Reid won’t play vs. Jaguars
Texans safety Justin Reid is still in concussion protocol and will not play against the Jaguars, coach David Culley said.
The loss of one of Houston’s top defensive playmakers is yet another substantial depth hit on a roster that also added a ninth player to the team’s COVID-19 reserve list. Along with health concerns, the Texans will be forced to dig into their reserve units for replacements when they travel to Jacksonville on Sunday.
Four of the Texans players who tested positive are starters — right guard Justin McCray, cornerback Terrance Mitchell and linebackers Kamu Grugier-Hill and Christian Kirksey — and the list includes reserve safeties Terrence Brooks and A.J. Moore, backup defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker, plus practice squad running back Jaylen Samuels and cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc.
McCray tested positive on Friday, and backup Max Scharping will be in line to start against the Jaguars.
Reid has started in all but one game for the Texans, and Culley said Jonathan Owens will be available to start in Reid’s place opposite Eric Murray. Owens, a three-year veteran, has totaled 36 defensive snaps in four games while playing mostly on special teams.
Brooks (101 snaps) and Moore (44 snaps) were the more experienced safeties to replace Reid, and, since backup cornerback Lonnie Johnson is in line to start with Mitchell sidelined, it’s unlikely Johnson, who played safety for eight games, would be freed to return to his old position.
“Those are guys that have been available,” Culley said. “So, we’ve just kind of moved guys around at that position as backups to help us out right there if we need it and we just move on with it.”
The league’s surge in coronavirus cases began Monday, when the NFL discovered 37 positive tests, the most in any single day this season. The number of people added to the league’s COVID-19 reserve list has since inflated to over 100. The Texans added three more players to their COVID-19/ reserve list Thursday.
The NFL responded by
introducing new mandates that include masking regardless of vaccination status, requiring meetings to be held remotely or outdoors, and banning in-person meals and outside visitors while a team is traveling. The league also “strongly” encouraged vaccinated players, coaches and staff to get booster shots to combat the increase in cases and the advent of the omicron variant.
“We went virtual starting yesterday,” Culley said. “Everything is virtual as far as our meetings. We actually get to be on the field with them, just like normal. Except anytime we’re off the field, it’s basically a virtual thing and everybody has to wear a mask at all times other than when we’re on the field. It’s the same thing when we travel. But basically we’re just going with the protocols they’ve assigned us to do.”
Injured Burkhead may play Sunday
The Texans might have more depth at running back against the Jaguars than they anticipated.
Culley said there’s a chance Rex Burkhead, the team’s leading rusher in the last four games, could “possibly play” Sunday. Burkhead injured his hip in the second half of Houston’s loss to the Seahawks last week, and, on Monday, Culley said “he just won’t be able to go” against the Jaguars.
But Burkhead practiced with limitations Thursday, and the Texans coaching staff is more confident the nine-year veteran, who first injured his hip Week 4 in Houston’s loss at Buffalo,
might be able to provide depth to a running back room that needs it.
While Burkhead’s status remains questionable against the Jaguars, the Texans added former TCU running back Darius Anderson to the practice squad.
If Burkhead is eventually unavailable, a Texans run game that ranks last in the NFL will have to rely on David Johnson (176 yards), Royce Freeman (25 yards) and Anderson, a George Ranch graduate who spent time with the Cowboys and Colts after going undrafted in 2020 but has yet to record a carry.
Wallow expected to fill bigger role
The Texans are hoping rookie linebacker Garret Wallow continues to progress against the Jaguars on Sunday, when the fifthrounder from TCU will almost certainly log his most snaps this season while starters Grugier-Hill and Kirksey are sidelined on the COVID-19 reserve.
Wallow spent most of his time on special teams for the first 12 games. Then, former linebacker Zach Cunningham was benched for disciplinary reasons against the Colts in Week 13, and Wallow was elevated to the defense’s reserve unit. Wallow has since recorded four tackles in two games, and, he recorded his first tackle for loss last week.
“He made some good plays last week,” defensive coordinator Lovie Smith said. “I like what he’s done throughout. He’s been patient, taking advantage of the opportunities he’s gotten. If you continue to do that, you’re going to get a chance to really show. If you make a few good plays, you get more. … That’s the case with Garret. I’m anxious to see him take another step this week, and I believe he will.”
Veteran linebackers Neville Hewitt and Kevin Pierre-Louis are expected to be the Texans’ other linebackers when the defense runs its base 4-3 packages. Hewitt is in line to play middle linebacker in place of Kirksey, and Wallow, who has played well in pass coverage, could tandem with Hewitt as the defense’s second linebacker in the team’s nickel packages.