HOUSTON – Garret Wallow adeptly read the play, sprinting untouched into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ backfield to tackle running back Travis Etienne Jr. for a loss.
The tackle by the Texans linebacker pushed the Jaguars back three yards and was one of a season-high four tackles for the second-year player from TCU. This was his first start of the season as Wallow replaced Blake Cashman with the linebacker out with a concussion.
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Wallow nearly intercepted an errant throw from Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, breaking on the football quickly during the previously winless Texans’ 13-6 road victory Sunday.
“Garret Wallow has been a good football player whenever he’s played,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said. “Last year, he started the Jacksonville game and he started the LA Chargers game, two of the ones that we won last year. He started this game, and we get consistent play from him whenever he plays.
“I thought he did an outstanding job with everything that we asked him to do. Student of the game, another guy that’s always here working, and I like some of the youth that we have at that linebacker position.”
Wallow missed time with a sprained left ankle suffered during training camp, making his return against the Chicago Bears as he appeared in 22 percent of the defensive snaps.
Against the Jaguars, he played 18 snaps (24 percent of the defensive playing time) and 52 percent of the special team’s snaps.
“Just the win as a whole, it definitely feels good,” Wallow said. “Being able to go make some plays for the team, it feels great.”
A fifth-round draft pick from TCU last year, Wallow had 23 tackles, two for losses and one sack in 17 games and two starts. He had 15 solo tackles. Instinctive and athletic, Wallow notched his first career sack, bringing down Lawrence, the top overall pick of the draft, last season. He recorded a game-high and career-high 11 tackles in his first career start against Jacksonville.
The near interception stuck with him.
“Man, if I could take that play back I probably would have broke on it a little bit sooner,” Wallow said. “Hopefully, next time I’ll be there to make it.”
Aaron Wilson is a Pro Football Network reporter and a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com