Houston Texans: Keke Coutee is off to a shaky start amid an elevated role

Houston Texans wide receiver Keke Coutee will now be relied upon in the offense as his counterpart, Kenny Stills is on the shelf. Can Keke step up? Look.

It’s time for the Houston Texans to take on their Week 5 opponent in the Atlanta Falcons as they partake in their second-straight home game before heading up to Kansas City for a tough matchup next week.

This team has an excellent chance to be able to seize the day and be able to get a win on the docket but it’s imperative that the secondary make an elongated effort do a better job in trying to force turnovers to help their fellow brethren on the defensive line.

Deshaun Watson is going to be his usual self, thirsty to make the big play and try to minimize the hits that he takes while trying to move those chains up the field.

One thing that he has been deadset on is taking care of the football. Watson has thrown just two picks over the past 11 games dating back to last season, so it’s quite apparent that he hates creating turnovers just as much as Bill O’Brien doesn’t like seeing them.

But as the Houston Texans head into today’s matchup, the only guy that will be out for today is lead veteran slot receiver Kenny Stills, who is nursing hamstring and ankle injuries. He has proven to be a tremendous asset for this offense with his speed and his ability to catch the football wherever he’s at.

It has made us all sort of forget that the Houston Texans did invest in a speedy wide receiver by the name of Keke Coutee but he has such terrible luck with the injury bug, we can typically count on him not being available.

He’s shown flashes of brilliance — especially during the Wild Card Game against the Indianapolis

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Colts last season — but he has had an opportunity to put it together because some crazy injury would flare up and the mode du jour has seemed to be his hamstring, which caused him to miss 10 games last season.

So far, he has been healthy and he was targeted a bit last week against the Carolina Panthers but his numbers are far from impressive.

He had just one reception for 11 yards off three targets for a catch percentage of 33.3.

With Stills out, it’s imperative that Coutee steps up the plate — or gridiron in his case — because this team needs all that weapons it can to be successful out on the field.

When the Houston Texans drafted him in the 4th round back last season out of Texas Tech, they were expecting him to be that guy but he just hasn’t lived up to expectations because of his health.

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I’d expect Watson to target him close the double-digit mark today but it’s up to Coutee to show his worth on this team.

We’ll see if it happens but this team will be counting on him for help — let’s go Houston Texans!

Coutee, 22, has caught three balls for 18 yards — 6.0 yards per catch — and zero touchdowns this season for a 42.9 percent catch percentage.

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