Pittsburgh Steelers OLB T.J. Watt suffered a partially collapsed lung during a dry-needling session at the team facility ahead of the Steelers’ Week 15 game against the Miami Dolphins, and Watt spoke about the incident for the first time on Friday. Watt confirmed that the incident happened at the team facility and the dry-needling session was performed by someone employed by the Steelers but said he has no hard feelings, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.

T.J. Watt says he doesn’t have any hard feelings toward the organization after the dry needling accident happened at the team facility.

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 2, 2026

Watt also said he was in a “significant amount of pain” following the incident, per Pryor, which led to him getting surgery at a hospital to treat the injured lung.

“Got the dry-needling at the facility, didn’t feel right shortly afterwards, was in a significant amount of pain, ended up going to the hospital and as you guys saw ended up needing surgery. Recovery was different because it was something I wasn’t used to,” Watt said, while thanking and expressing gratitude for his doctors and people in the Steelers’ facility.

T.J. Watt says he feels good, and he discussed what happened when his lung was partially punctured in the dry needling treatment. Says he was in an “immense amount of pain.” pic.twitter.com/keoBTDY6NK

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 2, 2026

He said he’s going to take a break from dry needling moving forward, per Chris Adamski of TribLive.

Asked if he would still do dry needling, TJ Watt smiles and says “I am gonna take a break now, for sure”

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) January 2, 2026

Dry needling is a technique using thin needles to help treat trigger points in muscles. It’s a different practice than acupuncture, and one of the risks can be a punctured lung if the needle is misplaced or goes too deep. That’s what happened with Watt, and it’s caused him to miss the Steelers’ last three games. However, he confirmed he’ll return on Sunday for a winner-takes-all matchup for the AFC North against the Baltimore Ravens.

“Just happened to be a fluke thing,” Watt said about the dry-needling incident, per Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show on Twitter.

While it was no doubt a scary situation for Watt and a blow to the Steelers to not have their star outside linebacker down the stretch, the good news is that he’s healthy and avoided anything worse. He seemed to be in good spirits talking to the media and while it took a few weeks for him to rehab to get to the point he can play, Watt will be able to contribute in a game where the Steelers might need him the most.

There was some uncertainty on whether the treatment was administered by a member of the team’s staff or someone outside the facility, as there could’ve been potential legal ramifications had Watt chosen to pursue that route. But it doesn’t sound as if that will be the case, and Watt is putting the incident behind him as he focuses on making his return to the field on Sunday.