Friday March 29th, 2024 4:56AM

Texans coach confident about Watson's return from injury

By The Associated Press

Texans coach Bill O'Brien is confident that J.J. Watt and Deshaun Watson will have successful comebacks from major injuries.

Watt, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, missed all but five games with a broken left leg. Watson was a rookie sensation until he tore up his right knee in practice in midseason.

Houston has little chance of being a serious contender in the AFC South without them; it went 4-12 last season.

"J.J.'s doing really well. J.J. has a great attitude," O'Brien said Tuesday at the NFL meetings. "He's a very, very positive guy. He's been in a great mood the whole offseason about where he's at. Obviously working very hard. Just like I've always said about J.J., I would just tell you that watching him and seeing him in the building every day, I would never bet against J.J. Watt.

"J.J. is a generational player in this league and he' l l be back. He's going to be back and he'll be back to full strength and I just watch the way he is, that's why I feel so good about him. He's very positive about where he's at. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get back."

O'Brien is hoping Watson will be available for limited work later this spring.

"I know he's ahead of schedule. He's been in there every day, working hard. I believe that he feels real good about where he is right now and then we'll just take it one day at a time during the (nine-week) offseason program. ... The first two weeks, you're not really doing anything on the field. The next three weeks, you can do a little bit on the field and then the last four weeks is where you've really got to see, because that's when you're practicing, which is OTAs with no pads on.

"Maybe he would be able to do some things there. But we're not in a rush on that, but I do think there's going to be some things he can do throwing-wise, probably not in team drills, but maybe he can do some seven on seven, some of our passing drills to continue to work on the timing with the receivers, especially."

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