WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — J.J. Watt hasn’t been encased in glass.

And the Texans’ star defensive end isn’t necessarily being reserved strictly for regular-season duty.

Despite a healthy return from a gruesome broken leg suffered last season with no setbacks or issues during contact drills at training camp, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year won’t necessarily see a lot of preseason action.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien was noncommittal on what the plan is for Watt as far as having him play in preseason games.

As for Watt, he trusts his surgically repaired leg again. And he would like to test it out further during at least one preseason game.

While Watt isn’t expected to play in the Texans’ road preseason opener against the Kansas City Chief this week, he hopes to participate in the preseason games at some point.

“Yes, at least in one of them,” Watt said. “I want to get a couple of live reps. It doesn’t need to be a lot, but I think it’s important to at least see some live bullets before you go out there and have some guys flying at you for real.”

Limited to eight games, 23 tackles and 1½ sacks over the past two seasons, Watt has endured the broken leg last year against the Chiefs. He also underwent a pair of back surgeries two years ago to repair a herniated disk.

“He hasn’t been fully released yet,” Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said. “He’s doing some things. Like all guys who get injured, they have to knock the rust off and get back to feeling comfortable. Hopefully, he’s beginning to feel comfortable and we’ll see how it goes.”

Not taking any chances

In the past, Watt didn’t play in the preseason games as a precautionary measure.

As encouraged as the Texans are about Watt’s progress, they don’t want to take any undue risks with him considering his recent injury history.

“J.J.’s come back in great shape,” O’Brien said. “He’s really worked well. I think we’ve got a good plan for him, getting him ready for the season, and he understands it. He’s doing a really good job.

“We’ll see how the reps go in practice. That’s what it depends on. Preseason, a lot of it has to do with the reps in practice. There’s a lot more that goes into it nowadays than even 10 years ago.”

While Watt has been full-go in practice and handled some contact drills without incident, he is hoping to do so against an opponent eventually. He feels like it’s an important element in his transition to regular-season mode.

“Practices are huge, training camp practices are huge,” Watt said. “The games, I’ll definitely need some live reps at some point before the regular season, but that’s just whatever the coaching staff wants, however many live reps they think you should see.

“But we do such great work in practice, we have so many competitive reps that you don’t need a ton of live reps. You just want a few just to get your feet under you.”

Midway through the summer, Watt reached the point where he knew he could count on his leg to hold up and run and cut and do everything he needed it to do.

Watt looks fluid in drills and has displayed power and quickness and change of direction.

“It’s a process,” Watt said. “Over the course of the summer, I would say probably midway through the summertime, I started to feel really good with it, and then at that point is when you can push it and really test the limits and try to get yourself back to where you think you’re going to be.

“Every week I would try some new things and try to push it farther to see where it was, and it responded well. We just kept going and going. It’s been really good.”

Watt is noticeably leaner than a year ago. Although he still weighs 290 pounds, it’s structured differently.

“I’m the same weight, but I would say it’s probably a little bit leaner, yeah,” Watt said. “I’m 290. I’ve been 290 almost every year. My body is definitely in a better place this year than it was last year at the same time.”

A former first-round pick from Wisconsin, the 29-year-old keeps adapting his workouts and recovery for whatever his body and game requires. Watt is one of the more introspective athletes in the NFL.

“Yeah, I think I definitely have a better understanding of where your body is, what it needs,” Watt said. “The biggest thing for me coming into this camp was I wanted to be good in condition, be in good shape, so I could play as many plays as I need to, so I could go out there and really focus on my technique and not have to worry about any conditioning aspect. That’s been the case so far. I’ve been really pleased with that.”

Looks like former self

One of the questions surrounding Watt was how long it would take for him to regain his old form and shed rust accumulated over the past two seasons due to injuries.

After spending the majority of the past two seasons on injured reserve, Watt looks like the old Watt to his position coach.

“Oh man, he looks like he’s knocked the rust off pretty quick,” defensive line coach Anthony Weaver said. “He’s out there, he looks strong, fast, physical. He’s getting some really good work in against (offensive tackle) Seantrel Henderson.

“If you can play against him every day, all 300 whatever pounds of him, I think that’s a good test going into the season. I think he looks great.

aaron.wilson@chron.com

twitter.com/aaronwilson_nfl