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After a three-week absence due to a partially collapsed lung, Pittsburgh Steelers star TJ Watt made his return in Week 18. Immediately, he helped the Steelers clinch their spot in the playoffs.
Pittsburgh and Watt proceeded with caution when the pass rusher went down with his injury. Now back on the field, Watt is feeling rejuvenated, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
“Honestly my legs felt really fresh and that was exciting,” Watt said.
In the 26-24 victory, Watt put up a pair of tackles, a pass defense and a quarterback hit. The first order of business was seeing the pass rusher make it out of the game healthy. But the fact he was able to make a true impact will have the Steelers feeling optimistic heading into the postseason.
When healthy, Watt managed to appear in 14 games for Pittsburgh during the regular season. He put up 55 tackles, 19 quarterback hits and seven sacks. While that may be a down year for his standards, Watt was named to his eighth-straight Pro Bowl. Furthermore, his 72.4 grade from Pro Football Focus ranked 37/116 edge rushers. Watt’s 74.5 pass rush grade ranked 25th.
While Watt has now made his return, the Steelers are sure to be paying close attention to his injury situation. A partially collapsed lung isn’t the most common injury. They’ll want to ensure he’s good to go before having him rush the quarterback.
But if Week 18 was any indication, the Steelers should have their star pass rusher for the playoff run. Starting with the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round, all opponents must be aware of what Watt brings to the table.
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