HOUSTON – Texans veteran starting safety Jimmie Ward remains sidelined with a hip injury suffered last week and didn’t practice Wednesday.
If Ward, a team captain and former San Francisco 49ers standout and former first-round draft pick, is out against the Baltimore Ravens, his primary replacement is safety Eric Murray, per a league source.
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The injury isn’t regarded as long-term at this time, per a source.
Ward signed a two-year, $14.5 million contract during the offseason to join the Texans as a free agent.
Not having him against the Ravens is not ideal, especially with the presence of star quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Texans have a deep secondary, though, including starting corners Derek Stingley Jr. and Steven Nelson, safety Jalen Pitre and experienced backups in Murray and M.J. Stewart.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans indicated that Ward is pushing every day to get back on the practice field. He has missed three practices in a row.
“We’ll see where Jimmie ends up,” Ryans said. “Our safeties have been a very deep group for us throughout training camp, four guys back there who can all play, all played a lot of ball in this league. I’m encouraged by the depth at our safety position, I feel like it’s one of our strongest units on our team.”
Murray was retained this offseason under a restructured deal and can make up to $4 million this year. His salary-cap figure was lowered from $5.37 million to $3.887 million and received a $600,000 signing bonus, $1.476 million total guaranteed, a $1.6 million base salary, down from $3.75 million, up to $250,000 in per game active roster bonuses at a rate of $14,705 per game active and another $1.5 million in playtime incentives.
Murray had nine tackles during the preseason. He played in every game last season and had 27 tackles. A former Kansas City Chiefs third-round draft pick from Minnesota who has also played for the Cleveland Browns, Murray has played in 101 career games with 40 starts. He has 298 career tackles, two interceptions and one forced fumble.
Ward has 451 career tackles, seven interceptions, three sacks and seven forced fumbles in 106 games, primarily lining up at safety
Ward has built a reputation as a rangy, instinctive, hard-hitting safety adept in coverage or as a run-stopper. Ward doesn’t shy away from contact, throwing around his 5-foot-11, 195-pound body.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.