Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, Sept. 28, after he re-injured his back.
According to NFL.com, Watt re-injured his back in week 3 against the New England Patriots. He will be out for at least eight weeks and could possibly miss the rest of the season. He hasn’t missed a game in his six-year career except for in the preseason when he needed to have surgery to repair a herniated disk. He promised fans on Twitter that he will be back.
"I haven't missed a game since my sophomore year of high school," Watt said. "This won't be fun, but it is necessary in order for me to return to 100% and play at the level that I am capable of playing at. Everybody deals with adversity in their lives, many much worse than what I'm going through. I have great people around me, and I appreciate the thoughts and well wishes from all of you. I am looking forward to the fight back to the top and to the next time that I can step back on that field with my brothers to play the game that I love. You are the best fans in the world and I promise to continue to do everything in my power to make you proud."
Watt was drafted by the Texans in 2011 and has played in 83 consecutive games. This season he has one and a half sacks, according to ESPN. In his six-year career Watt has 76 sacks, 45 defended passes, 15 forced fumbles and 13 recovered fumbles. He is a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
The Texans re-signed defensive end Antonio Smith to fill in for Watt.