The first two weeks of the regular season have not gone according to plan for the Houston Texans, who have suffered losses to the Los Angeles Rams (on the road) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (at home) and have dealt with a few injuries on offense.
If you’re a Texans fan, you likely didn’t have a 0-2 start in mind before the start of the season, and Week 3 being a must-win game. But this is the situation Houston is in and has to figure out.
Luckily for the Texans, they are getting healthy at the right time, which could help spur them to a win on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. According to Houston’s Week 3 injury report on Thursday, they had six players listed as limited participants, which included wide receivers Christian Kirk and Braxton Berrios.
Kirk and Berrios have missed the first two games because of hamstring injuries. The only player with a DNP tag was rookie Jaylin Smith, who was also listed as DNP on Wednesday.
Texans Getting Healthy at Right Time After Starting Season 0-2
If nothing goes awry at Friday’s practice, the Texans should have an almost healthy team, which will hopefully give them an additional boost heading into Sunday’s game.
Among the players listed as limited, Houston is happy to get back Kirk, who was supposed to be their team’s WR2 and be the top option out of the slot. Without Kirk, the Texans have struggled to find consistency at the WR2 spot with rookie Jayden Higgins, Xavier Hutchinson, and Justin Watson to a lesser extent.
The hope is that with Kirk back on the field, it should take some pressure off Nico Collins, who has gotten off to a slow start.
The Jaguars’ pass defense isn’t exactly a shutdown group, so if Houston’s offensive line can give C.J. Stroud some time in the pocket, he should be able to hit on a few big passing plays.
As for the Texans’ defense, they have the playmakers to make life tough for Jaguars QB Trevor Lawnrece, who tossed three touchdowns in Week 2, but also had two interceptions.
Now, Houston’s run defense will have to be much better than it was in Week 2 against Tampa Bay (169 yards allowed), as the Jaguars are averaging 169.5 yards per game through the first two weeks. This means Houston’s defensive line, which only has one injury of note, must win at the pocket of attack and get into the backfield.
If the Texans can’t bring home the win against their division rival on Sunday, bigger issues could be on the horizon for this squad.