Houston Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt suffered a broken hand during Wednesday's practice but according to him, it would not prevent him from playing today, Sunday, as they take on the New England Patriots. 

Watt spoke to the media last Thursday, wearing a cast on the injured left hand and downplayed the severity of the injury. 

"People are going to try to make a big deal out of this, but I've played with worse than this before, even this season," Watt said. 

"This, I'm not very worried about. My elbow a couple years back was way more painful. This was painful when it happened, but it's football. In a game of football you're going to play with pain," he added. 

Watt is the reigning National Football League (NFL) Defensive Player of the Year and is currently leading the league in sacks with 13.5 in 12 games played. 

Texans head coach Bill O'Brien also is confident that Watt, despite the broken hand, would be playing against New England. 

According to ESPN, along with the hand injury, Watt is also nursing a groin injury which made him miss two days of practice before their 30–21 Week 13 defeat to the Buffalo Bills last Dec. 6, in which he played all the defensive snaps. 

In his time facing the media, Watt also spoke about his readiness with opponents trying to target the injuries. 

"Let 'em try. I mean, what? The opposing players come after me every week with every type of thing in the book you can think of," Watt said. 

Watt and the Texans are aiming for the top spot in the American Football Conference (AFC) South as they take on the Pats, who are on a two-game losing slide which is a first for the defending champions since 2012. 

Houston is second in the AFC South with a 6–6 record, identical with the division-leading Indianapolis Colts who are also playing today against the Jacksonville Jaguars.