With Fuller again out, Ellington gets bigger chance to shine
The cracked ribs that Texans wide receiver Will Fuller is nursing will sideline him Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Texans feel good about his replacement: wide receiver Bruce Ellington.
Ellington caught a touchdown pass against the Los Angeles Rams, finishing with four receptions for 41 yards.
“Other guys are going to have to step up,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “Bruce is running good routes. Bruce needs to get the ball more. Bruce Ellington, he’s doing some really good things out there.”
Fuller didn’t practice Wednesday after absorbing a big hit Sunday from Rams safety LaMarcus Joyner.
“I’m not sure if he cracked it or not, but I would say he would miss the game,” O’Brien said.
Fuller has caught 17 passes for 326 yards and seven touchdowns in six games since returning from a broken collarbone suffered during training camp. Now, the former first-round draft pick from Notre Dame is hurt again.
Aformer fourth-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers, Ellington joined the Texans in August after being cut by the New York Jets with a failed physical due to a hamstring injury.
Ellington has caught a career-high 19 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think Bruce brings certainly his athleticism in the way of his change of direction allows him to run certain routes that are pretty clean in terms of a good, quick read of separation from defenders because he’s able to stick his foot in the ground and separate,” quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan said. “That makes him pretty quarterback friendly. He’s got the ability like you saw the other day to run after the catch.
“That’s a quarterback’s good friend right there.”