The Texans head into Week 2 with a few obvious pressure points, and the first one is sitting right in the wide receiver room. Nico Collins tweaked his hamstring during Wednesday’s practice and was limited, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that the team “don’t believe it’s serious,” but Collins’ status for Sunday against the Bengals is still in jeopardy.
If that turns into a missed game, Houston’s pass-catching group gets thin fast. Collins would be out alongside Jayden Higgins and Tank Dell, leaving the Texans to sort through a shorter receiver rotation than they’d like in their second home game of the season.
That puts a spotlight on the names still standing. Kayshon Boutte, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, and Jared Wayne are the four receivers currently on the Texans’ 53-man roster, and all four should have a role in some capacity against Cincinnati. A practice squad elevation is also a possibility in the days ahead.
The other major concern is on the defensive side, where Houston has to answer for what happened in Week 1. The Texans’ performance against Buffalo was the kind of outing that stood out for all the wrong reasons: the Bills rolled up more than 400 yards and scored 36 points, something a DeMeco Ryans-led defense hasn’t allowed since 2023.
Now comes another demanding test. Joe Burrow opened the year hot in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Cincinnati still brings the Ja’Marr Chase-Tee Higgins tandem with him. On top of that, the Bengals are working behind a much better offensive line than the one the Texans saw from Burrow in 2023.
So this isn’t a soft landing spot for Houston’s defense to bounce back. The Texans need to show they can get back to the level they’ve established, but Week 2 brings another offense capable of stressing them in plenty of ways.
Then there’s David Montgomery, who gave Houston exactly what it wanted in his debut even in a loss. He handled the bulk of the carries against Buffalo, rushing 20 times for 60 yards and scoring three touchdowns. That made him the first running back to score three times in a game since Joe Mixon in 2024.
The efficiency wasn’t perfect, but the workload and production told the bigger story. Houston brought Montgomery in to be the bellcow, and after a season in which the Texans struggled badly on the ground, that role matters.
Last year’s rushing issues were a big reason the offense never fully settled in, and the goal this season is clear: lean more on the run game and make life easier for everyone else on that side of the ball. Montgomery has already started doing his part, and if Collins is limited or unavailable, his importance only grows.
A strong Week 2 showing from Montgomery would go a long way toward helping Houston sustain drives and keep the offense on schedule.
In Other News...
Houstons 2027 Class Just Added Another Perfect Kelvin Sampson Fit
Another promising piece has fallen into place for Houstons 2027 recruiting class, and this one looks especially aligned with the way Kelvin Sampson has built his program. Four-star forward Triston Hawthorne, a 6-foot-7 power forward from South Jones High School in Mississippi, has committed to the Cougars after emerging as a top-100 national recruit and the No. 1 player in his state, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Hawthorne picked Houston over Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Harvard, and he joins a class that already includes three other four-star prospects. For a program that keeps leaning into length, toughness and positional versatility, it is another encouraging sign that the Cougars are selling the kind of frontcourt fit that tends to translate well once players arrive on campus. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Tech Could Force Houston To Prepare For A Very Different Offense
Texas Tech is shaping up as a little more than a standard scouting assignment for Houston this week. The Red Raiders plan to have Florida State transfer Thomas Castellanos available at quarterback alongside starter Will Hammond, giving them a different kind of wrinkle to sort through as they get ready for a matchup that could ask the Cougars to prepare for more than one look under center.
Hammond is still expected to handle most of the snaps, but the possibility of a two-quarterback setup changes the picture enough to matter. Castellanos brings a well-traveled rsum, with stops at UCF, Boston College and Florida State, and his addition came after Brendan Sorsbys departure left Texas Tech looking for depth. For Houston, the challenge is simple enough to define and harder to solve: one game plan may have to account for two quarterbacks with very different histories and usage. [Read more 🡒]