Texans Lose Key Defensive Piece as Mario Edwards Jr. Ruled Out for Season
The Houston Texans’ defensive front just took another major hit - and this one stings. Veteran defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr. is out for the remainder of the season after suffering a ruptured pectoral muscle, the team confirmed Monday. It’s a tough blow for a Texans defense that’s already been battling attrition in the trenches.
“Unfortunately, Mario Edwards will be out for the season,” head coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He ruptured his pec.”
Edwards had been a steady presence for the 9-5 Texans, suiting up for every game this season and contributing across the stat sheet: 13 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, and four quarterback hits. He wasn’t always flashy, but he was dependable - the kind of veteran you want anchoring your rotation. His energy and effort were hallmarks of his game, and that motor showed up every Sunday.
“Mario has done a great job for us all year,” Ryans said. “He’s a steady player, consistent, brings great energy to our entire team. Really gonna miss his presence.”
This isn’t the first blow to Houston’s interior defense. Earlier this season, the Texans lost Tim Settle Jr. to a season-ending foot injury, and Foley Fatukasi is also on injured reserve. That’s three experienced defensive tackles down, leaving the Texans thin at a position that demands depth - especially late in the season when playoff pushes are decided in the trenches.
Replacing that kind of production and leadership won’t be easy. But the Texans will look to Naquan Jones, a former Charger, to step up behind current starters Sheldon Rankins and Tommy Togiai.
The team also has some options on the practice squad, including Marlon Davidson, Junior Tafuna, and Haggai Ndubuisi. For a team that prides itself on defensive toughness, this next-man-up mentality is about to be tested.
“We lost Tim Settle, now Mario,” Ryans said. “It’s gonna be difficult to replace those guys.”
Injury updates across the roster remain fluid. Ryans noted that cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. (oblique) and running back Woody Marks (ankle) will be monitored throughout the week. Neither injury appears season-ending, but with the Texans in the thick of a playoff race, every snap counts - and every body matters.
“The other guys will be fine,” Ryans said. “We’ll see how the week goes.”
Edwards, 31, signed a two-year, $9.5 million deal with Houston this offseason, locking him in through 2026. He came into this year looking to build off a strong 2024 campaign, where he started 12 games despite serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. That season saw him post 31 tackles - the second-highest total of his career - along with three sacks, eight quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss.
Now in his eighth NFL stop since being drafted by the Raiders in the second round back in 2015, Edwards had found a comfort zone in Houston’s aggressive, attacking defensive scheme. Earlier this year, he admitted he wished he had landed in a system like this sooner.
“I think if I could have gotten in this attack style defense earlier in my career, a lot more stats, a lot more different things going on,” Edwards said. “But I’m glad on the back end of my career, the next four, five, six years of my career, I’ve been attack style.”
That mindset - aggressive, disruptive, relentless - was exactly what Ryans and the Texans’ coaching staff loved about him. Even before his suspension last season, Edwards had made a strong impression with his ability to play both inside and on the edge, consistently getting into the backfield and causing problems for opposing offenses.
“Mario has been disruptive all camp, and I wouldn’t have expected anything different from him,” Ryans said last season. “He showed up, playing on their side of the line of scrimmage and being disruptive. That’s what we need from all our guys up front.”
Now, the Texans will need someone else to bring that edge. With three games left in the regular season and playoff hopes very much alive, the margin for error just got even thinner. Houston’s defense has been one of the league’s most improved units this year - but they’ll have to dig deep to keep that momentum going without one of their emotional and physical anchors.