HOUSTON – Texans offensive tackle George Fant practiced Wednesday albeit on a limited basis, an encouraging development on an otherwise difficult injury front.
Fant left the game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens with a right shoulder stinger that was characterized as not serious and unlikely to be a long-term issue, per a league source.
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That means the Texans can line up the same way they did against the Ravens on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts with Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil, left guard Josh Jones, rookie center Jarrett Patterson, right guard Shaq Mason and Fant at right tackle.
“It’s good having Fant, I think Fant will be fine,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It was tough seeing him go down in a game, but he’ll be fine. He’s bounced back, so we’ll see him out there again.”
Tunsil didn’t practice during the portion open to reporters Wednesday, but he traditionally has been given rest days and he finished the game without any issues.
Meanwhile, safeties Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward didn’t practice. Pitre bruised his lung against the Ravens on Sunday, was coughing up blood at one point and was released from Maryland Shock Trauma Hospital on Monday, per a league source.
“Jalen is in good spirits,” Ryans said. “He’s fine, he’s back with us, so we’re happy to have him back. Great to see him back in the building, just seeing him with a smile on his face I think that just brightens everyone’s day. It’s good to see him back in the building and he’ll still be day-to-day. We’ll see where he ends up.”
Several other players didn’t practice, including Pro Bowl left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (knee). Tunsil indicated it was a rest day. Reserve linebacker Neville Hewitt didn’t practice due to an illness.
The second-year safety and Stafford graduate remained overnight in Baltimore for further evaluation as a precautionary measure, per a league source. Pitre was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma at halftime after being examined by medical staff and was in good spirits and responsive.
Pitre took a left knee to the chest late in the first half from star quarterback Lamar Jackson while he was hitting him on a blitz. He was examined in the blue medical tent before going to the locker room for further testing. He was then ruled out for the second half.
If Pitre and Ward, who missed the Ravens game with a hip injury, are sidelined, the Texans would go with Eric Murray and M.J. Stewart as the primary safeties.
The Texans have depth at safety, and they lost some depth at wide receiver when Noah Brown was placed on injured reserve. Brown has a groin injury, per a league source.
And the Texans got linebacker Blake Cashman and wide receiver John Metchie III back at practice from hamstring injuries that prevented them from playing in Baltimore.
Both players were limited Wednesday along with Fant, linebacker Denzel Perryman (wrist, ankle), tight end Dalton Schultz (thigh) and wide receiver Robert Woods (rest). Running back Dare Ogunbowale (hamstring) participated fully.
Metchie could help the receiving corps, with the majority of Brown’s snaps expected to go to rookie Tank Dell.
Ryans said that Dell will definitely play more snaps. He was noncommittal on if Metchie will play Sunday, but emphasize that the second-year player has worked extremely hard to get back on the field.
Fant was replaced by guard-center Michael Deiter before ones was shifted over from left guard to right tackle after one snap as Deiter allowed a strip sack with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud fumbling the football away to Michael Pierce.
“I tried to do what was best for the team,” Jones said. “It’s kind of tough being in that situation as an offensive line with a lot of guys going down, but I think we’re capable of playing at a high level with whoever we have going out there. After the fumble, I played all of the rest of them at right tackle.”
Regular right tackle Tytus Howard is on injured reserve after undergoing hand surgery. Plus, Jones was already plugged in at left guard with Kenyon Green out for the season with a torn labrum. And the Texans were already down to Plan C at center with rookie Jarrett Patterson stepping in as the starter in his first NFL game with Scott Quessenberry out for the season with torn knee ligaments and Juice Scruggs on injured reserve with a strained hamstring.
“It feels like bad luck with injuries,” right guard Shaq Mason said. “We’ve got to get guys healthy and get them back.”
Tunsil chalked up the situation to the usual ebb and flow of the NFL.
“Just roll with it,” Tunsil said. “That’s the main thing, got to roll with it. You can’t worry about the injuries, have to worry about the next man up and getting the job done.”
As a rookie, Pitre, a former Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year led the Texans with 147 tackles and five interceptions.
Pitre recorded the most tackles among all NFL rookies and became the first player to record more than 125 tackles and intercept five passes since the tackle statistic began being tracked in 2000, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He played 93 percent of the Texans’ total defensive snaps, rarely leaving the field.
“It’s a long season,” Murray said. “We put a lot of emphasis on the first game, but just got to learn from it and grow from it. It’s always been like that. We help each other. We know the work we put in.
“Whoever’s opportunity it is, just steps in. We did some good things on defense. Until the half, it was a pretty tight game. Got to keep building, don’t want to have that sentiment every game like last year.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
