The Texans parted ways with two of their marquee defensive players this offseason in linebackers Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans. Defensive end J.J. Watt, one of the up-and-coming stars of the Houston defense, is confident the Texans will be able to overcome those departures in 2012.
“Obviously, it’s tough,” Watt said on Thursday in an interview with Texans TV. “It’s part of the business, losing players, but I think we have a great football team. We have a lot of great players that are going to step up in their place, and if you looked at our team last year, we had a lot of success with Coach [Wade] Phillips. He knows what he’s doing from a defensive coordinator standpoint.
“A lot of people, I kind of get the feeling around town that there’s a little bit of panic setting in. Trust me, there’s no need for panic. We’re working hard over here just off Kirby Drive to make sure that this is gonna be a fun season and we’re gonna give you guys a great show, and hopefully bring that championship back to Houston that we’ve been waiting on so long for here.”
In that same interview, in which Watt answered fan questions sent from Twitter with the hashtag #AskJJ, Watt proved “The Milk Man” to be an apt nickname by revealing that he drinks two gallons of milk a week. The Pewaukee, Wisc., native also showed off his serious side by discussing his J.J. Watt Foundation and answering a question about what drives him to be great.
““I think there’s a lot of things that drive me,” Watt said. “First and foremost is my family. Obviously, I’m trying to carry on my last name proudly, so I’m trying to work hard every single day to make sure that I do that the right way. And then the Texans fans, the Badger fans and everybody out there, I want to make them proud. This organization brought me in to be a great football player, and so I’m trying to do that and I’m also trying to spread love in the community and just pass it on to the next generation. And then personally for myself, I need to go to bed every night looking in the mirror knowing that I did everything I could that day to be great and knowing that I did everything to make my family proud, and so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Check out more from Watt in this replay of his Thursday live chat.
