Texans head coach David Culley updates Tyrod Taylor injury

Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s hamstring injury appears to be significant and could even land him on Injured Reserve, according to NFL’s Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Houston Texans starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor left Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns early with a leg injury. It was revealed that Taylor tweaked his hamstring running for a touchdown in the second quarter. Head coach David Culley elected to hold him out of the second half of the game. At the time, the Texans were tied with the Browns 14-14. But without Taylor, they would end up losing the game 31-21.

On Monday, Culley gave a brief update on the status of his injured starting quarterback. He said he’s “uncertain” right now if Taylor would be available for the Texans’ Thursday night game against the Carolina Panthers. Because of the quick turnaround from Sunday to Thursday, Taylor will have a limited amount of time to recover in hopes of playing in the game.

Taylors status updated

Pelissero of the NFL Network added this to the status of Tyrod Taylor heading into Thursday’s game and beyond.

“Texans QB Tyrod Taylor will be out “for a while” with the hamstring he injured in Sunday’s loss to the Browns, per source,” wrote Pelissreo. “Still waiting for the swelling to go down. As [Ian Rapoport] reported last night. Taylor won’t play Thursday vs. Panthers. IR stint could be in play.”

With the possibility of Taylor going onto injured reserve, the embattled veteran quarterback may miss quite some time going forward. For the Texans, they will have to go over all possible options for the team until he can return.

Options for the Texans

Although the Texans still have Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson currently on the 53-man roster, they are electing not to activate him for Thursday’s game. Watson, who requested a trade from the team in the offseason, is still in the middle of resolving the 22 civil lawsuits he has against him.

If Taylor is unable to go, the Texans will likely hand the ball over to rookie quarterback David Mills. Mills was Houston’s third-round pick in this year’s draft out of Stanford. In his stint replacing Taylor in the second half of their loss on Sunday, Mills finished the game with a passer rating of 58.1. That was due to him completing eight of his 18 attempts for 102 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The Texans likely did not plan for Mills to have ample playing time against the Browns, but if Taylor is unable to go this Thursday, the Texans will make sure their rookie signal-caller is ready to go.

A familiar fate

This situation could feel like deja-vu for Taylor. At his two stops before signing with the Texans, he would relinquish his starting role to a rookie quarterback. In 2018 while playing for the aforementioned Cleveland Browns, Taylor was knocked out of the game in week four. The team would then insert their number one overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Baker Mayfield, and never looked back. The following year Taylor signed with the Los Angeles Chargers and was named their starter for the 2020 season after the team parted ways with Phillip Rivers. However, after an error made by the training staff, Taylor would be replaced by Justin Herbert after just two games. And in a similar fashion to the Cleveland situation, the Chargers no longer needed Taylor as their starter.

While this situation is a familiar one, the two quarterbacks who succeed Taylor were drafted as top-10 picks. And both were brought in to become the new faces franchises, but that storyline does not fit here for the Texans and Mills.

It is expected that Taylor might miss a few weeks recovering from this hamstring injury as of now. But depending on how well the team does in his absence and the play from his rookie replacement, Taylor could see himself right back as the starter when he returns.