NFL News & Rumors: Houston Texans Bring In JJ Watt Reinforcement, Ex Atlanta Falcons QB TJ Yates Fortifies Brian Hoyer Squad

By Mitch de Leon
JJ Watt
JJ Watt AP

The Houston Texans have been unstoppable since the entry of a new quarterback in its roster. A former Atlanta Falcons star, TJ Yates now finds himself leading the JJ Watt football squad in the NFL team's third consecutive win this season - a feat the Houston Texans last achieved in 2012. Yates is the third quarterback who entered the Houston Texans roster this year following a series of injuries that plagued the group. His entry marked the departure of backup quarterback Ryan Mallett. 

Yates helped hold down the New York Jets in the 24-17 victory of the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football (November 23). While Yates just signed with the DeAndre Hopkins squad last October 28, it is not his first time in the Houston Texans locker room. The star quarterback first entered the NFL team in 2011 when then starting quarterback Matt Schaub incurred a Lisfranc injury, and backup Matt Leinart got injured in a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Yates was then tasked to head the NFL team for five games.The Houston Texans triumphed as the AFC South champs during Yates' rookie year, with the quarterback playing a significant role in his team's victory over the Cincinnati Bengals twice. He was then traded to the Atlanta Falcons.

Meanwhile, the victory of the Houston Texans over the New York Jets had been well thought of by the Watt football squad. In fact, head coach Bill O'Brien admitted that the NFL team had to brainstorm on possible strategies to ensure that their moves will be unexpected. 

"To be able to move this ball effectively against this Jets defense, we were going to have to give them something that we hadn't shown, and I thought we did a good job of that," disclosed O'Brien, according to USA Today.

As for the contributions of Yates, the Houston Texans head coach acknowledged the quarterback's efforts. However, O'Brien clarified that Hoyer will remain the starting quarterback once he gets back to his healthy status. He said, "Hoyer is our starter. When he comes back, when he's healthy, he'll be in there, and we've spoken to T.J. about that." 

For their part, the New York Jets were aware of the difficulties of the match against the Houston Texans. Ryan Fitzpatrick, the team's starting quarterback due to Geno Smith's absence, shared his disappointments during the game against his former NFL team.

"I didn't play well," admitted Fitzpatrick. He added, "There're a lot of throws I needed to make that I didn't make. Obviously having two chances there at the end and not coming up with a touchdown on one of those drives hurts." 

Todd Bowles, the head coach of the New York Jets, earlier noted that Watt will be a challenging player to handle in the match. He shared via ESPN, "I don't know if he [Watt] has any weaknesses. He's just one of those rare players that doesn't come around very often." 

Bowles' thoughts were echoed by New York Jets Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey. He said of Watt, "He's one of the premier defensive players in the league, if not the premier defensive player in the league." Gailey went on to state, "We were talking about it the other day, and he reminds me of the way we used to have to handle Howie Long- same type of player. You have to know where he is, and you have to account for him every play." 

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