HOUSTON – Texans starting right offensive tackle Tytus Howard, still recovering from hand surgery after breaking two bones during training camp and having metal hardware inserted, was placed on injured reserve and is out at least four games.
Although Howard practiced Monday while wearing a large cast on his surgically repaired left hand, he has continued to deal with swelling in his surgically repaired left hand. It was determined that it wasn’t a good idea for Howard to rush back to play after suffering an injury with a recovery timetable of four to six weeks.
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“Thank you everyone for all the hand donations lol but I’ll be good,” Howard wrote on social media as he’ll miss games against the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers. “I’ll be back soon better than ever.”
Now, veteran lineman George Fant will start at right tackle as the replacement for Howard. Fant, 31, has forged a seven-year NFL career after going undrafted.
“I still believe in myself as a player,” Fant said. “I know I’ve got a lot left in the tank. I feel like I’m doing pretty good. I’m pretty locked in and in tune with the guys and the playbook now. I’m ready to do whatever the team needs me to do. It kind of helps I’ve been there, done that.”
Fant, 31, was signed to a one-year contract with a maximum value of $4 million at the start of training camp.
Fant, a former tight end who played college football and basketball at Western Kentucky, has started 63 of 80 career games in the NFL.
“I go out there and try to play defense,” Fant said. “I added some extra things as well.”
He started seven games last season for the New York Jets before being placed on injured reserve in September and then being activated in December. Fant has been moving well and allowed no pressures during the preseason.
“That’s just all the work I put in this offseason, just trying to get myself healthy,” Fant said. “A couple years ago, I had a knee injury. I feel good.”
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans previously characterized Howard’s status as “day to day,” after practice Wednesday and expressed confidence in the offensive line, regardless of lineup decisions, which he said are still being determined.
Josh Jones is set to start at left guard after being acquired in a preseason trade from the Arizona Cardinals.
The heftiest investments for the Texans’ roster has been their expensive and necessary spending at the offensive line position to protect rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud
That includes a three-year, $75 million contract extension that made Pro Bowl left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil the highest paid offensive lineman in the league for the second time. The Texans traded for and signed former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive guard Shaq Mason to a three-year, $36 million deal. And the Texans signed Howard to a three-year, $56 million deal.
Once well-fortified across the line, the Texans are adjusting to a myriad of injuries at the position as they prepare for the opening game of the season against the Baltimore Ravens.
In the wake of left guard Kenyon Green being placed on injured reserve with a torn labrum in his shoulder, the Texans are plugging in Jones, a former Arizona Cardinals and University of Houston offensive tackle, as his replacement.
The Texans acquired Jones in a trade, sending a 2024 fifth-round draft pick to the Cardinals for the George Bush graduate and a 2024 seventh-round selection.
And, because rookie starting center Juice Scruggs, a second-round draft pick from Penn State, was placed on short-term injured reserve with a strained hamstring in the wake of former starting center Scott Quessenberry out for the entire season with torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, the Texans are making their third lineup change at center before the season has even officially started.
And center Jarrett Patterson, a rookie, is listed as first on the depth chart and has run with the first-team offense this week. The Texans’ other option at center is Kendrick Green, who was acquired in a trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers during the roster cutdown.
The Texans traded a 2025 sixth-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Green, a former third-round draft pick from Illinois. A source indicated the decision is still being deliberated on whether it will be Green or Patterson against the Ravens.
“I trust all my guys up there,” Stroud said. “Kendrick has come in and worked really hard, and, of course, ‘J-Pat’ is very talented and works hard as well. Two guys that want to play very well and you can feel it when we’re in meetings and things like that.
“So, excited to work with those guys. Whoever they put in there, I have total trust and faith in them, but it takes time and you have to be in there to get reps and things like that. So, I’m excited to work with those guys.”
Meanwhile, starting safety Jimmie Ward is sidelined with a hip injury. If Ward can’t play Sunday, his primary replacement is expected to be Eric Murray, per a league source.
Jake Hansen is now first on the depth chart at linebacker with Blake Cashman, the previously listed starter, having suffered a setback in his recovery from a strained hamstring. Wide receiver John Metchie III is not practicing due to a recurring hamstring injury.
Starting linebacker Christian Harris was limited with a shoulder injury, and running back Dare Ogunbowale was limited with a hamstring.
It’s been a lot for the line to adapt to, and it has been loss after loss across the line. That started before training camp when swing tackle Charlie Heck was sidelined with a back condition that is affecting his foot and has landed him on the reserve-physically unable to perform list.
“Every team has injuries,” Mason said. “It’s been tough, guys falling as of late, but it’s part of the league. Guys have to step up. It’s the next guy up mentality. That’s why different guys are in and out. Whoever is out there in Baltimore, they’re expected to go out and perform. We try to bring guys along. We’re counting on them.”
Protecting Stroud against a Ravens defense that had 48 sacks last season is a top priority.
“They’re good, their defensive culture and what they do in general, you know what’s coming,” Fant said. “I think a lot of guys have played them, so they know what’s coming. It’s a situation where you have to impose your will.”
As he prepares for his first NFL regular-season game, Stroud needs to have sufficient time in the pocket to find his downfield targets.
“The offensive line is important, no matter who is playing at quarterback,” Ryans said. “We have C.J., a young quarterback, whichever quarterback lines up back there, you want to make sure he has great protection upfront. It will always be a high priority to me amongst the offensive and defensive line because I feel like that’s how you win games. It starts up front and that will never change. Try to go out with a subpar (offensive) line or a subpar (defensive) line, you’re going to be in for a long day.”
Injuries have hit the Texans right before the season.
“Injuries happen all the time in football, so you have to be ready to adjust,” Ryans said. “It’s never how you want it, it’s never the same 53 guys. There are always injuries. There’s always things you have to be ready to adapt and change with, so that’s just normal, NFL football.
“It happens every week, and for us, unfortunately it’s happened sooner, before the start of the season. But it’s something we have to deal with and we’re not whining about it. We’re not complaining. We’re going to push through. We’re all professionals, and that’s what guys have to go play football.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
