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The Texans seem to have little regard for the health of Deshaun Watson. It worked out okay.
The Houston Texans keep showing they have little regard for the health of quarterback Deshaun Watson, but this was questionable even by their standards. According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, Watson’s rib and lung injury is bad enough that flying from Houston to Jacksonville was a bad idea. They had him ride a bus instead.
But facing off against the Jaguars defense was less risky, for some reason. Fortunately for Watson, the Jaguars defense wasn’t having its best day.
Watson sat on a bus for 12 hours to go from Houston to Jacksonville. He apparently made the best of it, at least.
“It was smooth,” Watson said after the game. “We just kind of hung out. I was cool with it. Whatever it took for me to be here with my teammates and do what I do.”
Watson, 23, should be the cornerstone that the Texans build around for at least a decade, but they seemed determined to squeeze every bit of football out of him before he turns 25.
Things could have been worse for him during their 20-7 win over the Jaguars. A defense known for tormenting quarterbacks only managed to sack him once. Watson thew for 139 yards and a touchdown.
In the first six weeks of the 2018 season, Watson was sacked 25 times and hit 70 times. No other team allowed 50 hits.
Some of the punishment absorbed by Watson is his own fault, but Bill O’Brien and the Texans offensive line deserves the lion’s share of the blame. After the game O’Brien brushed off questions about Watson’s health.
Bill O’Brien said he Deshaun Watson’s bus travel to Jax isn’t “a huge deal,” and he declined to comment further. Says the #Texans QB is “sacrificing a lot.”
— Aaron Reiss (@aaronjreiss) October 21, 2018
Trotting the quarterback out to face the Jaguars defense could’ve been a recipe for disaster, but it appears Watson got out of Jacksonville without taking any further damage. He was sacked just once and the Jaguars totaled five quarterback hits in the Texans’ 20-7 win.
