Texans defensive end J.J. Watt sent out a tweet featuring a picture of himself on the field captioned “Soon” on Wednesday, a few days after coach Bill O’Brien said that he thought Watt would be back “sooner than later” from the back surgery that has kept him out of action this summer.
O’Brien’s answer was a more optimistic one than his previous one, which indicated that there was a chance that Watt would miss the first two weeks of the regular season while continuing to recover from the surgery. Things are continuing to look up on the Watt return front.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Watt expects to return to practice next week, which would seem to make the odds that he’ll play in the first two weeks of the regular season more likely. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle quotes a source that says “it wouldn’t be a surprise” if Watt is able to play in Week One.
Watt could still be held to a limited number of plays if he’s back for the first weeks of the season, but a little Watt is far better than no Watt for a team that counts him as their best overall player.