TJ Watt ‘Encouraged With The Direction’ Of Steelers Defense
Edge rusher TJ Watt is optimistic the Pittsburgh Steelers can win in the postseason for the first time since 2016.Â
TJ Watt says the offseason additions and the defense in particular are looking solid ahead of training camp.
“I think it’s still too early to have true sense of ‘This is the year,’ because they always say you don’t want to be the guy who’s just crushing it without pads on,” TJ Watt said.Â
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“You don’t really know the personality of everybody yet. So it’s too early for that, but I’m very encouraged with the direction that we’re going, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
“That’s what I can really speak for. Guys are flying around. We’re having a lot of fun. We’re communicating and making a lot of those splash plays. That’s all you can really ask for this time of year.”
Watt’s 2022 season was plagued by injury beginning with a Week 1 pectoral muscle tear sustained against the Bengals. As he recovers Watt admits he looks back on the incident that saw him forfeit his fitness for a year.
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“But I had Joe Burrow locked up, and like my arm got stuck behind me. And that’s how I tore my pec. The amount of times I’ve replayed that play in my mind — like if I just kept my hands low, there’s no hands to the face, A. Then, B, if I just stay on my feet and wrap him up and take him down, like, game’s over, pec is fine. The amount of times that I’ve drove myself nuts thinking like that.
“As soon as I came back, it never really got to 100 percent,” he said. “But then it was just like every little thing — I had a rib (injury). I had a thumb. It was just one of those years for me where I just could never get 100 percent fully healthy, so it was a little frustrating.”
