Brian Cushing is officially back and could play this Sunday for the Houston Texans.
The Houston Texans made a big roster move on Monday as they activated veteran linebacker Brain Cushing now that his 10 suspension ended last week. They had until today to do so.
Cushing could have played this past Sunday, but it looks like they wanted to give him a week to get into football shape.
Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle broke the news.
Roster exemption lifted for Texans linebacker Brian Cushing
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 4, 2017
The Texans also announced that they’ve placed linebacker Brennan Scarlett on season-ending injured reserve after he suffered an injured foot during their week 12 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. This of course opens up a roster spot for Cushing.
The #Texans submit the following transaction: pic.twitter.com/es4dmsoNxe
— Houston Texans PR (@TexansPR) December 4, 2017
Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien admitted on Monday that Cushing will likely play this coming Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.
"“I think it’s trending toward that, yeah,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “We’ll kind of get back with him [Monday] and kind of see how last week went and then we’ll go from there.”"
It will be interesting to see how much Cushing can help the Texans, given the fact that he’s no longer a young player and has missed most of the season already.
With Scarlett now done for the season and Jelani Jenkins exiting Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans with a concussion, Houston needs all of the linebacker help they can get.
Despite Scarlett’s season ending, he showed that he could have a future as a starter within the next year or two. He at least makes Texans a deeper team at the linebacker position heading into 2018.
Next: 3 takeaways from Texans loss to Titans
Comment below and tell us how much you think Cushing will help a depleted Houston defense.