Texans promote safety Jalen Mills to active roster, place Jaylen Reed on injured reserve

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Texans rookie safety Jaylen Reed was placed on injured reserve for the second time, ending his season.

Reed, named a starter after recording 11 tackles and a fumble recovery against the Buffalo Bills, broke a metal plate inside his forearm and had to have it surgically repaired, per a league source.

Reed was in a sling after the game.

The metal plate was inserted in his arm while playing for Penn State.

The Texans were already thin at the position after losing starter M.J. Stewart to a torn quadriceps tendon, ending his season.

Myles Bryant is slated to see most of the action at safety with Reed out, and veteran safety Jalen Mills was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster.

Mills has 92 career starts, including past stints with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

The Texans elevated defensive tackle Haggai Ndubuisi and cornerback Alijah Huzzie from the practice squad.

A former second team All-Big Ten Conference Selection, Reed wrote about his injury in a social media post after the game.

“Sometimes, you tend to ask God why me? But when your faith is bigger than anything this world, you don’t question anything. I know my journey is going to be a great one. I won’t panic, worry or stress about anything as long as my faith is with God. I got everything out the mud to get here and that won’t stop for nothing.

“I got hurt two times in one year as a rookie while still going sixth round. And after all that, I’m still beating the odds. It’s tuff mentally and it gets hard sometimes, but adversity is something we all have to overcome to get to the Highest. 23 a be back soonn.”

Reed got hurt making a tackle on third down against Colts All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor and was in obvious pain. He left the game and didn’t return.

Reed was coming off a good game against the Bills and had earned praise from coach DeMeco Ryans.

“I was just prepared to go in at any moment,” Reed told KPRC 2. “That’s something I’ve been prepared to do since a couple weeks ago. Just when my number is called, just go out and show up.”

Reed played 55 snaps on defense, 77 percent of the defensive playing time. He had eight solo tackles on defense and one on special teams.

“Jaylen stepped in and he plays swarm football,” Ryans said. “He was see ball, get ball. He’s flying around, making plays, of course, some things to clean up, but I’m encouraged with what he did. Being that it was a short week, he didn’t get a ton of preparation.

“He didn’t get any live reps, so for him to go in and do as good of a job as he did in that game, I’m excited for him to continue to progress and continue growing. [Safeties] Coach Stephen [Adegoke] has done a really nice job of working with Jaylen while he’s been out. So, the more he gets, I expect him to be even better for us.”

Signed to a four-year, $4.95 million contract that includes a $243,800 signing bonus. Reed intercepted three passes last season and recorded 98 tackles with three passes defensed and one forced fumble. Two seasons ago, he had 46 tackles and two interceptions.

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