The Houston Texans may have been dealt a huge blow to their season on Thursday afternoon. As first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a torn ACL in practice that would cause him to miss the remainder of his rookie season. The team has not officially confirmed the injury.
Sources: #Texans QB fear Deshaun Watson suffered a torn ACL in practice today. A non-contact injury. MRI coming to confirm. Awful, awful.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 2, 2017
Watson was the 12th overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft, after leading the Clemson Tigers to a national championship in his final season. After making his regular season debut in the second half of the season opener against Jacksonville, Watson had started in the team’s last seven games.
The rookie was coming off of arguably his best performance as a pro, throwing for 402 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 67 yards in last Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.
With Watson likely out, head coach Bill O’Brien will turn back to Tom Savage to lead the Texans moving forward. Savage started that season opener before being benched in the second half.
While it has not yet been reported which knee Watson injured, this is not the first time he has dealt with this kind of injury. After his freshman season at Clemson, it was discovered that Watson tore his ACL in his left knee late in the year and led his team to a win over rival South Carolina that season.
Now with the Texans, this is another major injury to the team after losing J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus to season-ending injuries earlier in the year. The Texans will look to move forward on Sunday when they host the Indianapolis Colts at NRG Stadium.
Brought to you by: