JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For H, veteran left guard Laken Tomlinson, his status as a starter is being challenged.
In the third game of the season, on Sunday, a 17-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tomlinson rotated with former second-round draft pick Juice Scruggs after starting the game.
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Scruggs, a former Penn State standout, played 57 percent of the snaps with Tomlinson taking the remaining 43 percent. Scruggs, 25, started 13 games last season.
It is a bit unusual to rotate guards series by series during the regular season. That kind of move is normally employed during the preseason as an evaluation tool.
“Whatever it takes to win,” said Tomlinson, who allowed a sack and three pressures in a Monday night loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I’ve always been a team player and I’ll do whatever the coaches ask of me.”
Tomlinson, 34, had an overall pass blocking grade of 49.4 entering Sunday’s game, per Pro Football Focus analytics and an overall blocking grade of 44.9.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said the personnel strategy was prepped throughout the week.
“Yeah, we wanted to get Juice in a little bit there for Laken,” Ryans said. “We wanted to roll those guys, see how it was going. We wanted to roll those guys. That was our plan going into the week.”
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. #Texans Laken Tomlinson started and played 43 percent of the left guard snaps, rotating with Juice Scruggs, who played 57 percent of the left guard snaps 'Whatever it takes to win. I've always been a team player. I'll do whatever the coaches ask of me' @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/uq3mjadlqp
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 22, 2025
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com