Houston Texans: Front office will be cautious with impending roster decisions
By Jair Lopez
Houston Texans general manager Brian Gaine and the coaching staff are being cautious of managing the situation of their injured players on the active roster.
The Houston Texans have several key contributors on their 53-man roster that are already on the injured reserve. Veteran cornerback Kevin Johnson and wide receiver Bruce Ellington were both placed on the IR in the first quarter of the regular season, although they are eligible to return if they pass their medicals and stay on the IR for a minimum of eight weeks.
Both players have had their up and downs with the Texans, but both are able to play a role in the team’s game plan on game day. Rookie cornerback Jermaine Kelly who was drafted in the seventh round from San Diego State University also intrigued the team enough to wait until the designated time to place him on the IR and have him eligible to return later on in the regular season.
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As mandated by the NFL, the Texans have the opportunity to bring two players back from their IR, in theory, the first two players listed would be the candidates to return if they are healthy enough to play on the football field.
Johnson’s concussion history does warrant the concern of the team’s medical staff especially how the C.J. Fiedorowicz’s situation unraveled last season. The Texans must be convinced without a shadow of a doubt that he is healthy if they decide to bring him back into the active roster.
However, the Texans are currently keeping veteran cornerback Aaron Colvin on the active roster a week after they announced that he would be out for a significant amount of time. The reason could be due to the fact that they can only bring back two players from the IR, it is a possibility that they’ll just keep him inactive until he is ready to return.
The issue that could arise with that decision moving forward would be the team taking away depth from other positions to make sure they have enough depth at the secondary moving forward.
The Texans would essentially be having 52 players on the active squad with Colvin rehabbing his ankle injury. The situation at cornerback is in dire need after Kayvon Webster, unfortunately, got hurt in his debut on Sunday night vs. the Dallas Cowboys and was placed on the IR.
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Other injuries will occur to the Texans roster as the nature of the game is filled with physicality and high-speed collisions. The front office will have to make sure they make the decisions necessary to have the best roster available down the stretch as they continue their aspirations to keep their win streak alive.