Plenty of jaws dropped on Sunday when the Houston Texans lost their highest-performing wide receiver. After scoring a big touchdown, Nico Collins ran into the injury tent on the sideline and wasn’t seen for the rest of the game. Since then, more information has come out on his injury, and the Texans won’t get Nico Collins back on the field for a while. How will the team fare in his absence?
Nico Collins Placed On IR
Nico Collins was just placed on injured reserve. This keeps him on the sideline for at least four weeks. Collins hurt his hamstring running toward the endzone against the Bills on Sunday. Once he reached about the 5-yard line he started to limp a bit, after which he lightly jogged off to the sideline.
According to Head Coach DeMeco Ryans, hamstrings are usually a “day-to-day injury.” He didn’t provide any more information on when to expect Collins back. Four weeks is the minimum that he can be out for, so he could miss more time if the injury is more serious.
Houston’s Upcoming Schedule
Fortunately for the Texans, the next four weeks look very winnable, even without Collins on the field. Their schedule for the next four weeks is as follows: at New England Patriots, at Green Bay Packers, home vs Indianapolis Colts, and at New York Jets.
Of those four opponents, only one, the Green Bay Packers has a winning record. New England will be trying out Drake Maye at quarterback on Sunday, but unless he has a big debut, the Texans can likely pick up that win. The Jets just lost their head coach, so the Texans should be favored in that game. The Colts are always tough for the Texans, but who knows if either Running Back Jonathan Taylor or Quarterback Anthony Richardson will be healthy for that game.
Although it’s never good to lose Nico Collins, the Texans may also have Running Back Joe Mixon back on the field soon. Mixon has been missing since week 2 with an ankle injury after taking a huge hit against the Bears. In week 1 he had a monster performance, and the Texans are hoping he can repeat that for the rest of the season.
Picking Up the Slack In Collins’ Absence
With Nico Collins on injured reserve, the two receivers who would stand to see more playing time would be John Metchie III and veteran Robert Woods. That being said, it’s more likely that they shift Stefon Diggs to the wide receiver 1 slot and have Tank Dell play the wide receiver 2.
After Nico Collins left on Sunday, Xavier Hutchinson saw a decent number of snaps. He caught two of his three targets, one of which he turned into a 19-yard gain. Look for the Texans to give him more snaps against the Patriots and have Diggs try to pick up the production they’re missing without Collins.
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