Not only are the Houston Texans coming off an embarrassing home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, they have to play on a short week with an injury-plagued roster.
Set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, the Texans have already listed seven players as inactive for the Week 2 game.
Rarity: #Texans inactives are done: Jeff Allen, Stephen Anderson, Alfred Blue, Brian Cushing, Bruce Ellington, Will Fuller, Ryan Griffin—OUT
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 13, 2017
This list doesn’t include starting tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz, who was placed on injured reserve Tuesday after suffering yet another concussion (more on that here).
Notice for a second here that all three of the active tight ends on Houston’s roster are out for Week 2. Each of them suffered a concussion in Sunday’s loss to Jacksonville. To say that the Jags knocked Houston into next week would be an understatement.
In addition to putting up just three points, Texans quarterbacks were sacked a whopping 10 times in the game. It also led to the team benching starting quarterback Tom Savage in favor of rookie Deshaun Watson.
The good news for Houston, if there is any, J.J. Watt will suit up in this one after suffering a dislocated finger in the opener. The team will also take on a Bengals squad that was shutout in Week 1 against the Baltimore Ravens.
Silver lining, indeed.