Season ending injuries presumably end seasons. Unless you’re J.J. Watt or Kwon Alexander.



Watt, after a pectoral injury and subsequent surgery was thought to have ended his season with the Houston Texans, will get a second chance to make an impression on the NFL playoffs. Likewise, Kwon Alexander, a linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, who sustained a similar injury just four days after Watt, has targeted his return to a possible NFC Championship game, should the 49ers make it past the divisional round. Both have resumed practicing.



Watt’s injury occurred in a Week 8 game against the Oakland Raiders while trying to swim through a block and tackle running back Josh Jacobs in the backfield. Alexander tore his pectoral muscle while making a tackle on a Thursday night game against the Cardinals. For defensive players like Watt and Alexander, who suffer 60 percent of pectoral tendon ruptures, injury to the pectoral area commonly occurs when blocking,...