A frustrated and injured T.J. Watt vented during his postgame press conference. Battling an ankle injury that occurred on a play where he appeared to be held by Arizona, Watt expressed frustration about now drawing penalties.
“The NFL has something going against me,” Watt said via the team’s website. “So I don’t wanna talk any more negatively towards them. I don’t know what I did, but I’ll leave it at that.”
Watt fought through the injury during the second half and finished the game, although some wondered why he was left on the field with the Cardinals essentially running out the clock in a sure victory.
We’ll have to later pull the clip of the play in which Watt suffered his right ankle injury. But it was clear he was in obvious pain while laying down on the sideline.
Watt finished the day with six tackles, two QB hits, a half-sack (initially credited as a full sack before being split with Alex Highsmith) and one pass deflection. He was dominant in the first half, attacking the run and creating pressure, but the Cardinals controlled the day. That included running the ball to chew up the final few minutes and salt the game away.
As a pass rusher, Watt’s go-to move is ripping around and through the edge. It ends up with tackles grabbing him to try to prevent him from cornering and often looks like a hold. But the refs rarely flag it that way until and unless the pass rusher is fully past the tackle. The same happened to James Harrison, whose dip and rip always looked like holding but wasn’t often penalized.
Earlier this year, Watt spoke out against the NFL for repeatedly flagging RB Jaylen Warren more than his entire game check. Perhaps that’s what he sees as retaliatory. While that’s unlikely the case, Watt’s frustrations are understood. Right now, there’s plenty to be frustrated about.
