NEXT MAN UP
Houston Texans offense dealt a blow with unsettling update on key playmaker
Oct 9, 2024, 10:52 am
Nico Collins has been placed on IR (hamstring). Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images.
Nico Collins, the NFL's leading receiver, will miss at least four games after the Houston Texans placed him on injured reserve with a hamstring injury Wednesday.
Collins left Houston's 23-20 victory over the Bills on Sunday after scoring on a 67-yard reception late in the first quarter.
Coach DeMeco Ryans said Monday that he considered Collins week to week with the injury before the Texans made the move to shut him down for a month Wednesday.
Collins, who is in his fourth NFL season, has 32 receptions for an NFL-best 567 yards with three touchdowns. He and quarterback C.J. Stroud have carried the offense with running back Joe Mixon out for the past three games with an ankle injury.
With Collins out, the 4-1 Texans will look to Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to carry more of the load as they play the first of two straight road games Sunday at New England.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?