Steelers' TJ Watt On Devastating 2022 Pec Injury: "Absolutely Nothing I Could Have Done"

When Pittsburgh Steelers defensive phenom T.J. Watt went down with a pec injury during Week 1 of the 2022 season, it was like the tear heard 'round the world. The collective gasp/cry/curse that went up from yinzers everywhere could be heard to the ends of the earth. 

Watt is notoriously tough and ridiculously fit, so when it was clear he was too hurt to play, it was obvious this was really serious. Fortunately, he did not require surgery to repair the tear, but it takes quite a long time for muscle tears to fully mend. 

When Watt finally returned to the field after many weeks away, the fans were so excited to have him back that they didn't ask many questions. However, that wasn't the case for Watt who always strives to improve and part of that improvement comes through knowing and understanding. 

Watt Caused Pittsburgh Steelers Defender To Suffer Injury

The Athletic's Mark Kaboly recently spoke with Watt following a Steelers practice and asked him about the injury and how he was coping. According to Kaboly, Watt wasn't happy with just being ok. He expressed that he had some prior knowledge of a pec tear because his older, and equally phenomenal brother, J.J. Watt, had suffered one in 2019. 

But Watt said that knowing about what happened to JJ wasn't enough to satisfy his curiosity about how to prevent this from happening again. 

Watt's injury shouldn't have been the lynchpin in a successful season, after all as Head Coach Mike Tomlin likes to point out, football is a team sport. You can't rely on one player to win or lose. However, you pay a guy like Watt the big bucks because he is a major difference-maker. 

The Steelers lost Watt near the end of a game that they ultimately won. However, they went on to lose seven games after that, many that they should have won. It is not surprising that many fans, and even some experts, attributed the losses to Watt not being on the field. 

Ultimately Pittsburgh did not make the playoffs. They did everything they possibly could to pull it out at the end of the season, but were left needing help from other teams that did not come through. Pittsburgh was 1-6 last season in the games Watt was out and 8-2 in the games he played. In the past two seasons, the team is 2-11-1 in games Watt missed entirely or left early and 16-4 in games he played completely. 

Kaboly recounts that Watt shared that the most pressing question for him was if he could have done something differently to prevent the injury in the first place. The Watts are notorious for their disciplined training protocols, but despite that, he couldn't help but be curious what else he could have done. 

Apparently, the answer to that question is nothing. There is nothing Watt could have or should have done that would have kept him from being hurt. The injury is the freak kind that you don't see coming and can't avoid. 

"I have talked to so many different people, and there was absolutely nothing I could have done in the offseason or working out to stop what happened to my pec," Watt told Kaboly. "You have to continue to tell yourself that it was just a freak injury."

Watt said that while he was glad it wasn't a season-ending injury, it was difficult to sit on the sideline and not be able to help your team. 

"You think about it a lot, but then you realize it's part of the game," said Watt. "Once you understand that, it becomes tolerable to deal with."

Kaboly points out that as NFL players are getting bigger in size, we are seeing more of these types of injury that comes simply from too much pressure being put on the muscle or the tendon that holds the muscle. Sports medicine apparently doesn't have an answer on how to minimize or prevent them.   

While Watt was waiting to return to the field, he went ahead and had an orthoscopic clean-up procedure done on his knee that wasn't critical, but seemed sensible to do while he was recovering. 

Watt was the 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year and had to watch his shot at back-to-back seasons slip away. Once he returned, he was required to wear a kind of harness that helped to restrict the movement of the shoulder to prevent re-injury. 

"I was not 100% for a lot of the game, and it was frustrating. I just wanted to play football, and I couldn't the way I wanted to. It was tough... It wasn't easy. It sucked not being able to participate and not being able to put your hand in the pile."

Fans are anxious to see how Watt plays in the 2023 season and if he is able to get his sack count up into the teens again after having only 5.5 last season. 

How much do you think Watt's absence impacted the Steelers? Do you think he will be able to get back to where he was this season? Click to comment below!
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