NFL Notes: J.J. Watt Could Miss Rest of Season With Back Injury

HOUSTON -- A person familiar with J.J. Watt's condition says he has re-injured his back and the Houston Texans expect him to be out until at least December, and possibly the entire season.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on Thursday night on condition of anonymity because the team hasn't confirmed the injury.

Watt missed training camp and Houston's four preseason games after surgery in July to repair a herniated disk in his back. He returned started each of the team's three regular-season games and got hurt again Thursday against the Patriots.

It's unclear if the injury will require surgery.

Watt, who has won Defensive Player of the Year for the past two seasons, didn't practice on Monday, but coach Bill O'Brien said then he was just getting a day off.

NFL.com first reported the news (see full story).
 
Panthers: Team signs S Griffin, DT Love
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Panthers have signed safety Michael Griffin and defensive tackle Kyle Love to one-year contracts.

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To make room on the roster, the Panthers waived safety Marcus Ball and placed defensive end Ryan Delaire on injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury.

A former first-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans, the 6-foot, 215-pound Griffin was named to the Pro Bowl in 2008 and 2010. He spent nine seasons with Tennessee before signing with Minnesota. However, he was waived by the Vikings on Sept. 7.

Griffin has played in 141 career regular season games with 133 starts, registering 607 tackles, seven sacks, 25 interceptions and 11 forced fumbles.

Love played in 15 regular season games with two starts and registered 19 tackles, including three sacks last season for Carolina.

NFL: Three legislature seats filled for possible Vegas stadium vote
RENO, Nev. -- Three people whose votes could determine whether a nearly $2 billion stadium is built to lure the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas were appointed Tuesday to vacant seats in the Nevada Legislature.

The three northern Nevada residents, including a former Stanford football player, will join other state lawmakers for a special session the governor is expected to convene next month to consider raising hotel room taxes in the Las Vegas area to help finance a 65,000-seat, domed stadium that could be home to the NFL team.

The current informal proposal on the table would tax only hotel guests in Las Vegas and Clark County, with no direct impact on Washoe County, Reno or Sparks. But critics fear that in the event of revenue shortfalls, the burden could fall to all Clark County taxpayers or, potentially, taxpayers statewide

"I am a fan and support football as a sport," said ex-Stanford linebacker Dominic Brunetti, a Republican commercial real estate broker.

"And as a business, I respect the NFL," he said. "But only if it is fair to those communities and families it influences and impacts through oftentimes very, very complicated deal structures."

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