Justin Britt was hurting after the Houston Texans’ 37-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 12 at NRG Stadium.
However, it was nowhere near the agony he felt watching the NFL from his couch the past two seasons after tearing his ACL in his last game with the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 27, 2019.
“It’s like two years of pent-up aggression, just being at home having to watch the game and not being on a team,” the Texans’ starting center said Monday. “Just to get out there and be able to hit, like I got home and walked in the house, somewhat gingerly, after a bar fight. My wife looks at me and she was like, ‘You hurting?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah,’ but you’re like, I embrace this. I love this feeling.”
The 6-6, 315-pounder says that he missed “every aspect of the game,” including the customary soreness that accompanies NFL players each Monday morning.
Said Britt: “The meetings, having to wake up early, the workouts, practicing, 100-degree heat and humidity, that might be new to me. But I missed the grind, I missed the struggle, I missed someone scoring a touchdown and getting to celebrate.”
After running back Phillip Lindsay scored his 5-yard touchdown to put Houston ahead 34-7 with 3:28 to go in the third quarter, the former Pro Bowl running back gave Britt the ball to spike.
“I feel like that was symbolic to me, in my own selfish way,” said Britt. “But no, I had a lot of fun [Sunday].”
Britt will have another chance to embrace the pain as the Texans take on the Cleveland Browns Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at FirstEnergy Stadium. If the Texans win, it will be the first time since 2019 Britt has been the starting center on a team that began 2-0, as the Seahawks did that season.
