The Pittsburgh Steelers received some bad news this week as star linebacker TJ Watt was forced to have surgery on his knee from an issue that lingered from the preseason.
Pittsburgh Steelers Edge Rusher T.J. Watt following a sack of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow CREDIT | NBCSPORTS
ESPN insider Adam Schefter reported late Saturday night the news on Watt via his Twitter account.
Pittsburgh’s reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery that now is likely to delay his return by another week or two, sources told @bepryor and me.
Pittsburgh’s reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery that now is likely to delay his return by another week or two, sources told @bepryor and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 9, 2022
More on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown and here:https://t.co/zyVaQApO8U
According to the report, Watt will now likely be sidelined until after the Steelers Week 9 Bye Week. This is very bad news for a Steelers team that has lost three straight games without him. During Watt's career when the star misses a game, the Steelers are 0-7.
On Friday, local radio host, Andrew Fillipponi interviewed Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Ray Fittipaldo on 93.7 The Fan, and Fittipaldo suggested that Watt had a setback to his injured pectoral muscle because he wasn't around the team this week.
"Early last week, I want to say last Wednesday, T.J. [Watt] was out there working, he was visible at practice. Since then, has hasn't been at practice. I didn't put eyes on him at the [New York] Jets game. A lot of people are putting two and two together and I'm in that camp. I think some sort of setback occurred with his rehab.""I don't think he's going to be a candidate to come off IR next week even though he's eligible. We haven't gotten any answers from [Mike] Tomlin so we might be in the dark for a little while here, but T.J. hasn't been in the locker room, hasn't been on the practice field and I didn't see him at Acrisure during that Jets game."
Now we know it wasn't a setback, but a different injury. The potential return date for Watt could be November 13th against the New Orleans Saints, or November 20th, which is a Sunday night game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals.
