Pro Bowler Nico Collins’ status for Week 3 remains up in the air for the Houston Texans.
Collins (hamstring) was among the group of players absent from the first practice session of the week. This comes after Collins suffered an injury in the week of practice leading up to Week 2 and missed their loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Texans back at practice,” ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime posted on X on September 23. “No sight of #Texans WR Nico Collins.”
No sight of #Texans WR Nico Collins
This was not wholly unexpected.
“Grade 1 hamstring injury, per source, and not currently expected to play vs. #Colts,” KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson reported in a post on X on September 21. “Likely same receiver personnel this week again.”
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans did not provide much clarity on the situation when he last met with the media.
He did not provide any update on Wednesday.
“We don’t have an update right now,” Ryans told reporters on September 21, adding the the Texans were “still seeing how he progresses with his rehab and his recovery” before making any declarations about Collins’ status.
Texans Expect WR Room to Step Up Without Nico Collins
While Ryans did not update Collins’ status, he did put the Texans’ healthy receivers on notice that they expect more out of them in Week 3.
“I expect our receivers to continue to grow, continue to build off of what we’ve done,” Ryans said on September 23. “They do a great job of practicing. It’s just a matter of making those plays when you get the opportunities in the game; just a matter of making those plays. We got guys who can go make plays. Just got to do it on Sunday.”
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud also expects the group to be improved from Week 1.
He later noted that he is building chemistry with Kayshon Boutte and expects Jaylin Noel to keep improving, but he expects that from the group. Stroud leaned on tight end Dalton Schultz in Week 2, but the Texans need to be able to threaten teams downfield, too.
“A player like Nico, his presence is always felt when he’s on the field,” Stroud said. “It’s tough not having him. But I think this week could be better. We had a great day at practice today.
“We’ll be able to, I think–hopefully–take what we did in practice and execute on on Sunday”
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