Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — T.J. Watt will suit up for the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, he said after practice on Friday, less than a month after suffering a partially collapsed lung at the team’s facility.
Watt took part in the team’s practice at Acrisure Stadium on Friday, the team’s final tune-up before its win-or-go-home Week 18 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
“I feel pretty good, honestly,” Watt said. “I don’t know if I could have said that a week ago, but I feel really good, I feel really confident about the week of practice and excited to play.”
Watt said that it hasn’t been determined if he will have a snap count or something like that, but said he was able to practice without restrictions this week. He was listed as a full participant in Friday’s practice and does not have an injury status for the game.
“It’s still so early,” he said. “I had a great week of practice. I had no limitations. I tried to simulate as much as I could with shoulder pads and stuff like that, but you can only simulate so much. I feel really good right now. I’m hoping that’s the case on Sunday, as well.”
Watt suffered the injury on Dec. 10, when what has been termed as a freak accident caused a partially collapsed lung after a procedure known as dry needling, an acupuncture-like process that is supposed to increase blood flow to help recovery time. Watt said he’s been having the procedure done for years, and right away, he knew something wasn’t right.
“Shortly afterwards, I was in a significant amount of pain,” he said. “I ended up going to the hospital and had surgery. … “Obviously, its was very scary. I was in a significant amount of pain. Every time you go to work, and have to all of the sudden need surgery, it sucks. It’s just a lot of unknowns, but I’m glad to have the doctors that I had, the surgeon that I had. To be able to be here, playing in a football game this weekend, is all I’m really focused on right now.”
Watt confirmed that the procedure was done by a team staff members, and said he has no ill will toward the organization after being injured at the team’s facility. He did say, that he might be done with dry needling for good.
“I’m gonna take a break, for now, for sure,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: T.J. Watt Reveals Details on Lung Injury, Says He’s Playing Sunday vs. Ravens
