A hamstring, and the timing could not be worse
Nico Collins did not finish Wednesday’s practice the way Houston wanted. The receiver injured his hamstring on the field and his availability for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati is now in doubt, ESPN reported this morning.
Texans doctors have looked at it and do not consider the injury serious. That word carries less weight than it should in Collins’ case. He landed on injured reserve with a hamstring problem in 2024 and sat out five games. Soft-tissue injuries repeat, and this one arrives in the second week of a season Houston has already started badly.
The official injury report listed him as limited. Limited on a Wednesday tells you very little. Thursday and Friday will tell you more.
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What Houston stands to lose
Collins caught seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in the opener, a 36-31 defeat to Buffalo. That was the most productive afternoon any Texans receiver had, and it came in a game where the offense kept pace with a Bills team that scored 36.
He is 27 and has 296 catches for 4,422 yards and 25 touchdowns across 67 games, 53 of them starts. A third-round pick in 2021 who turned into a two-time Pro Bowl selection, he is the one player in this receiving corps opposing coordinators build a plan around. Take him out and Houston’s passing game becomes a collection of complementary pieces.
Cincinnati arrives Sunday
The Bengals are dealing with their own medical file. Joe Burrow has been managing back tightness since Week 1 and has insisted he will play. Two teams, two banged-up headliners, one game that already looks like it will be decided by who can stay upright.
Houston needs the win more. An 0-2 start in a division with Indianapolis and Jacksonville would put the Texans in a hole by the end of September, and doing it without their leading receiver would make the climb steeper. Collins will get two more practice days to prove the hamstring holds.
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