Ground game eyes gains with Taylor back
The Texans are hoping Tyrod Taylor’s return as the team’s starting quarterback will provide a boost to a run game that has been largely inefficient during the seven-game losing streak in his absence.
Taylor was the team’s second-leading rusher with five carries for 55 yards when he exited the Week 2 game against the Browns at halftime with a hamstring injury. The 11-year veteran pulled the muscle on a 15-yard scramble for a touchdown in the second quarter, then aggravated it further while rolling out on the sideline just before the break.
Coach David Culley and offensive coordinator Tim Kelly built a run-oriented scheme in the offseason that was similar to the style of offense Taylor ran in Buffalo in 2015, his only Pro Bowl season. The offense, stymied by injuries to three starting linemen, also faced limitations with rookie quarterback Davis Mills, who threw more interceptions (8) than touchdowns (7) while posting a 29.6 quarterback rating that ranked 31st among league quarterbacks.
The Texans’ run game ranks last in the NFL with 3.3 yards per carry, and the run-game inefficiencies partly restricted the offense from taking downfield shots. Mills ranked 31st among league quarterbacks with 13 completions of more than 20 yards.
Taylor’s return, tight end Jordan Akins said, can help “open up the offense a little more than we usually do.”
“It’s going to help out a lot just having his presence out there,” said running back Phillip Lindsay, who is the team’s third-leading rusher with 41 carries, 105 yards and a touchdown. “You guys can see, it’s just him being a veteran. It’s him playing a lot of football and understanding things. It’s going to help us out a lot. I’m excited to have Tyrod back. I think everybody is. It’s good to see him healthy, and people are going to fight for him.”
Run defense hopes to rebound
The Texans’ last-place run defense is hoping to rebound against a Dolphins run game that has struggled to establish a rhythm this season.
Four running backs in Houston’s past three games have averaged mroe than 5 yards per carry, and, in the Texans’ 38-22 loss last week to the Rams, running back Darrell Henderson enabled play-action shots by gaining 90 yards at 6.4 yards per carry.
Miami’s 78.6 rushing yards per game are the sixth-fewest in the NFL. Myles Gaskin’s seasonhigh totaled 67 yards in a 30-28 loss to the Falcons on Oct. 24, and no other Dolphins ball carrier has gained more than 37 yards in a game.
The Texans will have to shift their defensive front, since linebacker Christian Kirksey, who suffered a thumb injury against the Cardinals, has been ruled out against the Dolphins. The starting middle linebacker played with a club cast against the Rams and did not practice with the team this week.
Reserve linebacker Neville Hewitt, who’s recorded six tackles in eight games, was prepared to play in place of Kirksey last week. The Texans also claimed linebacker Eric Wilson off waivers Thursday, but it’s unlikely the 6-foot-1, 230-pound former Eagle would be prepared to play on such a quick turnaround.
Defensive coordinator Lovie Smith’s four-man front scheme requires its players to win their one-onone battles and play off instinct. The adjustments from the past issues, defensive tackle Maliek Collins said, are simple.
“Discipline, staying in our gaps, everybody doing their job,” Collins said. “Just being gap disciplined. … There’s basic technical things we practice and go (over) every day that it’ll take.”
Rookie TE Jordan back in element
Texans rookie tight end Brevin Jordan will have a chance to build on a breakout performance in a familiar setting against the Dolphins.
The fifth-round pick played three seasons for the University of Miami, which also plays its home games at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Jordan flourished into an all-around tight end in college, a pass-catching threat who caught 105 career passes for 1,358 yards and 13 touchdowns.
General manager Nick Caserio was impressed enough with Jordan that he spend a fifth-round pick on a tight end despite the team’s surplus at the position. Akins and Pharaoh Brown were already on the roster, and Caserio signed Antony Auclair in free agency and exchanged a 2022 seventh-round pick with the Patriots for Ryan Izzo.
The Texans cut Izzo in training camp and have mostly carried four tight ends on the 53-man roster this season. Jordan bided his time for seven games until he was activated for his professional debut against the Rams, when Brown was sidelined with a thigh injury. Jordan caught three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown in Houston’s 38-22 loss.
Culley said the rookie “showed today that he deserves an opportunity,” and, with Brown ruled out again versus the Dolphins, Jordan is in line to fill in again.
The Texans’ run-oriented scheme deploys several multiple tight end formations to aid in run blocking, and Jordan has worked behind the scenes to build on becoming a complete tight end.
“I just work with him the best way I can,” Akins said. “I just teach him what I know as far as this offense.”