Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt played all 16 games in season last year, marking the first time he's accomplished that feat since 2015.
Season-ending injuries played a role in missed time during the 2016 and 2017 campaigns, a two-year span where Watt played just eight games before he returned with a vengeance in 2018 by totaling 16 sacks.
The good news for the Texans is Watt is once again a dominant healthy player. The bad news for opponents is Watt, who enters his ninth season, doesn't plan on going anywhere in the near future.
"I don't want to leave the game anytime soon," Watt said, via Sarah Barnshop of ESPN. "I love it. Hopefully, we can say that I had two less years of pounding on my body, I had two less years of wear and tear, so that means two more years on the back end.
"I feel good right now. I'm excited about the season ahead. I'm excited about the team that we've got and the guys that we've got. I love it. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I get to go around and chase a ball for a living and they pay me to do it. I couldn't be any luckier."
The 16 sacks of 2018 marked the fifth time in Watt's accomplished career that he totaled double-digit sacks in a single season, and he's been an All-Pro selection each time to go along with being named the Defensive Player of the Year three times.
With the leg and back injuries in the past, Watt no longer has to spend time in a rehabilitation room and can focus fully on what he does best as one of the NFL's elite defensive stars.
"I get to spend a lot less time in the training room," Watt said. "I get to just work on my craft, work in the weight room and not have to worry as much, I would say. The last two years, you're just trying to get back, hoping to be able to play and hoping that you can play at a decent level, whereas this year you get to actually focus on improving and getting better and not trying to come back from a traumatic injury."
