Collins caught one of Stroud’s five touchdowns during the latter’s Player of the Week performance against the Bucs. On Wednesday, Collins was one of six skill players on the injury report.
Howard and Tunsil, who have dealt with injuries all season, are two of five offensive linemen dealing with ailments. Throughout the year, the Houston offensive line has been a mix-and-match affair due to the injury bug. Week 10 will clearly be no different.
“We’ll continue to put our best five out there with the offensive line,” Ryans said. “When it comes to moving guys around and all those things, that’s more internal coaches’ decisions of things we’ll handle.”
And special teams isn’t free of injury woes, either, as kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn didn’t practice Wednesday due to a quad injury and is unlikely to play Sunday. Houston signed kicker Matt Ammendola earlier this week to the practice squad, giving him three days to get ready.
“We’ll see,” Ryans said when asked if Ammendola would have apt time to prepare. “We got a kicker ready at halftime last week. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Said kicker was Dare Ogunbowale, a running back who converted a pivotal 29-yard field goal.
Ryans laughed, making his aforementioned comment. He’s keeping things positive and embracing the next-man-up mentality. Those attributes have helped him lead Houston to a surprising start in which the 4-4 Texans have already surpassed last year’s win total.
Still, 23 players on the injury report definitely isn’t your average Wednesday.