J.J. Watt showed the NFL last season that a mid-year torn pectoral injury isn’t necessarily season-ending.

The Houston Texans star defensive end had surgery to repair a torn pec in late October, then surprisingly returned eight weeks later to play in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.

Stephon Tuitt was hoping to duplicate Watt’s rapid recovery, and for a while, it looked like it might be possible.

Tuitt, the Pittsburgh Steelers seventh-year defensive end, revealed Wednesday he was planning a January return from an injury he suffered in Week 6 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

“That was the goal we were working for if we made the playoffs,” Tuitt said. “But it just didn’t happen.”

Through 14 weeks, the Steelers were in prime playoff position with an 8-5 record. Then, they lost their final three games to tumble out of the postseason picture for the second year in a row.

It wasn’t the scenario Tuitt wanted — he never did make it off the injured reserve list — but it gave him an entire offseason to mend.

“The recovery has been well,” Tuitt said. “I got a chance to get my pec back stronger than it was even before.”

Tuitt had 22 tackles, including 18 solo, with 3 1/2 sacks and six tackles for loss through five games. It had the makings of a breakout season for Tuitt, whom the Steelers signed to a five-year, $60 million contract on the eve of the 2017 season opener.

Then, he suffered what he called a “freak-of-nature accident” early in the first quarter against the Chargers. Tuitt was trying to chase Philip Rivers to the ground when he felt a pop in his pectoral muscle.

Tuitt, who spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since last season, described the incident as “whiplash.”

The injury was similar to the one Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward suffered midway through the 2016 season. Heyward rebounded to become a three-time Pro Bowl pick and two-time, first-team All-Pro selection.

“Cam has been a great, reliable resource for me to be able to talk to from a recovery standpoint and how to handle my injury,” Tuitt said.

The Steelers wouldn’t mind if history repeats itself with Tuitt.

A former second-round pick out of Notre Dame, Tuitt totaled 6 1/2 sacks in 2015, his second NFL season. He hasn’t surpassed that total in any of the past four seasons, and injuries have been a reason. Tuitt also missed four games in 2017 when he tried to play through a torn biceps injury.

Heyward set a high bar with 12 sacks in 2017, the year he returned from his pec injury. Tuitt isn’t publicly making any such lofty expectations.

“We have a bunch of guys that can get in the backfield and cause a lot of chaos and a lot of distress for the quarterback,” Tuitt said. “I’m excited to be back and put my hand in the pile.”

Defensive line coach Karl Dunbar said Tuitt’s presence makes a unit that led the NFL in sacks last season even more unpredictable.

“I guess it’s a thing you know when he’s on the field, you can’t double team everybody,” Dunbar said. “He’s a big human being who can move. He’s trouble to block.”

Dunbar spoke on Monday, the first day the Steelers were permitted to practice in pads. He called it the day the Steelers can “toot the horn and kick the tires and really see what (Tuitt) brings to the table.”

Tuitt has practiced without restrictions in the early stages of training camp. The players wore pads Monday and Tuesday, then practiced without them Wednesday.

“He is not,” coach Mike Tomlin said when asked whether Tuitt was being managed differently than in previous summers. “He is a guy that has been given full medical clearance, so I have a little to no reservations about management of reps from him, from that perspective.

“He is just getting his legs back on the ground, if you will. Being out of football as long as he has been, I am sure he is just excited about being out there. He and I did have that discussion. In terms of some of the detail execution, some of the fine motor skills associated with play — that will be a work in progress.”

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