The Arizona Cardinals had a rough end to the regular season. But now they get a chance at a clean slate as we enter the NFL playoffs. One huge reason for optimism is the looming return of star defensive end JJ Watt.
The obvious hurdle for JJ Watt was to see how he looked in practice. On Thursday, the Cardinals had him run through practice, albeit doing so “very limited” to determine his playing status.
Kliff Kingsbury said JJ Watt was “very limited” today at practice. “We wanted to get him back out doing some functional football exercises, and that was the step today.”
Looks like everything's gone according to plan since then for the Cardinals star. NFL insider Ian Rapaport reported that all signs point to JJ Watt being available for their Wild Card round matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
No issues at all for #AZCardinals DL JJ Watt after yesterday’s practice, which went very well. He’s trending toward playing.
Watt himself vowed that he'd do whatever it takes to be there on the field for his teammates.
“If there is an opportunity to get back on the field and to be with your guys and to win football games you’re going to do whatever physically possible to do that.”
The Cardinals looked like a serious threat during the first half of the NFL season, ripping off seven straight wins to open the season. Coincidentally, those seven games were all the ones JJ Watt was able to play in. They've gone 4-6 since then.
While missing JJ Watt isn't the only reason for their struggles, Cardinals fans can't deny they've missed his presence and are happy to have him back just in time for their playoff run.