T.J. Watt is set to make his return to the field Sunday vs Saints

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been without T.J. Watt since Week 1, but the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is finally on track to return vs the Saints. 

It’s been quite a process, but we all know that you can’t keep a Watt brother down for good. In Week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals, T.J. Watt could be seen rushing to the sidelines with his arm drooping. As plain as day with the cameras on him, we could read his lips as he said, “I tore my pec.”

This indeed proved to be true. While getting several opinions from doctors, it was confirmed that Watt had suffered a grade 3 pectoral tear. This would soon land him on injured reserve. The initial prognosis was that his season would be lost. Thankful, it was just a partial tear, and we no longer had to fear that his season would be lost.

In addition to the pectoral tear, Watt had arthroscopic surgery to clean up his knee while sidelined — essentially killing two birds with one stone. Nine weeks later, Pittsburgh’s best player has been present in practice and doesn’t seem to be hampered by his injuries at all.

Latest Injury Update for T.J. Watt

At this point, the Pittsburgh Steelers have neither confirmed nor denied that T.J. Watt will be active against the New Orleans Saints in Week 10, but beat reporters on hand at practice believe this will be the case. According to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Watt is ‘poised to return Sunday’ when the Steelers host the Saints.

This is fantastic news for a team desperate for a spark. With Watt appearing in less than one full game this season prior to his injury, the Steelers have recorded a pressure rate of just 16.2 percent, via Stathead. This ranks 187th of 192 since this stat has been officially recorded in 2017.

Pittsburgh is also on the pace for just over 31.5 sacks this season. They’ve never had less than 52 sacks in a season since Watt was taken in the 2017 NFL Draft. Additionally, the team averages just 1.1 sacks per game when Watt doesn’t play, but they recorded 3.3 sacks per game on average when he’s on the field.

There’s no doubt that his presence makes an astronomical difference for this football team, and fans are thrilled to be getting him back. Let’s just hope that it’s not too late and that the Pittsburgh Steelers will still have something to play for after Week 10. This upcoming game against the Saints is one that Watt’s presence could potentially swing in Pittsburgh’s favor.