The Texans are using the bye week to reshuffle the bottom of the roster, bringing back a familiar name while cutting ties with two others.
Houston signed rookie running back Josh Pitsenberger to the practice squad and released running back Deuce Vaughn and defensive tackle Jaden Crumedy, the latest round of moves as the team keeps sorting through options for the second half of the regular season.
Pitsenberger is no stranger to the organization. The undrafted rookie out of Yale originally signed with Houston in May, giving the Texans a young backfield option after a productive college run. The 24-year-old stands 6-foot and 215 pounds and was a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection.
His first stint with the team didn’t last long. Houston placed Pitsenberger on injured reserve in August, then waived him with an injury settlement later that month. Now he gets another shot with the same team that gave him his first NFL opportunity.
Vaughn’s time in Houston is over for now. The Texans signed him to the practice squad in October, but they’ve now opted to go in a different direction. Vaughn entered the league as a sixth-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2023 after a strong career at Kansas State.
Crumedy is also out. Houston added the defensive tackle in September after he spent time with the Green Bay Packers’ practice squad and his first two seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick by Carolina in 2024 out of Mississippi State.
The moves aren’t a major overhaul, but they do give Houston a little more flexibility as it continues to evaluate the roster and work through the rest of the schedule.
In Other News...
Texans Fans Have A Real Reason To Worry About Cole Popovich
The Saints decision to move on from run-game coordinator T.J. Paganetti is a reminder of how quickly NFL patience can run out when a rushing attack stalls, and it puts a sharper spotlight on the Texans own concerns up front. Houston offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Cole Popovich has been under scrutiny for a unit that has lingered near the bottom of the league in several rushing and blocking categories across the 2025 and 2026 seasons, a stretch that has kept the conversation around the offensive line from going away.
Popovich has earned respect elsewhere in his career, but the Texans have not gotten the kind of consistent line play that would quiet the criticism. Injuries and roster turnover have complicated the picture, yet the results have still left his future with the team in question, especially with the pressure only growing on a staff trying to fix the ground game. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Still Waiting On Reed Blankenship For A Bigger Reason
Reed Blankenships absence has become a familiar part of the Texans defensive picture over the past couple of weeks, with the safety still working back from surgery on his left hand and continuing through concussion protocol as the team moves into Week 8. He has already missed multiple games, leaving Houston to adjust its back end while veteran M.J. Stewart has filled in as a replacement starter.
For the Texans, the bigger issue is not just whether Blankenship can get back on the field, but when he can clear the checkpoints that matter most. His availability for the next stretch will hinge on how he holds up in practice and how the medical evaluations go, which leaves Houston waiting on more than just a return date. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Trade Rumors Put Jadeveon Clowney In An Awkward Spot
Jadeveon Clowney has found himself in the middle of a familiar kind of NFL noise as the trade deadline approaches. According to ESPNs Adam Schefter, other teams have shown interest in the Texans edge rusher, even though Houston is not actively shopping him and Clowney has not asked to be moved. For a player whose name always seems to surface when teams start looking for pass-rush help, it is the sort of chatter that comes with the territory.
Clowney has appeared in five games this season and has delivered moderate production, enough to keep him on the radar without making any move feel inevitable. For now, the expectation is that he stays put through the deadline, which leaves Houston with a decision to make only if the market shifts in a meaningful way. Until then, the Texans are holding steady, and Clowney remains in an awkward spot where his name is circulating even as nothing appears close to happening. [Read more 🡒]