Coaches had early look at Atkins’ potential

When the Texans’ staff was coaching at the Senior Bowl all-star game two years ago, Central Florida tight end Jordan Akins quickly emerged as one of their favorite players on the South roster.

A former Texas Rangers minor league baseball player, Akins was athletic, mature and excelled as a crisp route runner with sound hands.

Two years after picking Akins in the third round, he has become a reliable pass-catching threat and has significantly upgraded his blocking skills.

Akins ranks third on the Texans with 196 yards and two touchdowns on 13 catches out of 18 targets. He’s averaging 15.1 yards per reception with a long catch of 53 yards.

The Texans’ initial scouting report on Akins has come to fruition.

“I thought he was smart,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “I thought he had good movement skills for a guy that was 240-245 pounds, I thought he caught the ball well, and I thought he has some physical toughness. I thought that he had the ability to do certain types of blocking and I thought he could help us on special teams. “I thought that he had really good athletic ability. I liked that fact that he was a little bit older, that he had played professional baseball and would bring a mature type of approach to pro football. There were a lot of things that we liked about him there.”

Clark returns; Henderson sidelined

The fallout from rookie offensive tackle Tytus Howard’s partially torn medial collateral ligament continued Wednesday.

The Texans signed offensive tackle Chris Clark following a Tuesday tryout and placed former starting tackle Seantrel Henderson on the non-football injury list.

Henderson has a back injury, according to sources not authorized to talk publicly, and was unable to practice Wednesday, prompting the decision to sign Clark.

Clark was waived from the Saints’ injured reserve list in August with an injury settlement.

Clark played three seasons for the Texans after a trade from the Broncos, starting 26 games overall.

“When Chris was here, he was a really good pro,” coach Bill O’Brien said. “He had good leadership, very dependable guy.”

The Texans cut quarterback Alex McGough from the 53man roster and officially signed 6-10, 325-pound offensive tackle Dan Skipper off of the Patriots’ practice squad.

The Texans also signed offensive tackle Kyle Murphy to their practice squad, cutting center Marcus Henry.

Murphy was drafted by the DC Defenders of the XFL on Tuesday.

“We liked some of the ways that he moved around,” O’Brien said. “Smart guy, went to Stanford. I guess you’re smart when you go to Stanford.”

Joseph angling toward playing

Although cornerback Johnathan Joseph is still recovering from a strained hamstring, he’s angling toward returning against the Colts.

Joseph missed Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, but he returned to practice Wednesday and is considered to have a strong chance of playing as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks between now and kickoff. Joseph was limited in practice.

Trade market dims after previous deal

The Texans expended a lot of draft capital before the season began to land left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills via a blockbuster trade.

Having already sent a pair of first-round draft picks and a second-round selection to the Miami Dolphins in that trade, the Texans aren’t expected to be active in the trade market as an Oct. 29 NFL deadline approaches.

“We talk about the roster every day,” Bill O’Brien said. “We talk about every team’s roster, practice squad, and we try to evaluate all the factors that would take place in doing what’s best for the team. As we stand here right now, not too much going on with the Texans, but we’ll always evaluate.”

Receiver Stills back to full participation

For the first time since receiver Kenny Stills injured his hamstring against the Panthers, he’s back to full participation in practice. Stills has missed the past two games, but he should be able to play this week, barring any setbacks.