Texans rookie center Juice Scruggs designated for return, Henry To’oTo’o practices; Jimmie Ward, Noah Brown sidelined

HOUSTON – Texans rookie center Juice Scruggs, a second-round draft pick and former projected starter, was designated for return and practiced for the first time this season.

Scruggs pulled his hamstring against the New Orleans Saints in the final preseason game. The Texans have 21 days to activate Scruggs to the 53-man roster. He was a full participant Wednesday.

The Texans are starting Michael Deiter at center, their fourth center since the start of training camp with, first, Scott Quessenberry placed on injured reserve with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, followed by Scruggs’ injury and then rookie Jarrett Patterson breaking his fibula and being placed on injured reserve.

Selected to the East-West Shrine Bowl all-star game, Scruggs was acquired after the Texans traded back into the second round to select him 62nd overall following a deal with the Philadelphia Eagles as they sent them their 65th, 188th and 230th overall selections to acquire Scruggs.

Officially named Frederick Henry, Scruggs got his nickname as a child who didn’t like to drink milk. Born in Ashtabula, Ohio before attending high school at Cathedral Prep in Erie, Pennsylvania, Scruggs emerged as a blue-chip recruit and state Lineman of the Year who chose the Nittany Lions over LSU, Ohio State and Michigan

Now, the Texans chose him to upgrade center position. Although Scruggs, a team captain and third-team All-Big Ten Conference selection has played guard, the Texans viewed him more as a center. The Texans drafted Scruggs after two centers were selected ahead of Scruggs with the New York Jets picking Wisconsin center Joe Tippmann and the New York Giants selected Minnesota center John Michael Schmitz.

Scruggs (6-foot-3, 310 pounds) has overcome significant difficulty in his life.

Scruggs was in a serious car accident in 2019, fracturing his L3 vertebrae and suffering a concussion. He was in a back brace for eight months and missed the entire season. He battled his way back and got back on the field against Maryland in 2020, nearly two years after the crash and appeared in seven games as a reserve. By 2021, Scruggs was a 13-game starter and an honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection.

Running back Dameon Pierce, who has missed the past three games with an ankle injury and returned to practice last Friday on a limited basis, practiced Wednesday and took the second-team handoffs behind Devin ‘Motor’ Singletary. Singletary has rushed for over 100 yards each of the past two games, including a career-high 150 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals. Pierce participated fully.

Rookie linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, listed now as the starting Sam linebacker, returned to practice after missing two games with a concussion. He participated fully, as did offensive tackle Charlie Heck (back).

Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil didn’t practice Wednesday, which is how the Texans have been managing his knee injury.

Veteran wide receiver Robert Woods was at practice, but didn’t participate as he is also slated for rest days and recently returned from a foot injury.

Texans safety and team captain Jimmie Ward didn’t practice. He has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury.

Wide receiver Noah Brown missed the last game with a knee injury and didn’t practice Wednesday. Brown’s injury isn’t regarded as a long-term recovery with a league source telling KPRC 2 last week he would be out one to two weeks.

Rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr. didn’t practice due to a knee injury.

Linebacker Jake Hansen (hand surgery) and quarterback Case Keenum (calf) didn’t practice.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com