HOUSTON -- In a message to fans on Twitter, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt spoke for the first time since having back surgery.As I sit here, recovering from back surgery, the doctors wont really let me do much, so I end up just pacing around my house all day, Watt tweeted. Ive spent a lot of my time reading through the notes and letters that yall have sent to me and trying to respond to as many as I can. I know I wont be able to respond directly to everyone, so I wanted to write one note to all of you to say thank you. You make our jobs possible. You make them fun and you make difficult times like these much easier. So thank you, I truly appreciate you. See you on the field very soon.Watt had surgery last week to repair a herniated disk in his back. He played with the injury last season, but it was not thought to need surgery. Recently, the injury flared up and surgery became necessary.Watt will miss at least training camp and all of the preseason, but the rest of his timetable is uncertain. There is some concern about his availability for the early part of the season, sources familiar with Watts condition said.According to people familiar with the surgery who have not treated Watt, rest is critical in the immediate aftermath of such a procedure. The more he rests now, the quicker his recovery will be. It could take anywhere between six and 10 weeks.The Texans placed Watt on their physically unable to perform list Monday ahead of training camp.Watt has never missed a game since the Texans drafted him No. 11 in 2011. Howie Kendrick Jersey . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Tanner Rainey Nationals Jersey .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. https://www.cheapnationals.com/817r-jake-noll-jersey-nationals.html . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Austen Williams Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Gerardo Parra Nationals Jersey . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. LAS VEGAS -- Four years after Linsanity, Jeremy Lin returns to New York a different player, a more mature person, and with a much different role.Lin said Saturday he signed a three-year, $36 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets in free agency because he was given an opportunity that has been rare during his six-year NBA career: to quarterback a team as the starting point guard.Its going to be collective, and Brook [Lopez] is going to be a big, big part of it as well as other players, Lin, speaking while watching the Nets at the Las Vegas Summer League, said in his first public comments since signing his new deal. But Im definitely coming in [understanding] what my role is. Im the playmaker. Im the point guard. Ive got to lead. Ive got to be an extension of the coach, and Im not shying away from that role at all.For me, being 27 now, thats something I wanted. Its a challenge I wanted to embrace, and I cant wait to do that. ... Im going to be the guy bringing it up the floor and leading the team. And thats definitely something that appealed to me.In six seasons with five teams, Lin has been a full-time starter for only one of those seasons, during the 2012-13 season in Houston, where he started 82 games and averaged 13.4 points and 6.1 assists.After enjoying a successful season in Charlotte, averaging 11.7 points off the bench, Lin said he was looking for a long-term home with a bigger role.New Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who developed a strong relationship with Lin as an assistant coach with the Knicks during the 2011-12 season, when Lin exploded on the NBA scene, pitched to Lin a chance to be his floor leader.I dont think there will be a quarterback controversy right off the bat, Atkinson joked when asked about handing the ball over to Lin. I think that everybody thinks Jeremys best position is that combo guard off the bench. We took a little, kind of outside-of-the-box idea and said he can be our full-time point guard.Lin was born in California; his parents immigrated here from Taiwan in the mid-1970s.He still has a large following around the U.S., including in New York, where Linsanity was born while he played for the Knicks. Lin averaged 14.6 points, 6.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 35 games with the Knicks in 2011-12. However, during aa breakout 11-game stretch, he averaged 23.dddddddddddd points and 9.1 assists in 2012.Lin became a phenomenon and an international star in Asia, as well. Now he returns to New York uncertain of what the expectations for him might be in his second New York stint, albeit this time with Brooklyn.I am pretty far removed from that, Lin said of his Knicks stint. I dont forget about it like its a bad memory. But for me, I am so far past that. In terms of expectations, when I talk about me growing as a person, one of those ways is the expectations for myself, from the team.Expectations are going to be the same for me. I am going to go in and keep my mind right, keep trying to play for God. The last few years, I have been able to live with the results. There have been disappointing times -- my Lakers season [in 2014-15], losing in the first round. There definitely are going to be a lot of disappointments. But I know I did things what I felt like was the right way.Atkinson has built a stellar reputation for developing players, particularly point guards. He said he believes Lin can be a full-time starting point guard despite being given few opportunities to do so.I saw it in flashes in New York that he can distribute the ball, Atkinson said. I think he has got great vision. I think if you look at his attributes, he can play the point-guard position and he can defend the point-guard position. I see him leading our team. I see him being a great pick-and-roll combination with Brook. I think that is part of the reason we got him -- we challenged him with that role.Atkinson also said he thinks Lins experience in Brooklyn will be different from his time with the Knicks and the pomp and circumstance surrounding Linsanity.I think much different, Atkinson said. That was a little happenstance, all the things that happened around circumstances. This is a long-term thing, and coming to a system that was maybe a little different to what he was playing in New York. It will be a little different to him. But I think he is smart enough to be able to adjust to a new system, new team. That is one of the things I trust -- his adaptability. ' ' '