Texans’ Dameon Pierce full-go all week as Jimmie Ward, Noah Brown remain sidelined

HOUSTON – Texans running back Dameon Pierce, a Pro Bowl alternate as a rookie last season, is primed to return after missing the past three games with an ankle injury.

Pierce returned to practice a week ago and has participated fully in practice this week.

Although listed as questionable on the final injury report, Pierce is expected to be active and play Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, per league sources.

His return likely sets up a playtime sharing, hot hand situation in tandem with Devin ‘Motor’ Singletary, who has excelled in Pierce’s absence.

Singletary, a strong fit for offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik’s zone-run offense, has rushed for a league-high combined 262 yards and two touchdowns in wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and the Arizona Cardinals.

The Texans (6-4) and riding a three-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s pivotal AFC South showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars have rushed for a season-high 188 yards against the Bengals and 111 yards against the Cardinals with Singletary leading the way.

That has created a more balanced offense for rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud to run, improving the effectiveness of play-action passes.

“Yeah, it’s been fun to watch,” Slowik said. “The growth that we’ve had in the run scheme, and what we’ve been doing up front and the holes that we’ve created, I think the offense is seeing how powerful that is. How much that opens the play-pass world, opens the keeper world and the stuff I think that we’ve done a really good job of over the last three weeks. And that’s just inspired us to want to do it more. Motor, obviously, the last couple games, has carried the bulk of the load there at running back.

“I’ve said this before and nothing’s really changed, whenever it is that DP comes back, we believe wholeheartedly in sharing that load. It’s the same at receiver, tight end, everywhere, except quarterback. We want to make sure guys are fresh, and when they touch the ball, they give all they’ve got until they’re tackled or they’re scoring. And then we roll them when they need air.”

Pierce got off to a slow start in first seven games as he adjusted to Slowik’s offense and stated he needed to become more patient as a runner. He has rushed for 327 yards and one touchdown with a 3.0 average per carry. Singletary has rushed for a team-high 471 yards and two scores with a 4.1 average per run.

“When DP comes back, before he got hurt, he was making big strides in what we wanted as far as a runner and just getting used to the scheme, adapting to what we’re doing,” Slowik said. “Similar to ‘Motor,’ I’d say they were clicking right around the same time. ‘Motor’ has been able to keep playing, and that’s shown, and we’ll stay on the same track with DP, and we’ll make sure both guys are full gas and healthy and ready to go, and we’ll hopefully keep growing.”

Meanwhile, safety Jimmie Ward (hamstring) and wide receiver Noah Brown (knee) remain sidelined and are set to miss this game against Jacksonville along with linebacker Jake Hansen (hand surgery).

Rookie defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (knee) participated fully Thursday and is practicing Friday and is good to go for Sunday’s game along with Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil (knee) and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o (concussion). All have no injury designations.

Third quarterback Case Keenum returned to practice from a calf injury. He is questionable.

Texans rookie center Juice Scruggs, a second-round draft pick and former projected starter, was designated for return Wednesday and participated fully this week. Whether he’ll be activated is questionable, as is his listing on the injury report, because he has missed the entire season and the Texans are confident in center Michael Deiter, the current starter. Deiter is preparing to start the game, per sources.

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.

Deiter is 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.

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