Of the two teams waltzing into Saturday's game at Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Chiefs are the ones most associated with injuries at this point. That's because the primary conversation around the contest between the Chiefs and Houston Texans comes down to Patrick Mahomes' health and whether or not the Chiefs quarterback will be under center.
Mahomes suffered a mild high-ankle sprain in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Browns in Week 14 which led to Carson Wentz's insertion into the starting QB role for the Chiefs for the rest of the game—and perhaps beyond.
But the Chiefs aren't the only team with injury concerns. The Texans have plenty of concerns themselves when it comes to player health and both sides should hate the Saturday schedule.
We recently reached out to our friend Randy Gurzi who runs Toro Times, to tell us more about the state of things in Houston.
What are the Texans' biggest concerns with a shorter week ahead of them?
It’s got to be injuries. They escaped without any major hiccups on Sunday but Joe Mixon was banged up at one point, as was Dalton Schultz. That’s been the one thing that’s really hurt them, so keeping everyone as healthy as possible without their normal rest will be vital.
In terms of an injury worry index ranging from 1-10, what's the feel on Mixon?
For Mixon, it’s low. Probably a 2, but it was another ankle injury due to a hip drop tackle. That’s the second time he’s had an ankle injury this season, so they’re going to need to make sure he rests up. It was also apparent he wasn’t as explosive after the injury, so it’s worth monitoring even though he returned.
What's wrong with Schultz?
Schultz had what is being called an “upper body injury.” We’ll have to watch for the practice reports this week but he also returned — although he had to head to the medical tent. If I had to guess, it looked as though it was his shoulder that he hurt when he hit the turf hard. His is also low, probably a 3 but still a concern.
The Texans were the buzz of the entire NFL coming into this season as a popular preseason pick to take the next leap. Feels like they're being heavily overlooked for the sake of other teams now with better records. What do you make of the preseason buzz and where they stand now?
I think the buzz was real since you had the 2023 Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year as well as a head coach who tied for the NFL Coach of the Year—losing via tiebreaker. They then added help for those stars with Stefon Diggs and Joe Mixon coming aboard to help C.J. Stroud on offense and Danielle Hunter helping Will Anderson on defense.
The defense has been as advertised with Hunter playing a phenomenal role while Anderson has stepped his game up. They’ve also had some killer games from their secondary.
I think the reason they’re being overlooked, however, is the offense. Diggs is gone, Mixon has been up-and-down the past five games, and their offensive line can’t protect Stroud. Their defense is good enough to beat anyone but if they don’t find a rhythm on offense, they could be in trouble.