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The Pittsburgh Steelers may well be without superstar defensive end T.J Watt for a pivotal showdown with the Miami Dolphins on Monday night, and they might have team doctors to blame.
The Steelers, 7-6, are clinging to a one-game lead in the AFC North ahead of the Baltimore Ravens, whom they beat a week ago, and square off with a suddenly surging Dolphins team that has won four straight games.
If they’re going to hold onto that division lead for another week, they may need to do so without Watt, a future Hall of Famer and current record holder for sacks in a season.
T.J. Watt Suffers Lung Injury After Treatment By Team Doctor
A team spokesperson revealed that Watt was in a local hospital on Thursday for further evaluation after experiencing discomfort in his lung at the team’s practice facility Wednesday.
“He was experiencing some discomfort when he was at the facility yesterday, and so we took him to the docs and they’re going through some procedures,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said following Thursday’s practice. “He stayed overnight in the hospital. “He has a lung situation that’s being addressed. I think he has some testing and so forth ahead of him this afternoon, and that’s all I know at this juncture.”
But that’s only where things begin to get interesting.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Watt suffered the lung injury occurred during treatment at the team facility Wednesday.
Sources: T.J. Watt’s lung injury occurred during treatment at the team facility Wednesday. Watt has been hospitalized since then. https://t.co/ac61o3X2vk pic.twitter.com/cJ5rmUzbmE
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 11, 2025
Now, neither Schefter nor the Steelers revelaed specifics of the inury. However, in a similar incident in 2020, journeyman quarterback Tyrod Taylor suffered a punctured lung while receiving a pain-killing injection to his ribs from a Los Angeles Chargers team doctor.
Taylor later sued the Chargers for $5 million in damagers, although the outcome of the case was never made public. The doctor, David S. Gazzaniga, still serves as the team’s physician.
Nobody has confirmed how Watt suffered his lung injury, or what the injury even is. However, the wording Schefter’s report certainly seems dubious for the Steelers team doctor who was working on the superstar edge rusher.