As mentioned on Sunday, defensive end J.J. Watt missed Texans practice because of a sore elbow.
It was a precautionary more because Sunday’s practice was heavy on contact and coach Gary Kubiak said that Watt should return to practice on Monday. When he does, he’ll have a familiar piece of equipment on his left arm. Watt said that the soreness in his elbow has convinced him that he needs to wear the brace he wore last season after dislocating the elbow during camp.
“Cosmetically, I’m just not a huge fan of the way it looks but it never really bothered me from a playing standpoint so I don’t see it being an issue whatsoever. It’s just something I have to play with and that’s it,” Watt said, via ESPN.com. “I just want to be smart with it. I put [the elbow] through a lot of work over the last week. It’s done a lot of work without the brace for the first time in a long time, so I’m bringing the brace back just as kind of a security measure, you know, to make sure it stays secure and it stays safe.”
The brace and Watt went together well enough for 20.5 sacks and a Defensive Player of the Year award last season, which makes it easy to understand Watt’s decision that it is better to play and feel good than look good.
