Texans’ Jimmie Ward having foot surgery, out for year, Shaq Mason Grade 2 sprained MCL in knee, out three to four weeks

HOUSTON – Texans veteran nickel and team captain Jimmie Ward was declared out for the season with a midfoot sprain that will require surgery as he was placed on injured reserve.

It’s another setback for the AFC South champions as they also lost wide receiver Tank Dell for the season and likely much, much longer with a dislocated knee and a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“He’ll require surgery,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He’ll be out for the remainder of the year. Tough news, especially with Tank and Jimmie. Great guys, great players. We’ll miss them dearly. They mean a lot to our team. We’ll have a lot to pick up.”

‘Tough news’: Texans’ Tank Dell out for year with dislocated knee, torn ACL, Jimmie Ward out for year, foot surgery

Ward was a key piece of the defense as the replacement for standout nickel Jalen Pitre.

Since replacing Pitre in the lineup, Ward has returned an interception for a touchdown and recorded 24 tackles with four for losses and two passes defensed over the past month. He finished the season with 48 tackles, two interceptions, five tackles for losses and four passes defensed.

Ward is under contract through the 2025 season after signing a one-year contract extension at the start of the season.

Texans rookie cornerback Kamari Lassiter is expected to step in for Ward at nickel, as he did in a road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, with Jeff Okudah starting against the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas at outside corner.

A second-round draft pick from Georgia, Lassiter has excelled as an outside cornerback presence with three interceptions despite missing time earlier this season with a fractured scapula. In a dozen starts, Lassiter has 10 passes defensed, 51 tackles, three tackles for losses. He has allowed 25 completions on 59 targets for a 42.4 completion percentage, 14.3 yards per completion and three touchdowns.

“I’m getting ready throughout the week and doing whatever the team needs me to do,” Lassiter told KPRC 2. “Short notice, but it doesn’t matter. I’m going to go out there and put my best foot forward. I’m just looking forward to going out there and playing ball on Christmas Day with the guys for the fans for my family. I’m excited.”

“We’ll see how we move guys around on the back end,” Ryans said. “There’s still a lot of pieces on a short week. We’ll see what we’re able to do.”

Veteran offensive guard Shaq Mason suffered a Grade 2 sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee and is out three to four weeks, per league sources.

Mason limped off the field and went directly to the blue medical tent after being attended to by trainers.

Mason underwent further testing to further assess the extent of the injury, which confirmed that he had avoided a major knee injury.

Kendrick Green stepped in for Mason at right guard and is slated to start Wednesday against the Ravens.

“Yeah, I’m excited,” Green said. “Great opportunity for me to go play and do even better than I did last game.”

The Texans have had to shuffle their offensive line throughout the season due to injuries.

They started the same offensive line configuration as last week against the Chiefs on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil started next to left guard Tytus Howard, who shifted over from his natural right tackle spot last week against the Miami Dolphins, center Jarrett Patterson, Mason at right guard and rookie Blake Fisher made his second consecutive start at right tackle.

Fisher is a second-round draft pick from Notre Dame.

Fisher briefly left the game briefly to get checked out, but went back into the game and finished out the contest. He isn’t listed on the injury report this week.

Meanwhile, offensive guard Juice Scruggs remains sidelined with a foot injury and he will miss the Ravens game.

“Juice is fighting his tail off and we will see where he ends up this week and down the road,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said. “This is kind of a week-to-week thing. I think every week we are approaching it on what we have to do this week and what is best for us thing. We will cross that bridge when we get to it.”

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