Houston’s final injury report before Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET opener against the Buffalo Bills at Reliant Stadium was notable mostly for what it didn’t include: no late drama, no surprise setbacks, and no game-status tags for right tackle Trent Brown or linebacker Wade Woodaz.
Both players practiced fully from Wednesday through Friday and enter Week 1 without a designation, according to the team’s official report. Brown’s wrist never kept him off the field this week, and Woodaz’s thumb issue also cleared up in time for kickoff.
The bigger picture, though, is that Houston is still missing some key pieces. Wide receiver Tank Dell, right tackle Braden Smith and rookie defensive tackle Kayden McDonald are all on injured reserve, which means they are not available for Sunday and do not show up on the weekly participation report.
Dell’s absence in particular reshapes the offense around C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins.
Dell is not a Week 1 play, and he may be parked in IR slots for a while longer. Houston placed him on injured reserve with a designation to return when it finalized the 53-man roster, a move confirmed by the Houston Chronicle. He cannot come back before the Texans’ trip to the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 11, and even that week would only make him eligible, not automatically active.
The 26-year-old is still working back after missing all of 2025 while recovering from the December 2024 knee injury he suffered against Kansas City, a dislocated knee with multiple torn ligaments. General manager Nick Caserio put it plainly last week: “I’d say he’s close,” Caserio said. “He is not quite there,” according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
Dell’s track record is why fantasy managers should keep him stashed, not why they should rush him into a lineup. In his first 25 NFL games across 2023 and 2024, he caught 98 passes for 1,376 yards and 10 touchdowns.
That history with Stroud matters. It just doesn’t point to a return before mid-October.
Houston also won’t have Jayden Higgins, who tore his ACL in an August joint practice and is out for the season, as reported by NFL.com and multiple outlets. With Dell and Higgins both sidelined, more of the passing load falls to Collins, while Kayshon Boutte, Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson compete for snaps on the outside and in the slot.
Boutte arrived from New England in late August and projects outside, while Noel has slot traits. Neither has done enough yet to be treated as a locked Week 1 starter in standard leagues.
Dalton Schultz and the running backs can help cover the short game in the meantime.
Brown’s return to full practice gives Stroud some needed stability up front, even if it doesn’t suddenly make the quarterback an automatic fantasy starter. Brown is set to start at right tackle in place of Smith, who suffered a torn plantar fascia in late August and was placed on IR on Sept. 1, according to Pro Football Rumors and RotoWire. That gives Houston a veteran presence opposite left tackle Aireontae Ersery and lowers the protection concern, but only so much.
Stroud’s 2025 line - 3,041 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 14 games, per NFL.com - tells the story of a quarterback whose production moved around from week to week. Buffalo’s front, even with a new defensive staff, is still a rough opening assignment. Without Dell to stretch the field, Collins becomes the clear top target, but the lack of a proven second receiver keeps Stroud in the high-end QB2 range rather than pushing him into must-start territory in one-quarterback leagues.
The same logic applies to the backfield. Brown’s presence helps the run game, and David Montgomery arrives from Detroit as the lead option after rushing for 716 yards and eight touchdowns on 158 carries in 2025, according to NFL.com.
Buffalo gave up 136.2 rushing yards per game last season, per The Football Database. Montgomery’s physical style and goal-line role make him a reasonable RB2.
Woody Marks should handle the passing-down work, but standard-league managers may want to see how the snaps are split before trusting him in Week 1.
Collins is the easiest Texans player to feel good about. He caught 71 passes for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games last season, per NFL.com, and with Dell and Higgins out, the target share tilts even more heavily his way. Buffalo can shade coverage toward him, but the volume still keeps him in the high-end WR1 conversation.
On defense, the Texans lost another piece when McDonald hurt his ankle Wednesday, sat out Thursday and landed on injured reserve Friday. Houston responded by signing defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy the same day, the team announced, and Jonathan M.
Alexander of the Houston Chronicle reported the move on X. The late addition won’t fully replace what Houston expected from McDonald on early downs.
That matters against James Cook, who ran for 116 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in last season’s meeting, per StatMuse. Still, the Texans’ pass-rush core remains intact. Will Anderson Jr. took a rest day Thursday but has no game designation, while Danielle Hunter and Derek Stingley Jr. were not on the report.
Houston’s defense has already shown it can bother Josh Allen, sacking him eight times and intercepting him twice in the Texans’ 23-19 win on Nov. 20, 2025, as ESPN and The Athletic documented. That keeps the Texans D/ST on the radar for managers without a better option, though starting them against Allen always comes with risk.
The injury report gave Houston clarity on Brown and Woodaz. It also confirmed that the Texans are still not the roster they expected to have in July.
For fantasy managers, the safest calls are Collins and Montgomery. Stroud sits in QB2 territory with room to rise if another receiver emerges.
Dell stays stashed on IR until at least Oct. 11.
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