MINNEAPOLIS – When Texans Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon injured his ankle on an illegal hip-drop tackle from Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards on Sunday night at NRG Stadium, there was no penalty called.
The Texans submitted video of the play after a review and the league office has fined Edwards $16,883 for a tackle outlawed by the NFL due to a high rate of injury.
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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. While there was no structural damage, Mixon was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. His status is regarded as week to week, per a league source.
“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.”
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.
Cam Akers will start at running back against the VIkings.
“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.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for click2houston.com.
