Watt ramping up, moving a bit, high praise for Herbig

LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – TJ Watt said it's too early to tell if their defense can be great, everybody looks good this time of year. To take that defense to another level, Watt continues to work on flipping sides while not losing his fastball.

"It's not something we are doing every single day," Watt said. "I think we are picking days to work on it. I would rather work on one side for that day, just to get more reps at it as opposed to going over there for a rep here or there. It's something we are going to continue to do."

Watt admits he's not as comfortable at moving, but he's working at it. And working at it with the limited opportunities. As he described it's a slow ramp-up for the 30-year-old to the start of the season. He said the coaching staff is being smart, even when he wants to practice, often he is being held back.

"It's a push and pull," Watt said. "In 2021, I didn't practice with the team at all and felt really good heading into the season. As the years go on, I don't practice as much, but I still feel good. It's a matter of getting that individual work. Working on the right side, running hoops and doing things almost as a benefit as opposed to wasting that rep in live action."

It even allows Watt to fail. He will try new things and said he's currently working a new pass rush move with Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig and said it hasn't been working. Having that time to attempt that allows him to experiment now and know before even the preseason games begin.

"It's just constantly finding new ways to win, evolving with the game," Watt said. "As Coach T says, 'adapt or die'. At the end of the day, if you have a fastball and it works, keep throwing the fastball."

He also had a couple of thoughts about a few players

Tackle Troy Fautanu

"He's getting better each and every day. He's a very quick tackle, very athletic. He can recover really well. I think he's just getting his confidence under him.  Trying to give him a myriad of things where I can bull rush him to get that confidence in his knee and also trying to work some things. It's fun to go up against a young guy like that who is very athletic."

Linebacker Nick Herbig

"He's so hungry. He's a very hungry individual, asking the right questions to this day and constantly working. Whether it's pre-practice with nobody out there, post-practice, just working new moves. He's on afraid to fail, but he doesn't fail much."

New defensive back Jalen Ramsey

"You never know where Jalen is going to be. You never know what he's going to do. The better that we disguise, the better that everyone eats. I'm really looking forward to getting better in disguise in the back end, helping them up front as well."