The Houston Texans still won the AFC South last season, but they were relatively disappointing in year two with CJ Stroud at quarterback. This offseason, DeMeco Ryans and company have been busy beefing up the roster in an attempt to get back on the right path in 2025.
Unfortunately, Houston will have to play without one of its best weapons for the first month of the season. Running back Joe Mixon was not activated due to an ankle injury and will now miss at least the first four games of the season on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
“Texans are not activating running back Joe Mixon by Tuesday’s 4 pm ET deadline, making him ineligible to play at least the first four games this season due to an ankle injury,” Schefter reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Mixon will be moved to Reserve/Non-Football Injury, which automatically rules him out for at least four games.”
Mixon injured his ankle during the offseason and has been working to get back, but he has not yet been able to get all the way going from his mysterious ailment. Nick Chubb and Dameon Pierce are both in line to get more touches out of the backfield with Mixon sidelined.
Mixon played in just 14 games last season after dealing with a separate ankle injury early in the year, but his first year in Houston was still a raging success. He ran the ball 245 times for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns and also found the end zone once as a receiver.
The Texans had big problems on the offensive line last season and had one of the least efficient running attacks in the league as a result, but Mixon was the only thing buoying it. When he was off the field, the ground attack sank even lower and gave Stroud nothing to work with to complement him on offense.
Those troubles up front could be amplified this fall after Houston traded Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders this offseason. Without Mixon, it will be very hard for the Texans' offense to find its footing on the ground early in the year.
