T.J. Watt will be returning to the Steelers' defense this Sunday against the Saints.
While the team has yet to make the official move to activate him from injured reserve, Watt laid any doubt to rest with one simple word when he was asked if he will play Sunday: "Yes."
"Yes, I am very excited," Watt added. "It's been a long time coming. I feel very good about the week that I had. I'm excited to play. Excited to be back at Acrisure Stadium and get the fans involved."
Watt's return will provide a huge shot in the arm for a defense that has struggled since he went down with a pectoral injury in Week 1. After racking up five takeaways and seven sacks in the Week 1 win over the Bengals, the defense has only recorded five takeaways and eight sacks in the seven games that followed.
Though the initial doubts about Watt's return this season were high when he first went down with the injury, he never doubted he'd be able to return to the field in 2022.
"It's huge, to finally have the helmet back on and be out there on the field. Just to feel the emotion and feel alive again in the stadium," Watt said. "It's huge to be able to tap a guy on the head after he makes a good play, get guys celebrating, bring some juice, being some spark. Some energy is all that I can ask for when it's time to play some football, and I'm excited about it."
With it being Watt's first action since the season opener, there has been some concern that he's coming back at less than 100 percent or will be on some sort of pitch count, per se. It turns out that won't be the case.
"No pitch count," Watt said. "I don't want to put any limitations on myself. I never play 100 percent of the snaps anyway."
Watt's return coincides with Damontae Kazee's activation from IR, which provides a boost to the back end of the defense. It also gives Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin a chance to play with the three-safety look they experimented with during training camp and the preseason.
It only took until Week 10, but the Steelers are finally getting to deploy the defense they've wanted to from the very beginning.
As for the rest of the Steelers' injuries, William Jackson III (back) and Ahkello Witherspoon (hamstring) did not practice all week and have been ruled out of Sunday's game. Malik Reed (personal reasons) and Kevin Dotson (abdomen) are questionable.
Reed popped up on Thursday's report due to personal reasons, and followed with limited participation on Friday. Dotson's injury happened during Friday's practice, which limited his participation.
Everyone else who was on this week's injury report -- Levi Wallace (shoulder), Christian Kuntz (ribs), Myles Jack (knee), Larry Ogunjobi (knee), Cam Heyward (vet rest) and Kazee (forearm) -- do not have an injury designation for Sunday, and are cleared to play against the Saints.