Texans Place 5 Players On PUP List Including DE J.J. Watt & LT Duane Brown

The Houston Texans announced Monday that they’ve placed five players on the active/PUP list including DE J.J. Watt, LT Duane Brown, RT Jeff Adams, CB Cleveland Wallace and S Lonnie Ballentine.

• The Texans also signed WR Quenton Bundrage and waived Richard Mullaney.
• Houston placed LB Brennan Scarlett on the active non-football injury list.

These players can return to practice once activated. However, if they remain on PUP list to start the regular season, they would miss at least the first six weeks.

Watt recently underwent back surgery for a herniated disc and was expected to open training camp on the team’s PUP list, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Initial reports said that Watt could miss between 6-8 weeks. However, it appears as though he could be out as along 10 weeks, depending on how he heals in the coming months.

Watt, 27, is in the third year of his eight-year, $108.88 million contract that includes $51.8 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salary of $10.5 million for the 2016 season.

In 2015, Watt appeared in all 16 games for the Texans and recorded 76 tackles, 17.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, a recovery and eight pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 2 interior defender out of qualifying players.

Brown, 30, is in the fifth year of his seven-year, $56.2 million contract that includes $22.08 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salary of $7 million for the 2016.

Last year, Brown appeared in 14 games for the Texans, but dealt with a quad injury that ultimately required surgery.