J.J. Watt's status for the first two weeks of the regular season with the Houston Texans remains uncertain.

Watt has been on the physically able to perform list since July 25, after he had surgery on a herniated disk in his back.

Bill O'Brien said he is encouraged by Watt's recovery and that "everything is going in the right direction."

"I don't think we can predict whether he'll be ready for Week 1 or Week 2, but he's going to be ready sooner rather than later," O'Brien said.

Watt was originally expected to miss 6-10 weeks after the surgery.

Watt has never missed a regular season game in his five NFL seasons.

The Houston Texans aren't ready to discuss a new deal with DeAndre Hopkins.

Hopkins had a brief holdout that ended quickly.

"There is not a negotiation happening at this point," Rick Smith said. "He's under contract for two more years. It was a holdout that weighed him down. He expressed his feelings about his desire to have a new contract. If you look around our locker room, we've been pretty consistent with taking care of our players... We have every intention of keeping him."