Houston Chronicle

Coutee likely will be in familiar slot Sunday

With Stills ailing, receiver expected to return to position he filled before injuring his ankle

- By Aaron Wilson STAFF WRITER aaron.wilson@chron.com twitter.com/aaronwilso­n_nfl

The outlook for Texans wide receiver Keke Coutee became complicate­d when he sprained his ankle badly enough against the Green Bay Packers in August that he was out until the second game of the regular season.

Instead of filling a major role in the offense, Coutee was sidelined as the Texans acquired wide receiver Kenny Stills in a trade with the Miami Dolphins.

Now, Stills is dealing with a hamstring injury serious enough that it forced him out of the game Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. The status of Stills, who was examined by doctors Monday, is fluid, but he appears to be a major long shot to play Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.

That means the Texans are going to need Coutee to resume his old role as the primary slot receiver.

Recovered from his ankle injury, the former fourth-round draft pick from Texas Tech delivered some crisp plays against the Panthers. He caught one pass for 11 yards and rushed for 10 yards on an option play.

“I feel like I’m over it. I’m ready to move forward for this whole season and contribute as much as I can,” Coutee said. “I was happy to be back out there and just be in the swing of things and be able to compete on Sundays.”

Not having Stills represents a hit to the Texans’ offense, though. He is a versatile downfield target who can line up inside or outside. He has 11 catches for 188 yards and one touchdown and leads the Texans with an average of 17.1 yards per reception.

“Any time you lose a guy like Kenny, it’s not easy,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “Kenny’s a productive player. He’s done a good job for us, so that’s what we’re upstairs right now trying to figure out as we move forward.

“We have Keke. We have DeAndre Carter. They’re different types of players, though, than him, so we’ll see how that goes. We’ll see where Kenny’s at later on relative to his injury.”

The injury to Stills is a familiar one to Coutee. He was limited to six games and 28 receptions for 287 yards and one touchdown as a rookie last season because of chronic hamstring problems.

“It’s unfortunat­e what happened to Kenny,” Coutee said. “I’ve been in his situation. I know exactly what he’s going through. He’s still a guy we can use for the rest of the season.”

When healthy, Coutee is a capable receiver. He caught 11 passes for 110 yards and one touchdown on 14 targets during a play- off loss to the Indianapol­is Colts in January. It marked the top individual highlight for a rookie year severely abbreviate­d by injuries.

“Yeah, he made some good plays,” O’Brien said of Coutee’s performanc­e Sunday. “He did miss a lot of time after the Green Bay game, but he definitely stepped up and made some plays. He’s a good player.”

The Texans don’t plan to use pass-catching running back Duke Johnson in a slot receiver role.

“We can use Duke wherever. Duke can line up in a lot of different spots,” O’Brien said. “Kenny wasn’t a slot. He played in the slot some, but he’s an outside guy that can go in the slot, you know what I mean? So he’s not just a slot. Duke does a lot of different things. I wouldn’t correlate Duke with Kenny.”

Coutee is a classic slot receiver with shifty moves and slick hands.

Healthy again and feeling rejuvenate­d after another convalesce­nce from an injury, Coutee is hoping to stay on the field and contribute for the remainder of the season.

“I feel like I’m getting back to my normal self,” Coutee said. “Knowing how my body works, knowing what I have to do to get my body going, I’m pretty fresh right now. I’m ready to go.”

 ?? Godofredo A. Vásquez / Staff photograph­er ?? Texans receiver Keke Coutee (16) caught one pass from quarterbac­k Deshaun Watson for 11 yards Sunday. He also rushed for 10 yards on an option play.
Godofredo A. Vásquez / Staff photograph­er Texans receiver Keke Coutee (16) caught one pass from quarterbac­k Deshaun Watson for 11 yards Sunday. He also rushed for 10 yards on an option play.

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