the long term.

ESPN's Ed Werder cited a source who said Watt is probably not going to play again this season, adding he was never 100 percent following offseason back and groin surgeries.

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Watt Comments on Injury

Wednesday, Sept. 28

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O'Brien Comments on Watt's Injury

Wednesday, Sept. 28

"This decision is made in the best interest of J.J.'s long-term health." Texans head coach Bill O'Brien said, per Rapoport.

"You can never replace the best player in [the NFL]," O'Brien continued, per Rapoport. "At the same time, this is a team. We got a lot of good players."

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Watt Is Irreplaceable Player for Texans D

Watt underwent surgery on a herniated disk in June, which landed him on the physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp, but it didn't prevent him from suiting up in the Texans' first three games. With that said, he was noticeably limited, racking up just eight total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Watt, 27, remains perhaps the best player in football. In fact, Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus made that argument heading into the 2016 season:

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Watt has the ability to go down as the greatest defensive player the game has ever seen, and only longevity can secure that title at this point. In terms of a run of elite play, he has already been as good as anybody, and certainly better than anybody during the PFF era (since 2007).

As if it needed to be pointed out, Watt is the best and most dominant player in football right now. With 90 total pressures, he led the league in 2015 despite battling through an injured hand and groin, also leading the NFL with a ridiculous 119 pressures the season before. Over that timespan, he also batted down 18 passes and has been a monster in the run game. He has been so good that the Texans have been able to transition him into almost a true edge rusher—at 290 pounds. Aaron Donald came frighteningly close to matching Watt’s levels of play, and actually surpassed him in terms of 2015 season alone, but Watt has been doing this for four straight seasons now, and that proven consistency means he tops this list.

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In other words, Watt is irreplaceable for the Texans, and his dominance is truly unique.

Rapoport spoke about players who may be tasked with filling the vacancy while Watt is out:

Last season, despite his hand and groin injuries, Watt still led the NFL with 17.5 sacks, adding 76 tackles, eight pass deflections, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

What kind of generational talent is Watt?

In 2014, he scored four touchdowns, three of them as a receiver. Yes, Watt is even a weapon in the passing game by the goal line. There aren't many other dominant defensive linemen, if any, who are also capable of snagging multiple touchdown passes.

In his first five seasons, Watt accumulated 74.5 sacks. At his current rate of 14.9 sacks per season, he would surpass all-time sacks leader Bruce Smith in his 14th NFL campaign. Smith played 19 seasons.

But injuries are becoming a concern. Along with his aforementioned ailments, he also had surgery earlier in the offseason for a sports hernia.

In Watt's absence, Devon Still, Christian Covington and Joel Heath will likely rotate at the two defensive end positions for Houston.

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