It was a quality, not quantity, type of night for J.J. Watt.
The defensive end didn't play much. Watt logged just six plays in Saturday night's win over the Patriots. But he notched a tackle for loss in his limited time, and more importantly, exited in good shape.
"It's just a couple plays here, couple plays there," Watt said. "I'm just getting my toes a little wet. I'm just getting started. You know, I'm really just show glimpses here and there of what's possible. It's going to be a lot of fun."
Watt dropped running back Rex Burkhead for a loss of two yards in the first quarter, helping to get the Texans defense off the field quickly.
"It's a great feeling," Watt said. "Like I said, it's just a glimpse. There's a lot of stuff I've been working on a very long time. There's a lot of plays that I've built up in the archives that I want to get out there and make. It's going to be a lot of fun this year."
Even though he's on the other team, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was happy to see Watt back on the field after the defensive end missed the final 13 games of 2016 with a back injury.
"It's great seeing him out there," Brady said. "We practiced against him all week and he certainly looks like he's up to his old self. He was defensive player of the year a couple of times and I have a lot of respect for him."
Watt, according to head coach Bill O'Brien, won't play much more this preseason.
"He had a TFL right off the bat which was good to see," O'Brien said. "But, you're not going to see a lot of J.J. and some of those other guys. Next week they'll probably play a little bit and then you won't see them against Dallas."
Watt and the Texans will practice on Monday and Tuesday morning at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
