JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Just when the winless Texans were poised to potentially take control of another road football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of their most reliable players committed a rare and costly mistake.
Star wide receiver Nico Collins, while spinning ahead after picking up a first down on third down and fighting for extra yards late in the fourth quarter Sunday, got the football punched out of his hands by Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell in a tie ballgame.
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That crucial sequence led up to the Jaguars’ game-winning touchdown in a 17-10 defeat at EverBank Stadium. If Collins holds onto the ball with 3 minutes, 58 seconds left after a 10-yard gain instead of his fumble being recovered by linebacker Devin Lloyd at the Jaguars’ 17-yard line, the Texans were in position to take the lead and perhaps win their first game of the season.
Instead, the turnover set the stage for Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.’s 46-yard catch that positioned running back Travis Etienne for the decisive touchdown run. The Texans’ seven-year road winning streak at Jacksonville was snapped.
“I just got to take care of the ball, that was it,” Collins said after the game i inside a somber visitors’ locker room. “Good punchout by him. I got to fix the track, and take care of the rock.”
Collins hadn’t lost a fumble in his career in five seasons. He fumbled once out of bounds before in his 220 prior touches.
Collins is the Texans’ top playmaker on offense. He caught a season-high eight passes for 104 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown catch, on 11 targets as Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley finally solved the issue of figuring out how to involve Collins more.
“Just got to pick him up, just like they pick me up,” Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “I threw an interception (the first of his career against Jacksonville after entering Sunday with a seven-touchdown to zero-interception ratio), and everybody was helping me out on the sideline, keeping my spirits up.
“Same thing for him. We all know he doesn’t really do that, so it was just something we got to just coach up. Whatever happened, we got to just fix. He’s a heck of a player, and my faith is in him, like everybody else’s. Just got to pick him up, and I’m sure that we’ll get that fixed.
The Texans are 0-3. Just six teams in the Super Bowl era have rebounded from such an early season deficit to make the playoffs. Houston was the last team to accomplish the feat in 2018. The Texans have a first-place schedule and have upcoming road games against the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs and a home game against the Buffalo Bills. They host the Tennessee Titans at home next Sunday.
“It’s the NFL, man,” Collins said. “0-3, it hurts, but it’s a marathon. That’s what the NFL is and everybody’s good. You’re gonna run through everybody. You got to continue to be yourself, continue to win, man, continue to grow and learn as you go. Let’s get to steppin’.
“It’s tough right now. Slow start. We’ve got to continue to watch this film, continue to get better, continue to grow, and find the things we all need to improve on individually, you know? So, I’m starting with myself, take care of the ball, and continue to make plays.”
The Texans failed to manufacture 300 yards of offense for the third consecutive week. They finished with a season-high 271 yards against Jacksonville and were ineffective on third down, going 4 for 15 in that category.
Stroud completed 25 of 38 passes for 204 yards, including 50 yards on his scoring pass to Collins. He was intercepted twice and sacked twice. His final interception came on a tipped pass by linebacker Josh Hines-Allen, who beat rookie left tackle Aireontae Ersery to seal the game.
“We’re going down to score, and we get the ball to one of our best players, Nico,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We trust him with the football. He knows it, and he hates it more than anyone else to have the ball taken away from him there. So, that was tough.
“We felt the momentum shift there when we hit the big touchdown and we’re driving down and we’re in position to drive and score again, and you give the ball away, right, in the plus territory, in the red zone, that’s hard.”
Nico Collins fumble. Tyson Campbell gets his hand in and Lloyd recovers pic.twitter.com/DrbRZSHdpE
— Fitz (@LaurieFitzptrck) September 21, 2025
The Texans committed three turnovers overall. It’s hard to win any game, at any level of football, giving the ball away to an opponent.
“You turn the ball over three times, man, that’s tough to win in this league,” Ryans said. “It’s tough enough to win, but when you put yourself in a position where you are helping the opponent, that’s not a good recipe for winning football. We’re close, but close isn’t good enough.”
The Texans ' defense, despite missing injured All-Pro corner Derek Stingley Jr. due to an oblique injury, intercepted Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence once as nickel Jalen Pitre picked him off. They shut down the NFL’s top statistical rushing attack, holding them to 86 yards o n 24 runs.
“I am not discouraged by my team,” Ryans said. “We played with outstanding effort. We played with the resolve to give ourselves a chance to come back and win the game. It’s another fourth-quarter drive, and that’s the first three games.
“So, am I discouraged? No. We’ve been in all three ballgames. .Do we want to be 0-3? No, we don’t want to be 0-3. But until we play cleaner ball and we find a way to finish and get on the winning side in the fourth quarter, that’s when we’ll get in the win column.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com