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In the last few months, Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt has continued to make promising progress in his recovery from a broken leg. This has created a significant amount of buzz around the franchise concerning what Watt can bring to the table at this point of his career as he has voiced that he believes can return to the form that helped earn three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
According to Peter King of NBC Sports, head coach Bill O'Brien added to that buzz as he stated that the 29-year-old is playing in that manner on the practice field.
“Those ’14 and ’15 seasons were arguably two of the best seasons any player at any position has ever had,” said coach Bill O’Brien. “I remember we’re playing Baltimore in ’14, and they’re driving, and it’s late, and our guys are just exhausted. I remember J.J. looked over at me and basically said, If you give me a timeout here, I’ll get to Flacco. So I call time. We get a breather. That next play, J.J. strip-sacks Flacco. Game over. We win.”
O’Brien, in a break after a training camp practice, paused. “That’s what I’m seeing now, this summer. That’s the kind of play I’m seeing from him. There’s no reason he can’t do it again.”
This is quite promising given what he has experienced over the last two seasons missing a significant chunk of games missing 24 contests due to injuries as he played in only five appearances in the 2017 campaign. It has been a frustrating last couple of years that has drawn questions about whether his best days are behind him.
It is an opportunity for him to prove that he's finally past his previous injuries to showcase that he's still the same caliber of player. Watt has performed at a Hall of Fame level that saw him notching double-digit sacks in four straight years that include posting at least 17.5 three times while being the first to have multiple 20-sack campaigns.
Simply put, the table is set for him to demonstrate that he still has plenty left in the tank to play at an elite level.
