Rookie center Nick Martin might require surgery to repair his ankle.
Rookie center faces possible surgery after suffering high-ankle sprain
The makeshift status of the Texans’ beleaguered offensive line absorbed another hit as the high-ankle sprain suffered by rookie center Nick Martin is more serious than team officials initially thought.
Although no determination has been made on whether the second-round draft pick from Notre Dame will undergo surgery, Texans coach Bill O’Brien acknowledged Sunday that’s a possibility.
With Martin sidelined indefinitely, the Texans are playing without three starting offensive linemen as offensive tackles Duane Brown and Derek Newton remain sidelined with injuries.
Martin injured his ankle Thursday during a joint practice session with the New Orleans Saints when he was thrown to the ground during a blocking drill.
Projected as an immediate starter and lauded for his toughness, intelligence and skill, Martin has yet to play in any preseason games because of ankle and back injuries.
“His ankle is still being evaluated by our doctors and trainers,” O’Brien said. “I really don’t have an update for you right now. Any time you have an injury, ankle or knee, you do have to wait for the swelling to go down before you can really make a judgment. Right now, I’d say (surgery) is a possibility, but that hasn’t been determined yet.”
Mancz gets starting nod
Because of the absence of Martin, former undrafted free agent Greg Mancz has been pressed into action as the starting center.
Mancz is regarded as a scrappy lineman who has outplayed former Oakland Raiders lineman Tony Bergstrom. But Mancz was dominated by Saints defensive lineman Nick Fairley on one play on which Fairley broke through him to sack Brock Osweiler.
“Look, I think he had a solid night,” O’Brien said. “A couple of times he was having to block Fairley, who’s a very good player. He got beat a couple times but he also held his own quite a bit against their front.
“So for having not been out there a whole lot up until this preseason because of his injuries that he’s had, you’ve got to give the kid a lot of credit. He’s paid attention, he’s very smart, and I’m glad we have him.”
Mancz started his second consecutive preseason game Saturday night.
“There’s a lot we can work on and watch it and figure out where we go from there,” Mancz said. “It just shows I need to keep working on so much stuff. It’s nice to play with guys who know what they’re doing.”
After going undrafted out of Toledo last year, Mancz impressed the Texans coaching staff and teammates with his work ethic and toughness. Mancz (6-4, 301) played in three games before being placed on injured reserve in November with a knee injury that required surgery.
The early reviews have mostly been positive on Mancz.
“I think his intelligence,” Texans offensive line coach Mike Devlin said when asked what stands out about Mancz. “I like his grit for fighting back from some injuries to get back and get an opportunity here.”
Replacements struggle
The offensive line, especially Bergstrom, struggled against the Saints.
The Texans allowed four sacks against New Orleans. They rushed for just 59 yards on 24 carries for an average of 2.5 yards.
Bergstrom was replaced by Oday Aboushi at right guard after starting in place of veteran Jeff Allen, who was excused from the game because of a death in the family. With Allen absent, the Texans were missing four of their five regular starting linemen against the Saints. Allen is set to return this week.
The Texans’ starting line against the Saints was made up of left tackle Chris Clark with Brown still on the physically unable to perform list after undergoing quadriceps surgery, left guard Xavier Su’a-Filo, Mancz at center, Bergstrom at right guard and Kendall Lamm at right tackle with Derek Newton out with a strained hamstring.
“When you look at the positive side of it, we have built some depth here with that position over the last couple of years,” O’Brien said. “The two guys that played tackle for the majority of the night, (Lamm) and Chris Clark, those guys played pretty well. We have confidence in those guys. I thought that they both played well.
“The right guard position was OK, some good, some bad. I thought Greg had a solid night. Xavier did some decent things, some improvement that he needs to make in certain areas, but overall it was a decent night.”
Notwithstanding Martin’s injury, the Texans are optimistic they eventually will have a deep, healthy line.
“You would hope,” Devlin said. “That’s what the organization is trying to build, an offensive line of smart, tough guys and obviously depth.”