The Houston Texans appear to be thin at offensive tackle heading into their Week Four matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, as offensive tackle Josh Jones is “expected to miss” the game with a hand injury, per NFL Insider Aaron Wilson. Wilson also adds that Pro Bowl offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, who has missed the Texans’ last two games with a knee injury, is “on track” to miss Sunday’s matchup. Tunsil did not practice today.
With Jones out, former Steelers guard Kendrick Green is almost guaranteed to suit up as a starter for the Texans against his former team. Sunday should be a great opportunity for Pittsburgh’s defensive line and pass rush to build off their strong performances over the last few weeks.
Jones was acquired by Houston during the preseason, as the Texans traded a 2024 fifth-round pick in exchange for Jones and a 2024 seventh-round pick from Arizona. A third-round pick by Arizona back in 2020, Jones has 24 career starts and had started all three games with Houston before suffering a hand injury in its Week Three win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With both Jones and Tunsil out, George Fant, rookie Jarret Patterson, Green and veteran Shaq Mason will anchor the offensive line. Currently, Jones, Fant and Tunsil are the only tackles on the 53-man roster. Per Wilson, Austin Deculus, Houston’s 2022 sixth-round pick who is currently on its practice squad, took left tackle reps today. They also have offensive tackle Geron Christian on the practice squad.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Texans line looks like on Sunday, but it should be a weakness for a team that just pulled off an upset win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the Steelers looking to move to 3-1 before a matchup with their AFC North rivals in the Baltimore Ravens, it’s a group they’ll look to take advantage of defensively. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see T.J. Watt add to his league-leading six-sack total against his brother J.J.’s former team.
