The Pittsburgh Steelers won't have the services of superstar edge rusher T.J. Watt for the Week 15 game against the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night.
Watt suffered a lung injury at the team facility on Wednesday and needed to have surgery on Thursday to correct the issue.
Following the surgery, Watt obviously did not practice and was ruled out for Monday night's contest and his status remains up in the air moving forward.
Here's what we know about Watt's injury and his return timeline.
T.J. Watt injury update
Watt was diagnosed with a collapsed lung that required surgery, according to ESPN's Brooke Pryor and Stephania Bell.
The injury occurred at the team facility on Wednesday after a dry needling session.
The specific details about why Watt needed the treatment and how he ended up with a collapsed lung as a result remain unclear.
What is dry needling?
ESPN goes into further detail about what dry needling is:
Dry needling is a skilled intervention where the provider uses a thin needle to penetrate the skin with the goal of alleviating pain and improving movement. Unlike "wet" needling, which utilizes a hollow bore needle (which has a central channel to allow liquid to pass through it) to inject a medication, dry needling utilizes a solid needle and no substance is injected.
Common applications for dry needling include, but aren't limited to, muscle pain/strains (e.g., hamstring, quad), tendinitis/tendinopathy (e.g., patellofemoral, biceps, rotator cuff), plantar fasciitis and headaches. Utilization has expanded within the past decade, in particular, and it is not uncommon to see dry needling in most athletic rehabilitation settings or training rooms.
It remains unclear what prompted Watt to get the dry needling done.
When is T.J. Watt coming back?
There is no concrete answer to this question yet, and making things more difficult is the fact that there have been conflicting reports about how long Watt might be out.
ESPN's Adam Schefter has cast doubt on Watt's ability to return in Week 16.
"He's not gonna play Monday night against the Dolphins. We'll see if he's able to come back in the next week. That's gonna be challenging too," Schefter said.
However, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero is leaving the door open for Watt to return as soon as next week.
"The turnaround was just too quick for Watt to play this week. He needed to rest but the Steelers are hopeful that Watt potentially could miss only one game. He could be back next Sunday against the Lions," Pelissero said.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac reports that Watt is expected to return this season, and he could be back sooner rather than later.
"The injury to outside linebacker T.J. Watt isn’t as serious as it sounds and he is expected to return before the end of the season, maybe even sooner than anticipated, multiple sources have told the Post-Gazette," Dulac wrote.
Putting it all together, we would say Watt's chances of playing next week are 50/50, at best, but it's just good to see he's on the road to recovery after a scary situation.
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