T.J. Watt explains the worst part of last season’s pectoral injury

Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt’s streak of four straight seasons with double-digit sacks was snapped in 2022 after he was sidelined with a pectoral injury that forced him to miss seven games.

What was perhaps more frustrating to Watt than the actual time he missed was how the injury actually happened. On a recent appearance of the “Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger” podcast, Watt went into detail about the play and why he still kicks himself for how it unfolded.

"Obviously, the pec this past year was tough," he said. "Even on the play I got hurt, the clock was running, they were out of timeouts. Fourth quarter. It was like 20 seconds left. I got a hand in the face penalty. But I had Joe Burrow locked up, and like my arm got stuck behind me. And that's how I tore my pec. The amount of times I've replayed that play in my mind -- like if I just kept my hands low, there's no hands to the face, A. Then, B, if I just stay on my feet and wrap him up and take him down, like, game's over, pec is fine. The amount of times that I've drove myself nuts thinking like that."