HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- J.J. Watt said he felt like a rookie putting on pads for the first time at Texans training camp Friday.
The 10th-year defensive lineman admitted it’s been a weird time with daily testing for COVID-19, social distancing and everything the Texans are doing differently from a normal camp.
There is also still some frustration left over from last season’s playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Kansas City Chiefs, who the Texans face Sept. 10 to open the NFL season.
The Texans’ only goal is to win a Super Bowl, and the rematch against the Chiefs is an opportunity to see how they measure up.
But Friday?
“I don’t know if I was surprised by it, but it felt like the first time you got to put the pads on as a rookie in the NFL. You put the pads on and things are different,” Watt said. “It’s football. It’s real football. All of that stuff kind of melted away for a couple of hours out there. It’s real football. You get to hit. You get to pop the pads. You get to just be physical.
“It was fun. I got that old school feeling and it felt really good.”
Watt, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and five-time first-team All-Pro, has faced season-ending injuries in three of the last four seasons, though he returned last season for the Texans' playoff run.