Collins caught one of Stroud’s five touchdowns during his final 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, Houston’s offensive line has been a mix of games due to the injury bug. Obviously, Week 10 will be no different.
“We’re going to continue to bring our best five forward,” Ryans said. “When it comes to transferring players and all that stuff, those are the decisions of the internal coaches on the things we’re going to handle.”
Special teams isn’t without injury issues either, as kicker Kaimi Fairbairn did not practice Wednesday with a quad injury and is unlikely to play Sunday. Houston signed kicker Matt Amendola earlier this week to the practice squad, giving him three days to prepare.
“We’ll see,” Ryans said when asked if Amendola has the time to prepare. “We had a goal ready at the end of the first half last week. So, we’ll see what happens.”
The happy kicker was Dare Ogunbowale, a running back who converted a pivotal 29-yard field goal.
Ryans laughed as he made his aforementioned comment. He keeps things positive and adopts a next man up mentality. Those traits have helped him lead Houston to a surprising start as the 4-4 Texans have already surpassed last year’s win total.
However, having 23 players on the injury report is certainly not an average Wednesday.