Houston Texans vs. Baltimore Ravens: Ray Rice Listed As Day-to-Day

Sep 15, 2013; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) runs with ball as Cleveland Browns defensive back Buster Skrine (22) defends during the second half at M

In what could be good news or bad news for the Houston Texans, baltimoreravens.com is reporting that starting running back Ray Rice is day-to-day, and it is uncertain if he’ll play Sunday when the Ravens host the Texans.

The website said Rice’s hip flexor strain “does not appear serious and he could be ready to play this weekend …”

On Monday, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said about Rice and his injury, “We’re just get started on them. He’s a great player, obviously,” he said. “I tell you what, the one behind him (Bernard Pierce) is a tremendous player, too. I mean, he’s played extremely well.

“So I don’t think it’s going to change anything they do. Our focus has got to be on ourselves. Our focus has got to be on ourselves. To go on the road, play the world champs, the type of game we’re going to have to play, we’re going to have to correct our own stuff and stay concerned with what we’re doing.”

If the Ravens have to play without Rice that could mess up the flow of the Ravens’ offense, but from what I’ve seen this season there hasn’t been a whole lot of flow with that group to start with.

They were only able to score 14 points against a not-so-good Cleveland Browns team, and for the most part, the Ravens didn’t play that well against the Denver Broncos in the season opener on the offense or defensive side for that matter.

Rice’s season hasn’t went that well either, especially compared to his overall body of work in the NFL. The six-year running back has just 25 carries for 72 yards and one TD in 2013. He’s averring 2.9 yards per carry this season, far under his career YPC of 4.5 yards. His longest run the first two games has been 14 yards.

Rice who has 322 career receptions (61 last season for 478 yards) has tallied 11 receptions this season for just 44 yards. He’s also fumbled the ball once this season, one more time than he did all of last year.

Even though he’s been held to just 72 yards in two games on the ground thus far, not having Rice on the field can’t be good for the Ravens, and can only help the Texans, as they can just key in on Pierce.

If you think about it, if Rice would miss the game, that would be at least three big contributors to the Ravens offense missing from their Super Bowl champion team from last year, with the injury to tight end Dennis Pitta and the departure of wide receiver Anquan Bolden who they traded to an Francisco this past offseason for a draft pick.

The Texans will still need to be on top of their game, but if Rice is unable to compete at all or even at his expected level, the defense could have a field day with that struggling offense.