Nico Collins, the Houston Texans’ star receiver, is highly likely to miss Sunday’s noon game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This news dropped hard after Collins suffered a hamstring injury in practice Wednesday and then missed practice entirely Thursday. Talk about a gut punch when you’re trying to find your stride early in the season.
The Injury Bug Bites Again, and The Replacements Are Stepping Up
Remember when the Texans lost second-year wide receiver Jayden Higgins to an ACL injury earlier this summer? They knew they needed to add more talent, and this Collins news just hammers that home. Collins himself has a history with injuries over his five seasons, with that playoff loss to the Patriots last year being a big one. So, what’s Houston going to do? They’ve got four other receivers on the 53-man roster: Xavier Hutchinson, Kayshon Boutte, Jaylin Noel, and Jared Wayne. Let’s be real, there isn’t a clear number one option among them, but maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world. C.J. Stroud loves to spread the ball around. Last week, in their 36-31 loss to Buffalo, Collins led the team with seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown, but Stroud hit *eleven* different players! Hutchinson was third in that group with three catches for 32 yards, and he’s got some experience stepping up. As he said, “We all prepare like we’re receiver No. 1. You’ve got to be delusional about yourself and what you can do. And I feel everybody has the right delusion and confidence in themselves. That’s kind of always been our motto.” That’s the mindset you need right now.
Stroud’s Track Record Without His Top Guy
This situation isn’t entirely new for Stroud. His games without Collins have been a mixed bag since he entered the league. He’s had some of his absolute best performances, like that 2023 game against the Bengals where he engineered a game-winning field goal drive. Or last year’s win over the 49ers, where he threw for 318 yards and two touchdowns, completing passes to ten different players. That’s the Stroud the Texans need to see this Sunday. Offensive coordinator Nick Caley even noted, “The good thing about the offense is we have a lot of guys we have trust in. We go through our reads, and the ball finds the open guy.” But let’s not forget, Stroud’s also had some rough outings when Collins was sidelined, including a four-interception nightmare. Kayshon Boutte is another guy to watch; the Texans traded for him hoping he’d be that deep-play threat he was in New England. He only had one catch for 21 yards on two targets against the Bills, but Stroud sounds confident. “He knows how to get open,” Stroud said of Boutte. “I know we didn’t connect on a couple of them, but we’re still building that chemistry. He knows how to get open and play fast.”
So, this Sunday at noon against the Bengals, everyone’s going to be watching how C.J. Stroud and these wideouts handle the heat. Can they channel those “best performance” vibes without Nico Collins and keep this early season momentum going? It’s going to be a huge test.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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