Texans regard Bears’ hit that injured Joe Mixon as an illegal hip-drop tackle, submitting play to NFL for review

HOUSTON – When Texans Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon injured his ankle on a hit from Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards on Sunday night at NRG Stadium, there was no penalty called.

The Texans have reviewed video of the play and regard Edwards’ hit as an illegal hip-drop tackle, which was outlawed by the NFL due to a high rate of injury. Now, the Texans are submitting the play to the league office for review. Edwards could be subject to a $16,883 fine from the NFL, if it’s his first offense. A second violation results in a $22,511 fine.

Mixon left the Texans’ 19-13 win under his own power, limping into the blue medical tent before going to the locker room briefly for more examination. Mixon had a magnetic resonance imaging exam Monday, and his injury is not considered a long-term issue, per league sources.

“With the tackle, in my mind, it is definitely considered the hip drop when a defender unweights himself, and he puts all his weight on the runner’s legs,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said during his weekly Monday press conference at NRG Stadium. “You see why we want to get the hip-drop tackle out of the game because it causes a lot of injuries when it happens. The hip-drop tackle doesn’t happen much, but the percentage of injury when it does happen is very high and you saw that there with Joe and his ankle.

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“The defender landed on his ankle. So, tough spot to be in. We all want to coach it better on defenders. That is why you want to put your body in front and tackle guys in front and not reaching from behind, and the defender is in a bad spot there. He’s trying to get Joe down and the only way when you’re in a bad spot, the only way, is to unweight yourself and you put your weight off on his leg. So, unfortunate that that happened to Joe.”

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Mixon, who rushed for one yard on one carry before being taken back out of the game and replaced by Cam Akers, who rushed for a team-high 32 yards on seven carries and lost a fumble on an unflagged helmet-to-helmet shot in the red zone, finished the game with nine carries for 25 yards. He caught three passes for 25 yards one week after rushing for 159 yards and a touchdown on a career-high 30 carries.

“The NFL and NFLPA made it a rule and an emphasis for a reason,” Mixon wrote on social media after the game. “Time to put your money where your mouth is. When I got up, I asked the ref where is the flag that was a hip tackle. & his reply was no it wasn’t.”

The Texans rushed for just 3.4 yards per carry, gaining 75 yards on 22 carries one week after Mixon averaged 5.3 yards per run against the Colts.

“Losing Joe was tough for our offense,” Ryans said. “The production that Joe had the first week was beneficial. He was key to our success in the first week.”

Ryans was noncommittal on Mixon’s status for Sunday’s road game against the Minnesota Vikings.

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Backup running back Dameon Pierce, who missed the Bears game with a minor strained hamstring, is making fast progress in his recovery, per a league source.

And safety M.J. Stewart is close to returning to practice from a knee-quadriceps injury that kept him out of the first two games.

It’s unclear if Mixon will be able to play this week.

“We’ll see on the injury,” Ryans said. “We’ll see. We’ll evaluate Joe as we go throughout the week. Just take it day by day.”

NOTES

When Texans veteran linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair chased down Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams to the sideline, he delivered a hard, legal hit with his shoulder that sent the top overall pick flying to the ground.

There was no penalty for a late hit in what would have been a close call, but the Bears’ players were irate about the play. Al-Shaair was quickly surrounded by Williams’ teammates. And Al-Shaair emphasized after the game that he was being disrespected by the Bears’ players verbally and being shoved by players both in uniform and not in uniform.

So, Al-Shaair said he felt the need to defend himself. He punched Bears backup running back Roschon Johnson in the facemask. The officials missed the punch and Al-Shaair wasn’t penalized or ejected in the Texans’ 19-13 victory, but a big fine could be coming from the league office.

• ‘Not my proudest moment,’ Texans’ Azeez Al-Shaair explains why he punched Bears’ Roschon Johnson in sideline dustup

A first offense for fighting carries a $39,501 fine, and a second offense triggers a $79,004 fine.

“From my perspective, seeing Azeez, he had a big hit on the quarterback, and everyone gets a little antsy when the quarterback gets hit on the sideline,” Ryans said. “But if the quarterback stays in, he’s going to get hit. Now, I think everybody’s a little sensitive when there are big hits in the league. We’re still playing a physical game. You are going to get hit hard if you are playing against us. This is just how we operate here.

“What happened after that, Azeez he’s surrounded by a lot of their players and also some staff, and they are surrounding them. We got people pushing Azeez and kicking so as a game, we have to be better, from protecting all players involved, especially when something happens on the opposite sideline. Just have to be better. We know from Azeez’s perspective, we can’t throw punches or anything like that. Just, overall, we just have to be able to protect players and it goes both ways. You got guys surrounding with one of our players, uniformed staff, and, in that little mix-up, that’s a problem, and we have to get it fixed.”

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Johnson, a former University of Texas player, didn’t retaliate after he was punched and wrote on social media: “It took every bit of my soul not to thrash that boy.”

Al-Shaair said he was provoked and defended himself.

“Honestly when I got up and felt them push me to the ground, my instincts kicked in, trying to protect myself,” Al-Shaair told KPRC 2. “I didn’t see what happened until after I pushed him, punched him, whatever it is, I got to respect whatever comes with that. Obviously, I understand that’s not acceptable. That’s obviously not who I’m trying to be. I’m not trying to be a fake tough guy. I’ve played in this league for six years. I haven’t had anything like that happen. For that to happen on national television, that’s not my proudest moment.

“I take full accountability. In that aspect, my instincts kicked in. People saying all kind of crazy stuff, putting their hands on me, pushing on me. Some of those people didn’t even have pads on. I’m just confused. Why are you putting your hands on me. That’s the first lesson from kindergarten: Keep your hands to yourself.”

Texans starting center Juice Scruggs missed the Bears game with a groin injury

He was replaced by Jarrett Patterson.

“Proud of Jarrett for stepping in there,” Ryans said. “Late in the week, he had to step in. And there were a lot of calls, a lot of checks with their front, that was a tough defensive front. They did a really good job of moving. They did a really good job of really packing the box and stopping the run game.

“So, JP stepped in and the communication, he handled it really well. I thought they played really good up front for us and we all continue to improve all across the board on our team. Everybody has things that we can improve on.”

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