The Houston Texans fell behind the Oakland Raiders in the first half of their Week 8 matchup. It appears they will have to try and secure the comeback without defensive end J.J. Watt.
According to ESPN's Sarah Barshop, Watt has been ruled out the rest of the game with a shoulder injury:
J.J. Watt has been ruled OUT with a shoulder injury.
Watt's injury undoubtedly deals a significant blow to this Texans' defense. He came into Week 8 leading the NFL in quarterback hits by a rather significant margin (16). They will now need to find a way to pressure quarterback Derek Carr without their best pass rusher and defensive captain.
Although the severity of the injury has yet to be determined, it had to be quite significant in order to keep someone as tough as Watt from coming back into the game.
Regardless, it is safe to say that Houston may be proceeding with caution when it comes to the veteran's health given his track record with injuries in recent years.
Watt's absence will leave a notable void in the Texans' defense to finish out their matchup with the Raiders. Quarterback Derek Carr has already had his way with their porous secondary early on and there are no signs of him slowing down any time soon.
While the offense is more than capable of keeping up in a shootout behind quarterback Deshaun Watson, they will need their depth on the edge to come up big at some point in order to help potentially secure a win.
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