It's been so long that we've gotten a definitive update on the health status of Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon, let alone seen Mixon take a handoff, that it's actually possible the Pro Bowl running back has become an afterthought amongst fans in H-Town. But within the Texans organization, the absence of Mixon hasn't gone unnoticed.
Although the dropoff would appear to be minor if you look at Houston's rushing yards per game and yards per rush from last season (112.2 yards per game, 4.4 yards per rush) to this season (107.6 yards per game, 4.2 yards per rush), there's no question that the Texans would've preferred to have Mixon in the fold rather than having to rely on the combo of a wrong-side-of-30 Nick Chubb and a 4th-round rookie in Woody Marks.
Unfortunately, as the 2025 NFL season enters its back half, the Houston Texans have no other choice than to continue riding Chubb and Marks, because according to sources of ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime, Mixon is not expected to return at any point during the 2025 season.
Mixon's injury status has been shrouded in mystery since the spring, when the 29-year-old back sat out during OTAs and minicamp. Come July, when the Texans reconvened for training camp, Mixon was a non-participant once again, and at the end of camp, Houston officially placed Mixon on the non-football injury list.
Throughout the opening weeks of the season, there appeared to be some optimism that Mixon may be able to return at some point during the season, but as each week passed by without any sort of update or indication of progress being made, it started to feel less and less likely by the time we got to October.
On October 7th, Texans general manager Nick Caserio told reporters that he expected that the team would have a better idea of Mixon's return timetable "in a few weeks," but noted that Mixon was, "making progress."
During an appearance on Sports Radio 610 on Wednesday, Caserio's tune was noticeably more pessimistic.
“It’s not that I’m trying to be evasive, it’s just a very gray situation,” Caserio said. “Joe’s worked at it. There were times where he’s made progress and other times when the progress is kind of stalled. Players in his situation are on the reserve list until they’re not. Joe’s doing everything he can. Obviously we’re getting pretty late in the game here, so I don’t want to establish any sort of expectations. A month ago or whatever it was, I mentioned we’d have a better idea in three or four weeks, or whatever it was. I don't think we have any more clarity at this point."
For now, the Texans need to be prepared to go to battle with the Marks and Chubb combination that has been doing the bulk of the work in the backfield all season long. Through 10 games, Marks and Chubb have combined for 767 yards and 4 touchdowns on 198 carries. Through Mixon's first 10 games last season, the eventual Pro Bowler had rushed for 887 yards and 11 touchdowns on 205 carries.