Ahead of their Week Four matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Houston Texans are signing two players from the practice squad, including one who’s expected to start. OT Austin Deculus was elevated, alongside former Steelers DL Khalil Davis. They released DB DeAndre Houston-Carson, while also elevating C Jimmy Morrissey and OT Geron Christian. The team also signed former third-round pick Derek Rivers to their practice squad. NFL Insider Aaron Wilson passed along the news.
Deculus will have a big role with Houston tomorrow, as he’s going to get the start for the Texans with OTs Laremy Tunsil and Josh Jones out with injuries. He’s going to likely play left tackle, giving him a heavy dose of Alex Highsmith on Sunday while RT George Fant will handle the burden of T.J. Watt.
Davis had two tackles for the Texans in their Week Three win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and he spent time on the Steelers practice squad in 2022, along with his brother Carlos. He’ll look to get some snaps along the defensive line and make some noise against Pittsburgh’s interior offensive line, which will feature Isaac Seumalo, Mason Cole and James Daniels.
Deculus played in five games with the Texans last season, but never got an offensive snap. Sunday will be the first time he takes snaps with the offense and not on special teams in the regular season. He has also logged snaps in two games this season, with 12 snaps on special teams so far. He’s going to have a tall task ahead of him with Highsmith, and it’s a matchup that the Steelers will look to take advantage of.
For Davis, he’ll get a chance to see some of his former teammates, and hopefully he remembers his time in Pittsburgh more fondly than Texans OL Kendrick Green. He’s logged snaps in four games dating back to 2020, as he also played with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts.
With the Texans thin along the offensive line, they’re also adding Christian, who can provide some depth at offensive tackle behind George Fant and Deculus. Morrissey, who was teammates with Kenny Pickett at Pitt, will serve as center depth behind Jarrett Patterson. Backup center Michael Deiter is questionable for Houston and didn’t practice on Friday, so if he’s unable to suit up Morrissey is the next man up
