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Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt (ankle) suffered an ankle injury in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He went to the medical tent and eventually had to exit the game due to his injury.
The loss of Watt for the season would be a devastating blow to the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, and very impactful for IDP leagues. He leads the NFL in sacks with 11.5 and is a premier player at his position.
So will Watt be forced to miss the rest of this season?
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Is T.J. Watt Out For The Season?
It's unlikely that he misses the year. You can see a video of his ankle injury below. He was trying to get around an offensive lineman while rushing the passer on a play, but it looks like he simply took a bad step. His weight shifted too far onto the front of his foot, and the outward pressure caused it to buckle slightly.
A look at the T.J. Watt injury from the end zone.
You can see a quick roll of the ankle as he's trying to turn the corner. pic.twitter.com/dxkjNdZcxK
— Josh Carney (@ByJoshCarney) December 16, 2024
The video doesn't make it look too serious. The mechanism isn't that of a high ankle sprain, which requires much more bending of the foot, typically to one side or the other. And Watt himself updated the media about his injury -- it was an ankle roll, and X-Rays came back negative.
Here’s T.J. Watt on his injury and the game:
Hard to hear but he said he rolled his ankle and X-rays were negative. https://t.co/h9epBb0Qvl pic.twitter.com/97IDRytt5F
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) December 16, 2024
Negative meaning there weren't any fractures or serious sprains, obviously. His status for Week 16 is in question, but it's highly unlikely that he misses the season. He didn't participate in Tuesday's walkthrough, but that doesn't mean a lot for his availability for Week 16.
He's one of the best players at his position in the NFL, and the team likely has no issue with holding him out of practice all week and having him play in the game anyway. He's far too important for them to risk him re-aggravating his malady doing some practice reps.
We'll simply have to wait for more updates from the team to determine his status next week.
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