NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Back from a foot injury that sidelined him for the past three games, Juice Scruggs is on the move again.
The Texans’ second-year offensive lineman from Penn State is starting at right guard in a Sunday road game against the Tennessee Titans as he steps in for an injured Shaq Mason.
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This regular-season finale likely provides a preview of how the AFC South champions will line up in the playoffs in the AFC wild-card round with Mason our three to four more weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his knee, per league sources.
The Texans, who are trying to build confidence and continuity heading into the postseason, lost to the Titans, 32-27, earlier this season at NRG Stadium. In the game, the Texans were dominated by Titans defensive lineman T’Vondre Sweat and Jeffery Simmons. Stroud, sacked 52 times this season after being sacked 38 times last season as a rookie in being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, was intercepted twice in that game and sacked four times.
#Texans offensive line getting ready for final regular season game against #Titans with home wild-card playoff game to follow @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/NiAb4vaxIy
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 1, 2025
Scruggs has previously started at center and left guard for the Texans. Now, he’ll line up next to rookie right tackle Blake Fisher and center Jarrett Patterson with five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and former first-round draft pick and starting right tackle Tytus Howard, the current left guard, manning the other side.
Scruggs moved well in practice this week and appears ready for his latest blocking assignment.
A former second-round draft pick, Scruggs tarted six of the final seven games last season as the replacement for injured left guard Tytus Howard.
Scruggs, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound lineman who had two holding penalties and one false start as a rookie, grew more and more comfortable once he was activated from injured reserve last season. His first game stepping in for Howard last season was a rough experience as he allowed three hurries against the Jacksonville Jaguars after Howard injured his knee and patellar tendon. Against the Denver Broncos, Scruggs allowed just one hurry.
While the second-round draft pick was in college, Scruggs was involved in a serious car accident.
Four years ago, Scruggs fractured his L3 vertebrae and suffered 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.
Since that injury sustained by Howard, Scruggs became a starter, including playoff games against the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. He lined up next to Tunsil and provided a reliable presence on the left side of the line.
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
The Texans chose him to upgrade center position, but he wound up at guard. 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.
His approach to football: “Being nasty. Just coming off the ball and having that mindset, just being nasty.”
Scruggs yielded zero sacks or pressures in a 45-15 AFC wild-card playoff win over the Cleveland Browns.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
