DALLAS – Texans rookie fullback Troy Hairston is out for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys due to a rib injury.
Hairston suffered the injury against the Cleveland Browns and returned to practice Friday. He had hoped to and was confident he would be able to play Sunday, but the Texans opted to hold him out as a precautionary measure.
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Without Hairston, the lead blocker for standout rookie running back Dameon Pierce, the Texans have all four tight ends active: O.J. Howard, who was a healthy scratch against the Browns, Jordan Akins, Teagan Quitoriano and Brevin Jordan.
Jeff Driskel, a running quarterback who has two first downs on his two carries earlier this season, is the backup Sunday for starter Davis Mills with Kyle Allen, replaced by Mills this week, inactive for this game.
Athletic and big at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, Driskel is a threat to run the football.
The Texans’ other inactives are cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., out for the fourth game in a row with a hamstring injury, wide receivers Brandin Cooks (calf) and Nico Collins (foot), offensive guard Justin McCray (hamstring), who didn’t make the trip to Dallas on Saturday and was downgraded to out, and defensive tackle Kurt Hinish (shoulder).
Cooks leads the Texans with 44 receptions for 520 yards and one touchdown on 71 targets. Collins has 37 catches for 481 yards and two scores on 66 targets.
The Texans will lean on Phillip Dorsett and Chris Moore as their primary wide receivers, as they did against the Philadelphia Eagles when starting quarterback Davis Mills had two touchdown passes and two interceptions.
Moore has 27 catches for 314 yards and two touchdowns on 40 targets. Dorsett has caught 12 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown on 27 targets.
The Cowboys’ defense allows just 179.8 passing yards per game, ranking second in the NFL in passing defense.
“We had a similar situation arise a few weeks back,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton said. “We had to adapt and improvise. Without a doubt, it will be a tremendous challenge if we were in a situation where we didn’t play with both of those guys. I don’t foresee that being an issue.”
The Texans have wide receiver Amari Rodgers and running back Eno Benjamin active again. Neither had any touches or targets against the Browns in their debuts for the Texans.
“Both guys have worked tirelessly to learn our offense and get on the same page with our quarterbacks,” Hamilton said. “You guys understand how important it is that the quarterback can trust that the receiver is going to get to a spot and vice versa, the receivers can trust that the quarterback can make the appropriate throws. The more time our guys spend together, the more time on task they have, the better chances we have to go out and play efficient football. Those two guys have been working hard in practice.”
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC2 and click2houston.com