Calling his ordeal “very scary” and repeatedly mentioning that he, at one point, was in “a significant amount of pain,” T.J. Watt on Friday expressed gratitude that he is now on the other side of his partially collapsed lung and is poised to return to game action for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Obviously, any time you go into work and then have to all of a sudden need surgery, (it stinks),” Watt said after going through a full practice Friday at Acrisure Stadium. “Just a lot of unknown (at that time), but I’m glad to have had the doctors that we had, the surgeon that I had, and to be able to be here and playing in a football game this weekend is all I’m really focused on now.”
TJ Watt; “I’m excited to play.” pic.twitter.com/REdLTvPviK
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 2, 2026
Twenty-three days after suffering a lung puncture during a dry needling treatment at the Steelers’ facility, Watt on Friday was given no injury designation on the league-mandated status report in advance of Sunday’s AFC North winner-take-all, regular-season finale at home against the Baltimore Ravens.
Watt has missed the past three games but returned to practice on Christmas Eve and has taken part in each of the Steelers’ six practices since. Friday, though, was the first session in which he was regarded as a full participant.
“I feel pretty good,” said Watt, a four-time AP NFL first-team All-Pro edge defender. “Honestly, I don’t know if I could have said that a week ago, but I feel really good. I feel really confident about the week of practice and excited to play.”
Watt said he had “no limitations” over the three practices this week but added that a snap count or playing-time restriction for Sunday’s game had not yet been discussed.
The Steelers won two of the three games he missed because of the lung ailment, a significant turnaround from the 1-11 record they had (including playoffs) when Watt was out for a game over the first eight seasons of his career.
Though 2025 had been Watt’s least productive sack season since his 2017 rookie year, he — for now — still holds a share of the NFL single-season sacks record with 22 1/2 in 2021. In 13 games this season, he has seven sacks, three forced fumbles, an interception, seven passes defended, 53 tackles (22 solo, 10 for loss) and 18 QB hits.
“I’m ready to see T.J. do T.J. things,” said running back Kenneth Gainwell, who, on Friday, was named Steelers team MVP after Watt had won it five of the previous six years. “I’m happy to have him back on the field. We know he can go out there and attack the goals that he needs to. It just feels good to have him back.”
Watt said dry needling — a physical therapy technique that involves the use of needles inserted into the body — is common among NFL players and other professional athletes. Though Watt indicted he has undergone the treatment regularly, when asked if he would be continue to do so in the future Watt smiled and said, “I’m going to take a break for now, for sure.”
Watt confirmed that his lung was injured by a Steelers employee and that he never uses outside personnel for treatments. He called his situation “a fluke thing.”
Asked directly if he harbored any animosity toward the organization, Watt said: “No, I mean, right now I’m just focused on winning, man.”
To that end, Watt is making his return against a team against whom he has sacks in 17 regular-season games. The Steelers are 12-5 in those games against the Ravens, though Watt was held without a sack in a 28-14 loss to them in last year’s wild-card playoff round.
Including that, Watt has been held without a sack in each of his past three games against Baltimore. Ravens starting quarterback Lamar Jackson is set to return Sunday after a one-game absence because of a back injury.
“This is a huge game. Obviously, we just started the playoffs a week earlier,” Watt said. “And we get to have a home game. So really excited to get back out here in front of Steeler Nation. We’ll leave it all on the field.”
What that cliché means to Watt might hit different after he spent two nights in a hospital three weeks back and couldn’t take part the past three games in the sport he loves.
“More than anything, it was just trying to figure out how to attack coming back,” Watt said. “It’s not (a more traditional or normal injury like a) knee, so it’s like it was all new feelings. I didn’t know (what to expect). It was a surgery I wasn’t very familiar with. But I’m very happy to feel as good as I do right now.”
