The Houston Texans have had some really bad injury luck when it comes to the wide receiver position. Last year, they lost Tank Dell to a late-season broken leg, and he first started to look like himself last Thursday night against the New York Jets. Two weeks ago, Stefon Diggs went down with a non-contact injury and is now out for the season with a torn ACL. That came just three weeks after Nico Collins strained his hamstring.
What is the latest on Collins’ status? Is he nearing a return?
What Is Nico Collins’ Injury?
It was simultaneously a moment of jubilation and despair for the Texans, their fans, and fantasy football managers across the world. Collins broke loose for a 67-yard bomb, perfectly delivered by C.J. Stroud.
CJ TO NICO 67 YARDS!
📺: #BUFvsHOU on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/0wfq5acJXl— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024
As you can see from the video, Collins pulled up lame toward the end of his sprint into the end zone. He immediately went to the blue tent, then the locker room, and was quickly ruled out.
After the game, the injury was initially described as minor, but an MRI subsequently revealed a strain serious enough to sideline Collins for multiple weeks. The team opted to place Collins on IR, guaranteeing a four-game absence.
Collins currently leads all wide receivers with 113.4 receiving yards per game. His absence has left a black hole in the Texans’ passing attack. Without Collins, Stroud has not looked anything like the MVP candidate we saw in 2023.
When Will Collins Return From Injury?
Collins has now officially missed four games. He is eligible to play in Week 10, should the Texans choose to activate him. That has been the plan all along, but his hamstring needs to have recovered enough for him to play.
With the Texans having played Thursday night, we likely won’t get an update until Monday afternoon, at the earliest. Right now, the most recent news is from Oct. 27.
Texans WR Nico Collins (hamstring) is on track to return Week 10, per @AaronWilson_NFL pic.twitter.com/yskQmX6LdV
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) October 27, 2024
Given that Collins was still tracking to return as of last week, we should be cautiously optimistic that he will play in Week 10, as initially planned.
Collins will still have to make it through a full week of practice. As we’ve seen far too often this season, players have either gotten hurt or aggravated preexisting injuries during practice at an alarming rate. But barring a setback, if Collins does return to practice this week, he should be back on the field on Sunday.
How Has Collins’ Absence Impacted the Texans?
It’s been a rough four weeks for Stroud without Collins. The Texans were able to decisively dispatch the New England Patriots in their first game without Collins but have lost two of their last three, their only win a fortunate field-goal victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
In Collins’ absence, the Texans have been increasingly reliant on running back Joe Mixon since his return from a Week 2 ankle sprain. He’s carried the ball 24-25 times in three straight games.
Stroud has had the benefit of the Texans’ quality WR depth to keep the offense afloat. Diggs and Dell are about as good as it gets for a team’s WR2 and WR3. But with Diggs now done for the season, Dell could really use his running mate back on the field.
Robert Woods, Xavier Hutchinson, and John Metchie III will continue to serve as the depth behind Collins and Dell.