Week 4 Injury Report: Buffalo Bills Vs. Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are nearly a quarter through the season and have won two out three games so far.

In the grand scheme of things, that’s not bad at all.

Last week was unfortunate for the team as the New York Giants were able to exploit the weaknesses the Texans had and they used them to their advantage.

You better believe Bill O’Brien and the coaching staff are going to work as hard as they can to fix the issues that were occurring so that they can come out the victor!

This week, the Texans are back in the friendly confines of the Bayou City to face the Buffalo Bills.

The Giants turned their physicality up quite a bit against the team last week and this caused our roster to have a few more maladies than the previous weeks.

For the Houston Texans, here are the players that are listed on the injury report:

CB A.J. Bouye, Groin

LB Jadeveon Clowney, Knee

DE Jared Crick, Neck

RB Arian Foster, Hamstring

CB Kareem Jackson, Thigh

DE Tim Jamison, Groin

WR Andre Johnson, Ankle

G Ben Jones, Knee

CB Johnathan Joseph, Foot

S Shiloh Keo, Calf

P Shane Lechler, Left Hip

S Eddie Pleasant, Ankle

S D.J. Swearinger, Elbow

It’s no surprise but Clowney and Keo are out for Sunday’s contest. Clowney still has a few more weeks as far as his recovery with knee surgery and Keo hasn’t taken a snap all year while he nurses his calf or I suspect that he might be a roster stash that will suddenly become available any given week if he is needed.

Pleasant is a new add to the “out” list. He sustained an injury to his ankle after a tackle on a kickoff return last week — he was noticeably limping after sustaining the injury as well. He has not practiced all week.

CSN Houston’s Dave Zangaro confirms:

Eddie Pleasant has a sprained ankle. He missed practice. He probably won't play this week. #Texans
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) September 24, 2014

Foster, Lechler and Bouye have been ruled as questionable for Sunday. Foster and Lechler are going to be game-time decisions and will be worked out prior to Sunday’s game to check their readiness. Foster did practice albeit limited this week and Lechler wasn’t at practice at all while he receives his treatments.

The Houston Texans’ Deepi Sidhu confirms:

Arian Foster and Shane Lechler "definitely" game-time decisions, per O'Brien. Both will be worked out Sunday prior to decision. #Texans
— Deepi Sidhu (@DeepSlant) September 26, 2014

If Foster isn’t ready, expect a similar scenario just like last week when Alfred Blue was the primary focus on the ground while Jonathan Grimes and Ronnie Brown pitched in when needed.

Chris Boswell, who re-signed with the Texans and added to the practice squad earlier this week, will step in for Lechler if he isn’t a go. He is a rookie that was Rice U’s placekicker last season but had some extensive work in punting during this past preseason. Although the Texans did work out four free agent punters this week, O’Brien thinks Boswell is the best option, plus he won’t have to worry about making any major roster shifts if they had signed a punter off the street.

The Houston Chronicle’s John McClain confirms:

OBrien on Chris Boswell "He's a placekicker first, but he did some punting for us. He was an option for us, so we brought him back."
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) September 25, 2014

Boswell did average a decent 44.3 yards per punt off a total of 15 of them during the preseason. He had six punts that were in the red zone. Bouye has been limited all week with an injury to his groin and did not practice yesterday. He provides an immense amount of depth to the secondary and is one of the leading tacklers for the team with 14 so far on the season.

CSN Houston’s James Palmer confirms:

CB A.J. Bouye added to the #Texans injury report with a groin injury. He was limited today. Foster and Swearinger both limited too.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 25, 2014

Daryl Morris, Elbert Mack and Andre Hal are all available if Bouye isn’t able to go but it remains to be seen what their potential impact would be.

I honestly don’t expect any of these guys listed as questionable to see the field — we have quality backups at each position.

Crick, Jackson, Jamison, Johnson, Jones, Joseph and Swearinger are all probable for Sunday.

And here’s the injury report for the Buffalo Bills:

CB Ron Brooks, Illness

WR Marcus Easley, Knee

WR Marquise Goodwin, Concussion

LB Randell Johnson, Knee

QB E.J. Manuel, Abdomen

LB Keith Rivers, Groin

S Da’Norris Searcy, Ankle

RB C.J. Spiller, Chest

WR Sammy Watkins, Ribs

G Chris Williams, Back

WR Robert Woods, Ankle

Easley and Johnson have been ruled out for Sunday. Both are further down the depth chart so the impact of them not being present should be minimal.

Both Goodwin and Williams are listed as doubtful — Goodwin had previously been listed as having an illness but the Bills announced earlier this week that he had sustained a concussion. He is undergoing the NFL’s concussion testing protocol before he is cleared to return back to field, he hasn’t practiced since Wednesday.

Williams hasn’t practiced for most of the week as he nurses a sore back.

Goodwin has been used sparingly this season but he is the primary backup for Watkins who has been playing through a painful rib injury he sustained back last month. So one can infer that Watkins is not feeling 100 percent healthy. This definitely diminishes the depth of their wide outs.