John Metchie III sidelined at Texans OTAs with another setback

The Houston Texans are entering an exciting first season under new head coach DeMeco Ryans, but still waiting on one of the team’s top weapons to reach full health. After overcoming his Leukemia diagnosis, wide receiver John Metchie III is going through another setback due to a hamstring injury.

At the start of OTAs, DeMeco Ryans told reporters that Metchie is “on the right path” to participating with the rest of his team by training camp. He was a full participant in the team’s offseason workout program but the hamstring injury put him on the sideline during the non-contact OTA stretch.

Metchie missed the entire 2022 season after receiving a diagnosis of Leukemia after the draft and though he’s now clear for play on that front, a hamstring injury set him back this offseason. According to Ryans, the goal for the former Alabama standout is full participation for training camp in July.

Metchie’s diagnosis, which came last July, revealed he had APL (Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia), which is a form of Leukemia with the highest rates of long-term survival.

After finding out about his condition, the second-rounder spent a month and a half in in-patient treatment. He followed that up with several months of outpatient chemotherapy.

Despite so much time off the field, the Texans are still hoping Metchie will develop into a star for the team.

“I’m not setting any expectations on Metch. I certainly will not put any ceilings on him (either),” Texans wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels said last week. “He’s proved to everybody that that’s unnecessary, and he’ll attempt to shatter those ceilings”

DeMeco Ryans praises Metchie’s character

Once Metchie gets back to his old ways, he’ll be catching passes from a brand new Texans quarterback. Houston grabbed former Ohio State star C.J. Stroud. Ryans has been very pleased with what he’s seen from his rookie QB so far.

“He’s been doing an excellent job over the past two days,” Ryans said.

Like Stroud, Metchie will have to win a starting job once he returns to the field. In his last year at Alabama, he had 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns before Houston selected him No. 44 overall. They went for him despite a torn ACL very late in the season. Although Ryans wasn’t the head coach when the Texans drafted him, he is already liking what he brings to the table.

“When you talk about a guy like John Metchie, just hearing his story and meeting him in person, it marries up,” Ryans said last month. “Outstanding young man off the field. Great energy. Always around. Every time I seen him in the building, huge smile on his face.

“No matter what adversity he’s faced, he’s attacking it with a smile, with the right attitude. It just solidifies the type of person that he is and the type of people and the type of players that we want to add to our team, it’s guys with that type of attitude.”