COVID list claims 3 more starters
The Texans added three more defensive starters to a COVID-19 reserve list that has now grown to 14 players. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins and defensive ends Jacob Martin and Derek Rivers both tested positive, and, if they don’t return two negative tests taken 24 hours apart by Sunday’s home against the Chargers, they will not play.
According to the NFL’s COVID-19 policy, if vaccinated individuals don’t return two consecutive negative tests, they may return after 10 days. Coach David Culley said last week that all but one player is vaccinated. Every Texan on the list is vaccinated. But if they don’t turn in negative tests in consecutive days, six players (including four starters) wouldn’t reach the 10-day minimum to be eligible against the Chargers.
Practice squad running back Jaylen Samuels, who was added to the list Dec. 11, and starting linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, added Dec. 13, both would be eligible in time.
Starting linebacker Christian Kirksey, reserve safety A.J. Moore and defensive end DeMarcus Walker — who were all added to the list Dec. 15 — would each be technically available, but it would be unlikely to see such a quick return for players with little to no practice time unless there was an extreme need.
Cornerback Terrance Mitchell, right guard Justin McCray, left guard Lane Taylor and defensive end Jonathan Greenard all were added to the team’s COVID-19 reserve late last week. Their timelines would keep them out against the Chargers.
Lonnie Johnson, who subbed for Mitchell, will again be available to start Sunday. This also means the Texans will likely use their same configuration on the offensive line as they did against the Jaguars. Backup Max Scharping played for McCray, backup Geron Christian started at left tackle, and Tytus Howard ,a former first-round tackle, moved back to left guard.
Howard has played his best football this season at left tackle. Taylor’s starting debut against the Jets in Week 12 enabled Howard to move to his drafted position. But even before the surge of COVID-19 cases, the Texans coaching staff has moved the versatile Howard around the offensive line frequently in what they’ve said is an effort to produce their best starting five offensive linemen.
“That guy will do whatever you want done,” Culley said. “As I mentioned earlier, he’s gifted enough as an offensive lineman, skilled enough to play (multiple) positions and he’s been nothing but just consistency for us.”
Backups and reserves filled the
11 vacancies in Houston’s 30-16 win at Jacksonville. The Texans elevated seven practice squad players to bolster depth on the roster. Only two, defensive end Chris Smith and cornerback Grayland Arnold, had played for the Texans this season.
It’s possible the Texans will again have to lean on those players against the Chargers.
Rookie linebacker Garret Wallow, who recorded his first career start, tied slot corner Tavierre Thomas with a gameleading 11 tackles against the Jaguars. Backup middle linebacker Neville Hewitt, who recorded nine tackles in his relief start, said he sent Wallow a congratulatory text late Sunday night.
“I told him I’m proud of him to get that opportunity your rookie year and to go in there and play lights out like he did, play with that fire and that energy,” Hewitt said. “He has a great, great future ahead of him.”
Burkhead carries load for dismal run game
When Rex Burkhead rushed for 41 yards in Houston’s win at Jacksonville, it was the most yards on the ground gained in a game by any Texans player this season not named Mark Ingram.
The Texans’ run game, inefficient even before the franchise traded Ingram in October, has still failed to produce a 100yard rusher this year — an absence that hasn’t occurred since the franchise’s inaugural 2002 season. Ingram himself only gained more than 41 yards in a game once, when he recorded 73 yards on 18 carries in a Week 6 loss at Indianapolis.
Still, Burkhead wasn’t expected to even play. The nine-year veteran entered the weekend questionable with a hip injury that has plagued him in different moments of the season.
“This time of year everybody’s got bumps and bruises, so you just do your best to be able to get out there on the field and perform the best that you can to the highest ability that you can,” said Burkhead, who has totaled 72 carries for 207 yards and a touchdown in 2021. “Our staff here, the trainers, the people in the weight room do a tremendous job just making sure we’re as good as we can be for game day. Being a veteran in this league, I’ve learned some things to recover faster and just get my body in the best shape possible for games. I take that knowledge and approach every single day.”
David Johnson, who returned from the COVID-19 reserve after a false positive, started against the Jaguars. But after Johnson recorded six carries for 24 yards, Culley said the Texans instead used Burkhead and Royce Freeman the entire second half because that was “just the flow of the game.”
The Texans coaching staff has favored Burkhead’s style as a downhill runner, and, protecting a 20-10 halftime lead in a downpour, offensive coordinator Tim Kelly ran Burkhead 11 times for 28 yards in the second half.
“The rain started pouring down so we knew the run game was going to have to be a focus for us, something we establish and be physical at the point of attack with, and we did that,” Burkhead said. “It wasn’t always easy yards, it was definitely some grinding times, but I thought the line did a tremendous job and T.K. with the play calling enabling us to get some of those creases in spaces to get some good yards in critical times throughout the game.”
Dorsett relishes time with rebuilding club
Slot receiver Phillip Dorsett wanted to play for the rebuilding Texans badly enough that he asked the Seahawks to release him.
Dorsett, 28, totaled 73 catches for 881 yards and eight touchdowns while playing for the Patriots from 2017 until 2019, when Texans general manager Nick Caserio was then New England’s director of player personnel.
Dorsett then signed with the Seahawks, missed the 2020 season with a foot injury suffered in training camp, and returned to Seattle after the Jaguars released him from their practice squad in late September.
But Dorsett, a seven-year NFL veteran, saw minimal playing time in five games with the Seahawks this season, catching four passes for 55 yards. Dorsett said he requested his release from their practice squad in late November.
“Obviously, me and (Caserio) had a good relationship in New England,” Dorsett said. “I knew once I asked for my release from Seattle that I would have a chance to be able to come. Once he offered me the chance to come, I ran with it because I believe in him. I think that he has a great eye for talent, and he has a great football mind. I think he’s going to be able to do great things here if he gets the right pieces together and that’s the reason I wanted to be here.”
The Texans were also in dire need of a slot receiver.
Caserio signed former Patriot Danny Amendola when Anthony Miller’s shoulder dislocation kept him out of the season opener. Amendola was trusty enough when healthy for the Texans to cut Miller in early October, but, since then, Amendola has missed four games with a hamstring injury and three more while on the injured reserve following knee surgery.
Davion Davis, a 25-year-old former FCS All-American, then fractured his lower leg upon his first career catch against the Seahawks, which paved the way for Dorsett, who was signed to the active roster the day before, to enter the lineup.
Caserio locked in Dorsett for next season by signing the slot receiver to a one-year extension through 2022.
“I see a lot of guys that fight,” said Dorsett, who had two catches for 43 yards against the Jaguars. “I see a lot of guys that go out there and they play their butt off. Obviously, we don’t have a lot of guys that have the big names, if you want to say it, but we have a lot of guys that come together and they just go out there and they play really hard and they fight. They are making a name for themselves. That’s the kind of team I want to be a part of. A team that goes out there and no matter, no matter what happens we are going to fight every game and we’ll see what happens on the scoreboard.”