Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, TJ Watt will return to action this weekend against the New Orleans Saints. If you’ve been following along, the team (and himself) have made it clear over the past few weeks that Week 10 would be his return. He’s still yet to be officially activated, as that will likely come on Saturday.
Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher and the NFL's reigning 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year, TJ Watt (#90) during a regular season game against the Cincinnati Bengals. | Credit: Pittsburgh Steelers
With that, he seems ready to go. Watt talked to reporters on Friday, telling them he had a great week of practice and he’s ready to go. It's good to hear from the man himself that he's ready to return to action, which will be his first game since Week 1. Initially, there was some belief that he would return in Week 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
With the bye coming in Week 9, it made sense to give him an extra two weeks to fully make sure he was healthy and ready to return. On Thursday, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin did note that Watt will likely be on a snap count, as he's not ready to play every snap yet. Watt contradicted those comments on Friday, telling Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he's not doing a snap count, as he's fully ready.
Starting middle linebacker Myles Jack, a splash free agent signing this past off-season, has provided some stability in the middle of the team's defense. He was yet to practice this week with a knee injury, causing some doubt for his availability this weekend. Batko provided a video of the linebackers in action at practice on Friday. Both Watt and Jack are shown, and they look mostly healthy:
Steelers linebackers today during individual drills at the start of practice. pic.twitter.com/vdnm3534ZF
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) November 11, 2022
While the back end of the defense remains banged up, it seems the front seven is getting more healthy. Similar to Jack, defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi didn't practice on Wednesday, causing some concern for the weekend. That changed on Thursday, as he practiced fully. He practiced again on Friday, so he should be good to go against the Saints. Those are three game-wrecking starters that the team will (likely) have in the lineup on Sunday in the front seven.
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive linemen, Cameron Heyward (#97) and Larry Ogunjobi (#99) during a home game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA. | Credit: Jordan Schofield/SteelerNation (@JSKO_PHOTO, Twitter)
That will help alleviate some of the injury and production concerns on the back end, specifically at cornerback. Speaking of, Damontae Kazee will see his first game of the season as well after being activated off IR on Thursday. All around, this defense seems to be getting healthy coming out of the bye week. It's much-needed for a group that has to go on a run to have a chance at the playoffs.
What are your expectations for this defense with a lot of guys back in the lineup? Are you still concerned about the CB room with the injuries there? How do you think TJ Watt will do in his first game since September? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to interact with our social media sites as well!
#SteelerNation
