Houston Texans: Lamar Miller injury brings questions at running back
Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller injured his knee against the Dallas Cowboys on the second play of their preseason game at AT&T Stadium.
The shot to the knee that Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller took on Saturday from defensive lineman Maliek Collins on a tackle during the second play of the Week 3 preseason game looked devastating, resulting in Miller being carted off the field while in pain.
This injury is tough to see for Miller as he’s a solid professional running back — and a player the Texans really need on the field for them this season — but from the first look of the injury, it doesn’t look good judging by the reaction of Miller and the rest of the players on the field.
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Miller has been the lead running back for the Texans the past three seasons, and with this being the final year of his contract, the injury couldn’t come at a worse time for Miller.
In three previous seasons with the Texans, Miller has carried the ball for at least 200 times in each of those seasons, with the ’18 season seeing him rush for 973 yards with five touchdowns. In ’17, Miller rushed for 888 yards and three touchdowns, and in ’16 Miller had 1,073 yards and five touchdowns.
For his three seasons with the Texans — Miller played four previous seasons with the Miami Dolphins — Miller totaled 44 games played (41 starts) with 716 rushes for 2,934 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeted the following about Miller’s injury:
Texans’ RB Lamar Miller being carted off with left knee injury.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 24, 2019
This was tweeted by John McClain of the Houston Chronicle as Miller’s injury had taken place:
Not only is Lamar Miller their leading rusher, but he's a terrific blocker, especially when it comes to picking up the blitz. And he's in the last year of his contract.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) August 24, 2019
Any way this injury is viewed, if Miller’s injury is as bad as it looked … well, the Texans could be in trouble as they already are without both of last year’s backup running backs, after Alfred Blue wasn’t re-signed this offseason. The team released D’Onta Foreman during training camp, who has since been injured for an extended period of time himself as a member of the Indianapolis Colts with a torn biceps.
Next in line for the Texans is Duke Johnson, a player the Texans recently traded for from the Cleveland Browns for a fourth-round (most likely third-round) pick. Johnson will probably be the “next man up” if Miller’s injury is as serious as it seems to be.
Johnson had 299 carries for 1,286 yards and five touchdowns in his four years with the Browns. Four of those touchdowns came in ’17. Johnson also recorded 235 career receptions for 2,170 yards, with eight touchdowns since ’15 in Cleveland.
The Texans also have Buddy Howell, Josh Ferguson and Taiwan Jones, plus rookies Damarea Crockett and Karan Higdon. At fullback is rookie Cullen Gillaspia.
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Let’s all hope Miller’s injury isn’t as bad as it looked, but if he is out for an extended period, more than one of the aforementioned running backs will have to step up their game and lead the way for the running backs this season.
For their sake, the Texans had better be confident in their assessment of Johnson and the rest of the running backs, because if Miller is out and missing game action this season, replacing him won’t be an easy task.