One of the big questions for the Texans entering this season is which J.J. Watt will show up.
Will it be the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award winner who terrorized quarterbacks? Or will it be a 29-year-old Watt who looks like a player who missed most of the past two years to injuries and is on the decline?
Training camp is still young, but Texans coach Bill O'Brien says Watt already looks like the dominant DPOY winner of years past.
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"Those '14 and '15 seasons were arguably two of the best seasons any player at any position has ever had," O'Brien said (via NBC Sports' Peter King). "I remember we're playing Baltimore in '14, and they're driving, and it's late, and our guys are just exhausted. I remember J.J. looked over at me and basically said, If you give me a timeout here, I'll get to Flacco. So I call time. We get a breather. That next play, J.J. strip-sacks Flacco. Game over. We win.
“That’s what I’m seeing now, this summer. That’s the kind of play I’m seeing from him. There’s no reason he can’t do it again (win DPOY honors)."
Those are encouraging words for the Texans and their fans, who watched with dismay as a herniated disc ended Watt's 2016 season after three games, and a broken leg sidelined him after five weeks last season. Watt is ready to put those tough times behind him.
"I'm not going to stand here and pretend like I can tell you exactly what's going to happen in the season or how it's going to go," Watt told King. "But I feel very good with where I'm at right now.
"I'm not going to make any proclamations about comparing things to the past or what I'm going to do in the future, but I will say I feel very good."