For T.J. Watt, the long month-and-a-half wait between pro day and draft day has been filled with ultra-competitive workouts with his oldest brother, the Texans' J.J., downtime with the family and, now, workouts with at least four teams, including some potential Super Bowl contenders.
The "all-business" workouts, as Watt described them, saw him play all over the field. Teams tested him at outside linebacker, where he played in 2016, but Watt was also asked to play in space at inside linebacker and line up on the defensive line.
Watt expected teams would test his versatility. Since the draft process began, he's been stressing to teams and media his willingness and ability to play any position
Now he's seeing his preparation bear fruit.
But with workouts piling up and draft day slowly approaching, Watt isn't getting ahead of himself. He still takes things day by day, keeping busy by going toe-to-toe with J.J. in the gym and on the basketball court. T.J. boasted that, while his rehabbing big bro beat him in a shooting contest this week, he outdid J.J. in a dunk competition.
Above all the fun and games, T.J. is relishing the time they have spent working out together and pushing each other to become better.
"(J.J.)'s completely 100 percent and he's got no restrictions at all. We're working out, we're competing, we find ways to see who jumps higher, who jumps farther, who runs faster, who lifts more," Watt said. "It's really fun to finally have an offseason where I'm not coming back and forth from school on the weekends to work out with him. ... To go head-to-head in the weight room is really special and I'm just enjoying it."
That sentiment goes for relaxing with the family as well. Watt has thoroughly enjoyed spending the offseason at home in Wisconsin. He was able hang out last weekend with his older brother Derek before the Chargers fullback heads back to Southern California to continue his own career.
Watt cherishes these moments. So much so that the linebacker told NFL.com that he's "leaning toward just hanging out with the family" on draft day with "no cameras, no nothing."
"After you're drafted, it picks up really quickly," he said. "You go in and do your press conference the next day. As soon as you know it, you have OTAs and rookie minicamps and all those things. So I'm just trying to spend as much time with my family as possible and that's my course of action."
For now, Watt has found his routine: Workouts with J.J. spliced with workouts with potential professional suitors, all with a healthy amount of family time in between. It's where T.J. is most comfortable, waiting for that life-changing moment with the people about whom he cares the most.
"We always say that the hay's in the barn at this point and now we're just waiting around to see what happens on draft night."
