Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will miss significant time for the third time in four years.
Watt tore a pectoral muscle tackling Raiders running back Josh Jacobs for a 6-yard loss in the second quarter Sunday. He underwent surgery Tuesday.
“Everything went smooth,” Watt wrote on social media, sharing a photograph of himself in a sling at his hospital bed and wearing an Astros baseball cap with an Astros jersey hanging in the background. “Thank you for all of the kind words. If I tweet anything crazy during the Stros game tonight, just blame it on the pain meds.”
Watt expects a full recovery in time for the 2020 season.
He played all 16 games last season. But the three-time defensive player of the year played three games in 2016 before needing a second back surgery and only five games in 2017 before a tibial plateau fracture in his left leg required surgery.
That means, by the end of this season, he will have played only 32 of a possible 64 games over four seasons.