Next man up is a popular answer for coaches to give when asked about losing players to injuries and there will be a need to find people to plug into the Texans defensive line now that J.J. Watt has been placed on injured reserve, but coach Bill O’Brien didn’t bother saying that it would be as simple as just moving someone up a rung on the depth chart.
O’Brien said Wednesday that filling the hole that Watt’s absence leaves in the offense will be a task for all of the players on the defense.
“You can never replace the best defensive player in the NFL, but this is a team,” O’Brien said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
O’Brien said that Watt did everything he could do to get back from his offseason back surgery and “followed doctors’ orders” when it came to returning to the field. He added that he doesn’t know if Watt will need more surgery, something that will be sorted out while the Texans sort out how to deploy their defense without the player that’s led it for most of his time in Houston.