Medical Expert Implies Steelers May Seriously Be At Fault For TJ Watt's Sudden Collapsed Lung

As each day passes, the situation between the Pittsburgh Steelers and TJ Watt gets more interesting. No one is quite sure when the star edge rusher will return to the field of play, which has added more uncertainty to an already-confusing predicament. It remains to be seen whether a return is coming soon for the team captain or not, but his main priority right now is focusing on his health after a scary accident. Overall, there could be more to the story, which is why recent comments from a well-renowned medical professional have to be highlighted.

Dr. David J. Chao of Sports Injury Central is often spot on when analyzing video and diagnosing player injuries simply based on looking at a replay. In this case, there is nothing to go off of when it comes to Watt's lung. That didn't stop him from trying to make sense of what happened in a video that he posted to his X account. It's safe to say that there could have been some grave error by whomever was completing a dry needling treatment for Watt.

"I didn't think it would be possible — dry needling causing a partial lung collapse," Chao said. "Do you know how deep you have to stick that needle? Dry needling is a muscle relaxation technique for knots." 

It was originally speculated that Watt had a similar injury to Tyrod Taylor's that was suffered during a freak accident back in 2020, but that was when Los Angeles Chargers' medical personnel was treating the quarterback and working on a rib blockage just prior to a game. This is not the same situation, and it remains a mystery as to how something like this, given the type of reported treatment, could have happened to the Steelers' edge rusher.

"Do you know how much muscle TJ Watt has, even on his chest and thorax, and trap and everything else? You would have to be burying that needle really deep in him to get down to the lung, and even so, the thickness of the diameter of that dry needle, like acupuncture, is much smaller than the needles we would use for rib blocks."

Chao spent a lot of time as a team physician at the NFL level, so his remarks are not to be brushed off. He seems to imply (without actually pointing fingers) that someone made a big-time mistake when treating Watt. That could lead to a completely different story that has yet to be told to the public.

Chao continued to speak about the odd situation between the Steelers and Watt. It's extremely hard to use this kind of needle and injure someone to the point where he or she needs surgery. In this case, however, it happened to Watt, and that had the doctor very curious about what the heck happened that day in the Steel City.

"This has to be jammed in really deep and multiple times for it to be the cause [of Watt's injury]," Chao stated.

Fans may be able to get some more information from Watt when and if he speaks to the media about the occurrence. It has been a very strange couple of weeks since the edge rusher needed to get to a hospital and undergo surgery. As each day passes, it becomes more and more of a sketchy situation for the Steelers.

Steelers Is Not Off The Hook Legally Just Yet

Taylor ended up taking legal action against the Chargers' team doctor that was allegedly at fault for his failed rib blockage back in 2020. While it remains to be seen what the whole story is with Watt, Pittsburgh could be nearing a vital point in its relationship with the future Hall of Fame defender. Based on Chao's comments, there's more to what truly happened and something appears a little bit off based on how hard it is for an incident like this to occur.

Do you think the Steelers are hiding something when it comes to Watt's lung injury? Let us know in the comments below!

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