The Houston Texans have had a messy week, and not just because of the loss to the Bills.
On the field, the damage from that game is already clear. Off the field, the noise around the team only got louder.
Between criticism of C.J. Stroud, a league fine for Azeez Al-Shaair, and a growing injury list, Houston has spent the week answering questions instead of resetting for the next game.
Stroud is under the brightest spotlight, and that comes with the territory when you’re the starting quarterback. In his last three official games, he has been charged with nine turnovers, including two fumbles in Week 1.
Still, the full picture against Buffalo was not nearly as bleak as the turnover count suggests. Stroud went 26 of 38 for 274 yards and two touchdowns, and the Texans scored 31 points.
If the line holds up on the final drive and Stroud isn’t strip-sacked, that total probably climbs to at least 37.
The bigger conversation came later in the week, when Texans legend Andre Johnson weighed in on Stroud during a podcast. Johnson’s comments about Stroud’s body language and how it reflects negatively became a talking point in a way it hadn’t been before.
That stands in contrast to the offseason reporting that suggested Stroud was taking on more of a leadership role with the offense and the team as a whole. At this point, the Texans are treating Johnson’s remarks as part of the NFL media cycle.
There’s clear respect for Johnson, and the team is still backing Stroud. So far, there hasn’t been any “vote of confidence” language.
The other headline came quickly after that. The league fined linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair over $11K for violating policy by writing the name Hind Rajab on his eye tape under his eyes for the Week 1 game.
Rajab was a 5-year-old Palestinian killed by the Israel Defense Forces in 2024, one of the thousands killed in the near 3-year war in Gaza. It is not the first time Al-Shaair has drawn discipline from the NFL for taking a stance over Palestine; he was fined for a similar action in January.
After news of the latest fine, Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks said he would pay Al-Shaair’s fine. Al-Shaair, who signed a new extension in the offseason, is probably not worried about the money.
The Texans are not the only NFL-linked team or figure dealing with this kind of attention. The source of the latest wave of discussion also tied into the Robert Kraft and Ed Sheeran situation, driven by one of Sheeran’s fellow performers, Macklemore, and his pro-Palestinian stances. The point is less about picking sides and more about how even the NFL can get pulled into issues far beyond football.
For Houston, the concern is whether any of this becomes a real distraction. Right now, it mostly means more questions for the team to answer.
If the Texans start winning again, all of it gets pushed into the background. If they don’t, the noise will only get louder.
That’s before getting to the injury report, which is plenty loud on its own. As of this writing, the Texans are expected to be without LB To’oTo’o, DE Clowney, WR Collins and RG Ingram for the next game.
That’s three starters and a major piece on the defensive line. Collins may be the toughest loss of all.
He was Stroud’s most-targeted receiver in Week 1 with 10, and Houston’s offense is not the same without him, as the Divisional Round against New England showed.
Now the Texans have to see whether the depth moves made by Nick Caserio and the front office can actually hold up. Wyatt Teller is expected to take over at right guard, but Ingram struggled in Week 1, and Teller was behind him.
That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. With Collins and Higgins both out, the Texans will need someone like Boutte or Noel to step forward, and the tight ends - Schultz and Klein - may need to carry more weight too.
On defense, the challenge gets even steeper. After getting pushed around by Josh Allen, Houston now has to face Joe Burrow without a starting linebacker and without a key player up front.
Outside of Al-Shaair, the linebacker group becomes a real question mark. If Anderson and Hunter stay healthy and return to their game-wrecking level, Clowney’s absence might not sting as much.
But the margin for error is shrinking fast, and this already looks like a near-must win.
There is at least one small bit of perspective for Houston from Week 1: Josh Allen may be in line for something special this season. After finally solving his NRG/Reliant issues against the Texans, he followed that up on Thursday Night Football by accounting for five more touchdowns in Buffalo’s 41-31 win over Detroit in the Bills’ new stadium. It’s early, and nothing is guaranteed to last, but Buffalo looks like it could have its most explosive offense since the peak of the K-Gun era.
That’s cold comfort for the Texans, but after the week they’ve had, they’ll take any positive they can find. The whole mood changes quickly if Houston can bounce back Sunday and beat Joe Burrow and the Bengals.
In Other News...
Nico Collins Absence Leaves Texans Facing A Bigger Passing Game Problem
Nico Collins strong opening-week showing made him look like the safest bet in the Texans passing game, but a Grade 1 hamstring strain has quickly changed that picture. The wideout was injured in practice and has already been ruled out for the upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bengals, a setback that lands hard for an offense still trying to settle into its rhythm.
The longer concern is what comes next, because Collins is expected to miss multiple games while he recovers, including the next matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. That leaves Houston asking more from its other receivers and tight end Dalton Schultz, and it also puts a brighter spotlight on how well the Texans can keep the passing game functional without the player who looked like their most reliable target. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Have One Clear Problem To Fix Before Facing Joe Burrow
Houstons Week 2 matchup with Cincinnati brings a familiar kind of early-season pressure: a talented Bengals offense, a quarterback who can take over a game, and a Texans team still sorting out its own identity after a messy opener. The clearest path to staying in it starts with the basics. The Texans have to protect the ball, create more disruption on defense and lean on the run game enough to keep their offense on schedule.
Joe Burrow is at his most dangerous when he can settle in and dictate tempo, so the Texans ability to control possession may end up being just as important as any single stop or explosive play. If Houston can clean up the turnovers and get steadier on both sides of the line, it gives them a chance to keep Burrow from turning the afternoon into a shootout. If not, the margin for error gets very small in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]