Houston’s Watt has broken hand but will play Sunday

Patriots offensive line vs. Texans DE J.J. Watt: The right side of the offensive line isn’t a fortress for the Patriots, but all the help New England can afford will be utilized to wall off Watt.

Houston Texans defensive lineman JJ Watt was wearing a cast on his left hand Thursday and missed team practice.

Bill Belichick was defensive coordinator of the New York Giants during the career of Lawrence Taylor and he sees similarities in J.J. Watt.

-WR Danny Amendola (knee) was limited in practice on Wednesday after returning to game action in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles.

“Football is a game where things happen and you play through it”, Watt said.

“I would tell him, ‘Mike, when you’re a coach and you’re calling the defenses, you should go ahead and do that, ‘” Belichick said Wednesday.

“Let ’em try”, Watt said when asked if he expects opponents to target his injured hand. He had a storied career that included 12 selections to the All-Star Game and the 1955 title with the now-defunct Syracuse Nationals. New England has had plenty of success against the relatively young Houston franchise.

Vrabel played eight seasons in New England and won three Super Bowls under Belichick. His 76 consecutive starts rank third among active National Football League defensive ends, according to the Texans’ official site.

“I think it’s overhyped that a couple of guys that are leaders that played for a while can give a magic speech or something like that”, safety Devin McCourty, one of seven Patriots captains, said Thursday. He played in just five games as a rookie, making 10 combined tackles and grabbing an interception. The game was originally slated for 4:25 p.m. but was flexed by the league into the primetime slot.

Since then, O’Brien served for two years as the head coach for a Penn State program in crisis, and now in Houston he is in a position to cement himself as one of the most successful coaches to fall from the Belichick coaching tree. A match up against Houston means much attention will be paid to receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who has already topped 1,000 yards receiving on the year.