There couldn't be a worse time for the Houston Texans to be facing their greatest injury crisis of the season, but as years of football fandom have taught us all, the injury bug is a cruel son of a gun who doesn't care about unfortunate timing or any possible inconvenience.
Coming out of a Week 9 loss at the hands of the Denver Broncos, we knew that quarterback CJ Stroud, who suffered a concussion early in the 2nd quarter of that 18-15 defeat, would more than likely miss Week 10 at minimum. That proved to be true. But what we didn't yet know was how many more Texans would end up being ruled out this Sunday too.
In addition to Stroud, Houston will be without Tytus Howard (concussion), Jalen Pitre (concussion), Ed Ingram (knee), Ka'imi Fairbairn (quad) and Christian Harris (shin) against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There's obviously a whole lot to unpack here, because being without one of the best safeties in the NFL and having to make a late-week adjustment at kicker is nothing to scoff at. But the biggest issue for the Texans heading into this must-win divisional game will be the state of their offense.
Davis Mills, Texans offense face uphill battle versus Jaguars
As 5th-year quarterback Davis Mills prepares for his first regular season start since the final game of the 2022 NFL season, he'll be doing so without the entire right side of his offensive line and Houston's top two offensive linemen, according to Pro Football Focus. If you felt shaky about Mills' chances of doing enough to lead the Texans to a win earlier in the week, the losses of Howard and Ingram certainly wouldn't make you feel any better.
But throughout the week, everyone in Houston is saying all of the right things about Davis Mills heading into this game. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, predictably perhaps, voiced his support for the recently-extended backup earlier this week, noting that during Wednesday's practice, Mills "did an outstanding job" while getting all of the 1st-team reps.
But it's not just the coaching staff that is praising Davis Mills heading into this Week 10 AFC South showdown. The biggest star on the Houston Texans defense went public with his confidence in the former 3rd round pick too.
"Davis is doing a really good job preparing," Pro Bowl edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. said of Mills, per DJ Bien-Aime of . "The guys are rallying behind him. I can't wait to go see him ball out."
Jaguars offense also enters matchup short-handed
If there's any saving grace for the Houston Texans, it's that the Jaguars are also not a picture of perfect health heading into this game. In addition to Travis Hunter, who was placed on the IR after suffering a non-contact knee injury a couple of weeks back, Jacksonville's offense will also be without Brian Thomas Jr.
Thomas has been one of the biggest disappointments of the season thus far, following up a promising rookie season in which he caught 87 balls for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns with a sluggish sophomore campaign through eight games. Though Thomas has only 30 passes for 420 yards and a single touchdown over the first half of the season, his absence will be felt in a major way for a Trevor Lawrence-led offense that has been up and down all season.
There's no telling how much of newly acquired wide receiver Jakobi Meyers we'll see. Meyers was acquired just four days ago in a deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, indicating that the Jags -- currently in the final Wild Card spot in the AFC standings -- are moving their chips to the center of the table in the first season under head coach Liam Coen.