Steelers star T.J. Watt has 'successful surgery' after partially collapsed lung, according to brother J.J.

Brian Batko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 12, 2025

Published in Football

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PITTSBURGH — Steelers star T.J. Watt had a "partially collapsed lung" following a dry needling treatment and underwent surgery to treat it, his brother J.J. posted on social media Friday.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin ruled Watt out for Monday night's game against the Dolphins, but J.J. Watt indicated that the Steelers' pass rusher was at least well enough to leave the hospital.

"Yesterday TJ had successful surgery to stabilize and repair a partially collapsed lung suffered Wednesday after a dry needling treatment session at the facility," the elder Watt wrote on social media. "Recovery timeline is still TBD, but all went well and he is being released from the hospital today."

Tomlin said on Thursday that Watt experienced discomfort at the team's practice facility, went to the hospital and remained there overnight for further medical evaluation. On Friday, Tomlin declined to go into any detail about the procedure.

"It's day-to-day life in this business at this level," he said.

Teammates continued to keep Watt in their thoughts as they prepared for another practice without him Friday. Longest-tenured Steeler Cam Heyward, who has been in Pittsburgh for Watt's entire career, confirmed he has been in contact with his fellow defensive captain.

"T.J.'s a really good friend of mine, and one thing we always care about is how the man is doing," Heyward said Friday morning. "You never want to hear anything like that ever happen, but more concerned with just how he's doing on a friend level and as a brother."

Heyward didn't want to further disclose their conversation but added that he was happy he got a chance to talk to Watt. While Watt hasn't missed a game since the wild-card loss to the Bills following the 2023 season, the Steelers are 1-11 when he doesn't play since they drafted him in the first round in 2017.

His understudy and close pal Nick Herbig made it sound as if they're not expecting Watt to be ready to play Monday, which certainly aligns with his older brother's statement. It could be more a matter of whether he'll be back this season.

"A Hall of Famer, the best in the league, the best to ever do it — it's hard to replace a guy like that, but we're gonna do everything in our ability to make sure we do the right things by him," Herbig said.

It's notable that the information on Watt's procedure and condition comes via a family member rather than the team, which initially released the news that he was in the hospital. As national NFL reporters speculated for 24 hours about his lung problem, what caused it and how long he'd be out, we now know what prompted his symptoms.

What is dry needling?

According to mayoclinichealthsystem.org, dry needling treatment involves thin needles being inserted into a "muscle trigger point. A trigger point is a local band of tight, irritable and dysfunctional muscle tissue. This often emerges because of injury, overuse or poor movement patterns. ...

"The needles used are solid and don't inject liquid into your body. It's the reason this treatment is referred to as 'dry.' All forms of acupuncture use dry needles as well."

In the immediate aftermath of the Steelers' announcement that Watt was having a lung issue, several sports medicine experts online posited that dry needling could be the reason.

In 2020, a Chargers team doctor accidentally sent quarterback Tyrod Taylor to the hospital with a punctured lung while treating him before a game. That was a rib injection for pain relief and Taylor did not go on injured reserve but did eventually sue the organization.