Texans wide receiver Nico Collins injures hamstring on long touchdown catch, sources emphasize injury not long-term

HOUSTON – Nico Collins caught a deep touchdown against the Buffalo Bills, scorching their secondary for a 67-yard score. On his path to the end zone, though, the Texans’ star wide receiver and NFL yardage leader injured his hamstring. He was later ruled out for the game officially.

The Texans are optimistic that Collins hasn’t suffered a long-term injury and haven’t ruled out him potentially being back as soon as next Sunday’s road game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, according to league sources.

“The update on Nico, on the long passing touchdown he felt his hammy grab, so he has a hammy,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said after a 23-20 win. “We’ll evaluate him day to day.”

It’s a similar outlook for right tackle Tytus Howard, who missed the game with a hamstring injury and was replaced in the lineup by rookie Blake Fisher as he made his first NFL start. Howard was preparing to start Sunday before being ruled out in a game-time decision, per sources.

Collins went to the locker room for further examination after initially spending time in the blue medical tent.

Collins walked under his own power, but appeared to favor his leg as he went back to the bench area without his helmet.

Collins entered Sunday with a league-high 489 receiving yards on 30 catches, a season pace of 128 catches for 2,078 yards and nine touchdowns.

He caught two passes for 78 yards Sunday before getting hurt. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs led the Texans with six catches for 82 yards. Tank Dell caught four passes for 38 yards. And Xavier Hutchinson caught two passes for 31 yards.

“I think he is the best receiver in football,” Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “When he gets out the game, it definitely is tough on us. A lot of things are predicated towards him and planned for him. I definitely do think we still have a lot of other guys who step up too. So, I thought they did a good job doing that.

“I thought Hutch played solid. Really, you have to find a way to win. We did that today. Definitely hope Nico is okay and we can get him back as soon as possible, but I definitely know that we have a lot of depth in that room.”

Texans veteran safety Jimmie Ward left the game when he suffered a groin injury. Ward aggravated a preexisting injury that forced him to miss one game.

Ward was later ruled out of the game along with rookie running back British Brooks with a knee injury.

As the Texans’ go-to guy, Collins has a high volume of targets and was coming off a 12-catch, 151-yard and one touchdown performance on 15 targets in a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He ranks third in the NFL with 43 targets heading into Sunday, 10 more than Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs’ target total with five more catches overall.

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Collins’ gold standard is propelling him to new heights this year after his breakout season last year that earned him a three-year, $75 million maximum value contract this offseason. Collins is more than justifying the Texans’ hefty investment. He’s practically a bargain and qualifies as an extremely smart move by Texans’ general manager Nick Caserio as an early round of negotiations with Collins’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, locked up one of the NFL’s biggest and most talented and skilled wide receivers.,

“I feel like I’m trying to be my best version of myself,” Collins said this week. “Just being available for the team, you know, being healthy, taking one game at a time. I’m just having fun and letting the game come to me. is I feel like the mindset I’ve got to have is be the best one out there. The guy in front of you can’t stop me. So that’s the mindset you’ve got to have every time. I feel that’s my mindset right now and we can continue to grow.”

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“Nico Collins is all-world,” Diggs said.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 click2houston.com.