Deshaun Watson out for the season with torn ACL

The Houston Texans have been dealt another huge blow. Rookie sensation Deshaun Watson tore his ACL during Thursday’s practice and the team officially placed him on injured reserve on Friday. It was a non-contact injury to his right knee.

On Friday, Watson shared a heartfelt note on Twitter.

“Today, the journey back seems far, but I’ve been here before and will conquer it once again,” he said.

“I promise that I will continue to work diligently so that this team can one day bring a championship to Houston, and when I return, I will be better, stronger and more focused than ever before!”

Now the 3-4 Texans will have to revert back to Tom Savage as the starting quarterback. Savage was benched midway through the Texans’ Week 1 loss to the Jaguars after going 7-of-13 for 62 yards. Watson entered the game in the second half and never looked back.

He’s thrown 19 touchdowns this season, which ties him at the top of the league alongside Carson Wentz. He also broke Kurt Warner’s record for the most touchdowns in the first seven games of his career. He joined Fran Tarkenton as the only two rookies in NFL history to ever throw four touchdowns in three consecutive games.

With Watson at the helm, the Texans climbed to the top of the NFL in scoring with a league-best 30.7 points per game. The team scored at least 30 points per game in each of the last five weeks, with the rookie posting 16 passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown over a four-game span in October.

The Texans quarterback had just been named AFC Offensive Player of the Month and AFC Rookie of the Month. His play made him an obvious candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and earned him the respect of his peers around the league.

He tore the ACL in his left knee in October 2014 during a practice while he was at Clemson. That same week, he led the Tigers to a 35-17 victory over South Carolina and finished the season with the partially torn ligament. It is believed that this injury is to his other knee.

Dabo Swinney, Watson’s coach at Clemson, said Watson knows what it takes to come back from an ACL tear.

“All he did after the injury in 2014 was come back and lead us to the National Championship game twice and of course we won it last year,” Swinney said in a statement. “He started all 30 games his last two years here.

“I have no doubt he will come back from this. He has the resolve. His work ethic and drive are incredible.”

After Watson’s injury, the Texans quickly signed T.J Yates and Matt McGloin as backups. Yates played four seasons for the Texans, completing 57.8 percent of his passes for 1,470 yards, six touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He will back up Savage this week against the Colts. McGloin, who played for Bill O’Brien at Penn State, will not be active for the game.

The Texans have been able to rely on the defense to carry the team over the past couple of seasons. That is unlikely to be the case this year. Injuries have devastated the Texans. They lost both J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus last month. Linebacker Dylan Cole is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Defensive end Christian Covington went down with a torn bicep in Houston’s Week 8 loss to Seattle, and he’ll miss the rest of the season.

Watson’s injury derails a promising season for the rookie, and possibly for the Texans.