Will Fuller, Kenny Stills among numerous injuries for Houston Texans
By Matt Conner
The injury report for the Houston Texans reads almost as long as their official roster as they prepare to visit the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.
The maxim says an NFL player’s best ability is his availability, and that’s becoming a serious concern for a number of Houston Texans players as the team prepares to visit the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the Divisional Round of the postseason. On Sunday afternoon, both teams square off, but just who will be available for Houston is yet unknown.
A close look at the injury report shows that the Texans are ailing at pretty much every position at this point, the rigors of a long season punctuated with a shift straight into postseason play. Last weekend, the Texans bested the Buffalo Bills to move on to face the Chiefs, but it cost them almost a full extra quarter of overtime play which means an already tired team had to go through that many more reps on the field.
Some of the players on the injury report are well-documented at this point. For example, pass rusher J.J. Watt has recently returned from a torn pectoral and is going to stay limited in practice as long as the Texans are alive this season. Wide receiver Will Fuller missed last week and is uncertain as to whether or not he will play this week, despite the Texans needing a deep threat desperately.
From there the injuries are numerous even if you ignore those stars. Linebacker Jacob Martin missed all of practice on Wednesday due to illness and several more were limited—a fairly common thing for veterans on Wednesdays as the team gets back into practice schedule for the next game. At this point it’s hard to tell just how much to read into things.
Fellow wideout Kenny Stills was limited in practice due to a knee injury. Safety Jahleel Addae was out with the same. Tight end Jordan Akins has a hamstring concern as does cornerback Jonathan Joseph. Fellow defensive backs Keion Crossen and A.J. Moore were also limited on Wednesday with a hamstring and hip issue, respectively.
At this point, nothing is final given the early nature of these practices, but it’ll be important to watch the Texans to see how the final injury reports of the week read compared to this one. Both teams face off at Arrowhead on Sunday afternoon at 2:05 C.T.