Texans will welcome J.J. Watt back from injured reserve vs. Bills

HOUSTON -- Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will make his return from a torn pectoral muscle Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, and coach Bill O'Brien said the pass-rusher will be in the game "quite a bit."

The Texans added Watt to the active roster after he missed eight games on injured reserve. He suffered a torn pectoral muscle Oct. 27 against the Oakland Raiders.

On Wednesday, Watt said the team has "a good plan" for how much he will play against the Bills. Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel cautioned that although Watt has been working hard to come back from injured reserve, the team has to make sure he's ready to play a full game.

"I think that we'll have to kind of measure to see where he is and how he's doing, because he hasn't played in eight games," Crennel said. "Even though he's been working with the strength and conditioning people, the football condition when you're playing a big game, your adrenaline gets picked up and you get winded a little bit faster. We'll have to measure that to see how that goes, and then I think that will impact how much he plays. But I don't think that we want to expose him too much if he's not able to go at a good level."

The Texans are also hoping to get wide receiver Will Fuller back on the field, but O'Brien called his status "a game-time decision." Fuller left Houston's Week 16 game with a groin injury and did not play in the Texans' regular-season finale against the Tennessee Titans.

Fuller makes a big difference for quarterback Deshaun Watson and the offense. According to ESPN Stats & Information, in Watson's career, he's completed 47% of his deep balls with Fuller on field, including 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions (95 attempts). With Fuller off the field, he's completed 38% with five touchdowns and six interceptions (64 attempts).

The 2016 first-round pick has 49 catches for 670 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games this season, although 217 yards and all three scores were against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5. Fuller also missed four games earlier in the season with a hamstring injury.