With 15 games of the 2025 NFL regular season down, it stands to reason that every team around the NFL would be dealing with a rash of injuries at this point in the calendar. That's a whole lot of football to have already been played to remain unscathed, and the Houston Texans are just one of the many teams around the NFL trying to figure out how to cobble together a healthy roster ahead of the final two weeks of the season.
Unfortunately, the Texans, unlike many teams around the league, still have a whole lot to play for over the next two weeks. Even though the odds say that Houston will end up in the Playoff field, a postseason berth has yet to have been clinched, and there's a scenario where despite winning 10 games for the third straight season, the Texans could still miss out on the Playoffs.
To make matters worse, the Texans are missing out on a day of rest and recovery this week, heading out west to play the 11-win Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday afternoon, and just like the Texans are, the Chargers are motivated to emerge with a Week 17 win in order to keep their chances at a division crown alive. But for Houston, keeping hope alive will be a difficult task with so many key players potentially sidelined.
In total, eight Texans players missed practice on Tuesday afternoon, and five of those players are starters. Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter, Sheldon Rankins, Aireontae Ersery and Trent Brown were all non-participants, as were Denico Autry, Dylan Horton and Jake Hansen.
Obviously the inclusions of Stingley and Lassiter, key pieces of the league's best secondary, are huge concerns. But equally concerning is the fact that in last week's win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the Texans lost both of their starting offensive tackles to injury. Assuming that neither Ersery or Brown can go, it would force the Texans to reconfigure their offensive line once again, starting Blake Fisher at one tackle spot while moving Tytus Howard over from guard to the other tackle spot.
But the worries for the Texans don't end with these eight players who couldn't suit up on Christmas Eve Eve. Additionally, starting running back Woody Marks' availability remains something of a question mark, as does that of Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who like Marks, missed Houston's Week 16 matchup with the Raiders.