Houston Texans quarterback popped-up on the teams’ Wednesday walkthrough injury report with a back injury. Despite so, he expects to suit-up to face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday to cap off Houston’s regular season.
“I don’t want to take a day off if that was a question,” Watson said on Thursday on if the Texans will rest him. “I’m not expecting it.”
Watson went to the blue medical tent for what appeared to be a right-side lower-body injury in Week 16’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he did not miss a snap in the away victory.
If the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Rams at noon on Sunday, the Texans will be locked-in at the fourth-seed heading into their 3:25 pm CT kickoff. If so, Houston’s game could be a meaningless one, outside of holding the rival Titans out of the playoffs for the second-straight season.
“Just going out there, do my job and find a way to get 11 wins and continue this momentum going into the playoffs,” Watson said on his goals for Sunday.
Despite the potential of playing a meaningless game, the Texans are adamant about treating the season finale like any other Sunday, where winning trumps all else. For Houston, momentum heading into the postseason matters most.
“We are going to do everything we can to win the football game,” coach Bill O’Brien said on Thursday in response to if he will rest Watson.
Watson has dealt with bumps and bruises for much of the season. However, he has not missed a snap due to health.
The NFL named Watson as a Pro Bowler for the second time of his three-year career last Tuesday. He has the Texans at 10-5, tallying 3,852 yards, 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over the air on a 67.3% completion rate on the season. He has also rushed for seven touchdowns.
