What’s ahead for JJ Watt against the Chiefs?

HOUSTON – As the clock ticks down to another NFL Playoff weekend, it’s time to put the Texans spotlight on J.J. Watt as he and his teammates head to Kansas City as big underdogs against the AFC’s No. 2 seeded Kansas City Chiefs. What Watt has done has been nothing short of miraculous, returning from a torn pectoral in just over two months.

He missed 8 games after suffering the injury back in October but there he was last Saturday on the field and playing a big role in the Texans overtime win against the Bills. He was asked Wednesday about how his body has held up since playing Saturday.

“It feels good,” Watt said. "Obviously after not playing football for two months, then playing 50-plus plays, you’re going to be sore, you’re going to be a little beat up. It was a quick reminder of how difficult the game of football is when I woke up on Sunday morning. That extra day was nice to be able to rest and recover and get back to work now with the guys. I’m ready to go.”

In all, the Texans took 85 snaps and Watt played in 52 of those. While he was limited to mainly third-down situations early in the game, things changed when he played much of the second half and in overtime.

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It’s the playoffs, and he wants to give it his best shot, even with the risk of re-injuring his pectoral again. So the question is how much will Watt play on Sunday against the Chiefs?

“I’m not sure," Watt said. "We’ll have a plan. Just because I played one game doesn’t mean my pec magically healed. It’s still in basically the same situation it was in before this game, and obviously we played a little bit more in the last game than we expected to. So, it’s just a matter of making sure we have a good plan, sticking to the plan and doing what we need to do, all week long, to make sure it’s where it needs to be. But yeah, I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Watt is the leader of the Texans defense and his presence alone goes a long way towards the success of the entire unit. Wednesday, Watt reflected on his return and the opportunity to help get this Texans team further than any in team history.

“I think it’s, for me, it’s day-to-day," Watt said. "I’m dealing with it on a day-to-day, hour-to-hour basis. I don’t necessarily look at it as a miraculous comeback or anything because I’m dealing with it every day and it’s just what I do that day. I think when you look at something from the outside perspective, you see it from a wider lens and you see it a bit more magnified and with a different lens. But for me, it’s just doing what I do every day, trying to get out there with the guys and help the team win football games. Obviously, won a great one this past weekend here at home and now we have an opportunity to go into a great location on the road with a great fan base and a team in a stadium with a lot of history and tradition.”

For Watt and this Texans defense, the challenge will be to slow down Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Watt said. "It’s the challenges of playing against a great quarterback, a guy who you know can obviously run around and scramble and make throws on the run because he has an extremely strong arm, but also guy who’s extremely intelligent, smart, leads their offense well, knows how to get them into good plays, knows how to put them in the right situations and knows how to deliver the ball.”

“Whether it’s a short pass or it’s long pass all the way down the field, he can do everything," Watt added. "It’s a great challenge. It’s the NFL playoffs. You’re not going to run into many non-great challenges. Really looking forward to it and love that type of competition.”

Watt will lead the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday against the Chiefs. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m.