Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt will miss the team’s Week 15 “Monday Night Football” game vs. the Miami Dolphins due to a partially collapsed lung, but according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, the seven-time Pro Bowler’s rest of season outlook is positive.
“The injury to outside linebacker T.J. Watt isn’t as serious as it sounds and he is expected to return before the end of the season, maybe even sooner than anticipated, multiple sources have told the Post-Gazette,” Dulac wrote on Monday afternoon. “While a collapsed lung can be serious, depending on the cause, some cases aren’t so serious, according to the Cleveland Clinic website.”
Monday will be Watt’s first missed game since the 2022 campaign when he was limited to 10 contests because of a torn pectoral muscle.
Dulac reported on the 31-year-old’s older brother (and former NFL superstar) J.J. Watt’s recent social media activity regarding the linebacker’s health, noting that the latter needed surgery after having a treatment known as dry needling.
“Dry needling is a procedure used by players to expedite the healing process in a specified area. The procedure is similar to why players use a hyperbaric chamber and other non-traditional procedures to heal faster and return to play quicker,” the longtime Steelers reporter said. “So while Watt’s injury sounds bad, it is not as bad as what might otherwise be thought. He has been ruled out for Monday night’s game against the Miami Dolphins, but, barring some type of setback, he is expected to return sometime before the end of the regular season.”
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The younger Watt is having another huge season, as he leads the Steelers in quarterback hits (18) and sacks (7.0).
His next chance to return to the field will be in Week 16, when Pittsburgh faces the Detroit Lions on the road.
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