Bill O’Brien deflects questions about J.J. Watt

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Texans coach Bill O’Brien was happy to reveal that he planned on playing his starters this week.

But he pushed back on any questions about when or if he might activate defensive end J.J. Watt, while Watt is apparently doing push-ups somewhere.

Watt is reportedly “determined” to come back for the playoffs after suffering a pectoral injury earlier this year.

“I’m going to pass on that question,” O’Brien said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “I’m not up here to talk about J.J. We’ll get to that when we get to that, whether it’s this season or offseason or whenever.”

Asked again about Watt, O’Brien said: “I’m not ready to talk about that.”

“Obviously with J.J. and everything that he’s done for our football team, any time you have a great player that’s been out and the rules allow you to bring him back and help your team,” O’Brien added.

Watt has recovered quickly from his injury, and has impressed teammates with what he’s able to do. Outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus had a more severe version in 2016, with the muscle torn off the bone.

“Mine was completely off the bone,” Mercilus said. “The recovery time for me was about six months and that was just trying to get the range of motion back. I had a lot of clicking and popping. All my muscle mass was pretty much down.

“To get back to full strength, a total of eight months and whatnot. His is completely different. Now, he’s cranking out push-ups. All the power to him. I never want to wish anybody to have a torn pectoral at all. It was terrible.”

Getting the three-time defensive player of the year back for any portion of the postseason would obviously be significant, if only for giving opponents one more thing to worry about as they game-plan.