Texans’ Kevin Johnson Out 4-6 Weeks
For the second time in his three NFL seasons, Kevin Johnson is looking at a lengthy absence due to injury. The Texans cornerback suffered a sprained MCL in Houston’s Thursday-night win in Cincinnati, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
Schefter provides the timetable of four to six weeks for the third-year corner, which will deplete a Texans team that lost standout A.J. Bouye in free agency.
Houston still has Johnathan Joseph and slot man Kareem Jackson, but the Texans’ depth chart is noticeably thinner now after having both Bouye and Johnson — for a time — in the fold last season. Johnson sustained a broken foot in October of 2016, ending his sophomore season. The former first-round pick out of Wake Forest played all 16 regular-season games as a rookie, starting 10.
The Texans signed Marcus Burley as a free agent and have fifth-round pick Treston Decoud on the roster as well. The team, riddled by injuries at other positions as well, will likely have to make a roster move to add a corner in the coming days.
Texans To Work Out Audie Cole, Brian Parker
Dealing with a suspension at linebacker and injuries at tight end, the Texans will work out a couple potential reinforcements at those positions next week. The team will audition linebacker Audie Cole on Monday and tight end Brian Parker on Tuesday, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links).
Nobody would mistake Cole for the accomplished Brian Cushing, who will sit until early December because of a 10-game performance-enhancing drug ban, though the former would nonetheless provide some experience at inside linebacker. The 28-year-old has appeared in 57 games, all with the Vikings, since going in the seventh round of the 2012 draft. He wasn’t much of a factor defensively in Minnesota, though, as he tallied just seven starts (five of which came in 2013) and 78 tackles. Cole played a mere 36 defensive snaps in 2016, compared to 275 on special teams.
Parker, whose sole NFL experience to this post came during a nine-game, one-catch 2015 with the Chiefs, would add a body at tight end for a Houston team whose top options – C.J. Fiedorowicz, Ryan Griffin and Stephen Anderson – are battling concussions. Notably, the Texans will meet with Gary Barnidge, a far more established tight end than Parker, on Friday.
Texans To Meet With Gary Barnidge
The Texans are set to meet with tight end Gary Barnidge, according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Barnidge could give Houston some reinforcements at the position as C.J. Fiedorowicz, Stephen Anderson, and Ryan Griffin all deal with the after effects of their concussions. 
For now, the Texans’ sole “addition” at tight end will come from the promotion of tight end Evan Baylis off of the practice squad. They likely opted against meeting with Barnidge and other free agent TEs sooner since this is a short week and they had only four days to prepare for tonight’s game against the Bengals.
Barnidge was released by the Browns in April, freeing the team from the remaining two years on his contract. The veteran first broke out in 2015 with 79 receptions, 1,043 yards and nine touchdowns. He couldn’t match those numbers last season, but he still finished with 55 catches for 612 yards and two TDs. Barnidge also proved to be durable, appearing in 61 of 64 possible games for the Browns over the last four seasons. It wasn’t necessarily easy to produce in Cleveland, but Barnidge found a way.
“In the last two years with eight different quarterbacks, I was able to still put up really good numbers,” Barnidge said in July. “I was still one of the top tight ends in the NFL over a two-year period … I don’t think there’s any other guy that can say they’ve done that.”
Tom Savage's Agent Puzzled By Benching
- After insisting throughout the offseason that Tom Savage would be their starting quarterback in 2017, the Texans bailed on him just one half into a 29-7 Week 1 loss to Jacksonville in which their offensive line imploded. The Texans have since turned the reins over to first-round rookie Deshaun Watson, a decision Savage’s agent, Neil Schwartz, spoke with Florio about on Wednesday. As you’d expect, Schwartz isn’t pleased with the move. “I watched all 31 plays, because that was the extent of what Tom saw in the first half,” Schwartz said. “And I can’t figure out why he’s benching Tom. I went through every single play and I even went one step further. I asked two different NFL personnel people (or) coaches on two separate teams to evaluate and break down the film to see if I was missing something. He went 7 for 13 … 12 of the 13 balls touched the receiver’s hands. The only ball that didn’t was the strip-sack fumble that they called incomplete (upon replay). Seven were completions, five were drops” (all of Schwartz’s comments are available here via the Houston Chronicle’s Greg Rajan). Schwartz does have the backing of Pro Football Focus, which ranked Savage’s season-opening performance 15th among 31 signal-callers. Watson came in last.
Brian Cushing Won't Appeal Suspension
- Texans linebacker Brian Cushing earned the second PED suspension of his career Wednesday, and while he appealed the previous ban in 2010, he’s not going to fight the punishment this time. “It is with the deepest remorse, he humbly apologizes to his fans, teammates and coaches,” Cushing’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, said. “After consulting with his attorney and his agent he felt rather than dragging the appellate process out, this would be the best way to proceed.” Cushing will sit out the Texans’ next 10 games, which means the earliest he’ll see the field again is Dec. 3 in Tennessee.
Brian Cushing Gets 10-Game Suspension
The NFL announced Wednesday that it has suspended Texans linebacker Brian Cushing 10 games without pay for violating its policy on performance-enhancing drugs (Twitter link via Mark Berman of FOX 26). Cushing will be eligible to return to the Texans’ active roster Nov. 28. In the meantime, he’ll lose $4MM in salary and the Texans could attempt to recoup some of his signing bonus, per Field Yates of ESPN (on Twitter).
This is the second PED-related suspension for Cushing, a ninth-year man who served a four-game ban in 2010. Another such suspension would force Cushing to sit for at least two years, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (on Twitter). The 30-year-old is now in line for his shortest season since 2012, when injuries limited him to five games. Aside from that season and 2013, when he only suited up seven times, Cushing entered this year having played in no fewer than 12 games in any individual campaign. He has also started in all 100 career appearances.
While the former USC star has been a staple in Houston since it drafted him 15th overall in 2009, this suspension could give the team another reason to cut ties with him after the season. The Texans used a second-round pick this past offseason on a potential replacement, Zach Cunningham, as Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com tweets. Further, releasing Cushing would save the Texans $8.5MM and leave them with only $1.2MM in dead money in 2018.
While Houston will have an interesting decision to make on Cushing in the offseason, it has nearly a full slate to play before then. Already off to an 0-1 start after taking a beating from AFC South rival Jacksonville last week, the Texans will now have to go the next couple months without a key defensive starter (albeit one who has had a rather inconsistent career, according to Pro Football Focus). Along with Cunningham, possible in-house fill-ins include Brian Peters and Dylan Cole – two players who lack NFL track records as defenders.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/17
Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns
- Released from IR: RB Brandon Wilds
Green Bay Packers
- Promoted to active roster: OL Adam Pankey
Houston Texans
- Promoted to active roster: TE Evan Baylis
- Waived: WR Andy Jones
Minnesota Vikings
- Released from IR: TE Bucky Hodges
San Francisco 49ers
- Waived: T John Theus
Tennessee Titans
- Released from IR: RB Joe Bacci, DL Jimmy Staten
Extra Points: Steelers, Tuitt, Saints
Here’s a look around the NFL:
- Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt has a chance to play this week against Minnesota, coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday (Twitter link via Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com). Tuitt has been classified as week-to-week with his bicep injury.
- In light of the Zach Strief injury news, Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter) notes that likely replacement Senio Kelemete can earn $200K by playing in 50% of the team’s snaps and up to $600K at 70%. The Saints will be without the tackle for at least a few weeks.
- Texans guard Jeff Allen is expected to miss at least one game with an ankle injury, Mark Berman of FOX 26 tweets. Allen, one of Houston’s starting guards, is in year two of a four-year, $28MM pact. He appeared in 14 games last season, all starts.
- Wide receiver Cobi Hamilton is working out for the Texans this week, a source tells ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). The former Pittsburgh receiver could round out a banged up unit that is missing both Bruce Ellington (concussion) and Will Fuller (collarbone).
- The Chiefs gave running back Akeem Hunt an upgraded practice squad contract, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets. He’ll now make $36K per week, which comes out to $615K for the year. Hunt signed on with KC’s taxi squad on Sept. 5 and it sounds like the Chiefs weren’t the only team interested in his services.
Texans Place C.J. Fiedorowicz On IR
Less than two weeks after signing an extension, C.J. Fiedorowicz won’t be available for the Texans for a while. The team placed its starting tight end on IR after he sustained a concussion, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Fiedorowicz missed time with a concussion last season as well, and this latest head injury will shelve him for at least half of Houston’s season. The Texans re-signed Ryan Griffin this offseason but are thin behind him, with only second-year UDFA Stephen Anderson on the roster.
The Texans activated wide receiver Jaelen Strong, who served a one-game suspension.
Fiedorowicz played in Week 1 but left with the concussion. With the Texans playing on Thursday, he was not going to be cleared in time for Week 2. He will now be out for much longer. Griffin also is in concussion protocol, making it likely Houston looks for tight ends soon. Brian Cushing and Bruce Ellington are also in the protocol, and Bill O’Brien didn’t sound optimistic Tuesday when assessing their chances for Thursday night.
The fourth-year tight end broke out last season, more than doubling his previous career receiving yardage total by catching 54 passes for 559 yards.
Texans To Start Deshaun Watson In Week 2
Bill O’Brien brought another Week 1 hook and replaced Tom Savage with Deshaun Watson, and the switch does not appear to be temporary. The Texans are planning to start Watson on Thursday against the Bengals, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter).
Despite Texans brass declaring Savage their starter essentially from the draft until Sunday, La Canfora adds Watson is the Texans’ new starting passer.
A fourth-year player, Savage struggled in Houston’s 29-7 Week 1 loss to Jacksonville, and Watson was more effective upon entering midway through the game. The Clemson product finished 12-for-23 for 102 yards, throwing a touchdown pass and an interception.
O’Brien turned to Savage late last season after benching Brock Osweiler, doing this a year after benching Brian Hoyer in Week 1 for Ryan Mallett before pivoting back to Hoyer. The franchise has struggled at quarterback throughout O’Brien’s tenure, and he hasn’t been shy on changing the status quo. Watson, though, required a significant investment to acquire. So the recent national championship-winning passer might earn a much longer look.
The Texans travel to Cincinnati for a Week 2 tilt, but should they follow through and turn to Watson, he will have a difficult test in Week 3 when the team visits the Patriots. The Texans have never won in New England and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champs twice last season there.