Joe Mixon was one of the best players on the Houston Texans last year. However, a gruesome injury has hampered his career lately. Now, CJ Stroud‘s offense just got hit with another piece of news regarding the running back.
Per the team’s X account, Mixon will be placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list. This means he will only begin to practice and play after the fourth game of the season.
This basically means that Mixon could play for the first time in Week 7, given that the team’s bye week is in Week 6. It’s likely that the team rests him until after the bye to ensure his availability. Best-case scenario is he lines up along CJ Stroud until their game at Seattle.
Who is Mixon’s backup?
With Mixon out, the Texans need someone to replace his 1,325 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns. That is not easy to do. Right now, the man who is next on the depth chart is veteran Nick Chubb. Now, if this was Chubb in his prime, no issue. However, Nick Chubb is playing after suffering one of the most gruesome knee injuries in recent memories.
Chubb will also turn 30 this year, which for a running back means way passed his prime. While the Texans camp is happy with Chubb’s output this offseason, it’s simply unrealistic to think he can take the workhorse load by himself. Chubb had five carries for 25 yards in the offseason.
Chubb will have help though
The third-now-second running back on the depth chart is Dameon Pierce, who is entering his fourth year. Pierce is one of the weirdest cases in the NFL. He had a stellar rookie season that saw him achieve 939 yards and four touchdowns in 13 games. Then, he lost his starting spot as he only started seven games the following season and zero games in 2024.
At times, he got relegated to the special teams’ return unit. He only had one outing in preseason. Pierce got seven carries for 17 yards for a poor 2.4 yards per attempt. However, he will have to return to his rookie form if he wants to help the team.