JJ Watt has said that he treats pre-season practices and fixtures like "real games".

The defensive player of the year has played just two snaps during the Houston Texans' pre-season schedule so far.

The 24-year-old told reporters: "I'm always ready to play and I'm always chomping at the bit to get out there. Excited. Excited is all I can say.

"Treat it like a real game. I treat everything like a real game. I treat practice like a game. Like I've said before, there's no 'turn it off'. There's no 'just because it's a pre-season, playing it one way'. You play the way you play, all the time.

"I don't think I'll actually feel like they've fully taken the chains off me until the regular season, but any I chance I get for them to throw a little bit of meat into the cage, I like it, and I'll take it. I'll take any bit I can."

The Texans play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.