INDIANAPOLIS — The Houston Texans lost a key piece of their offensive line when rookie right tackle Tytus Howard was placed on injured reserve the day before the club’s Week 13 game against the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.
After missing Week 1 at the New Orleans Saints with a broken hand, Howard sprained his MCL in Week 6 at the Kansas City Chiefs and missed the next two games. Even though Howard played three more games starting in Week 9, the first-round pick from Alabama State succumbed to his knee injury after just eight games.
However, coach Bill O’Brien says Howard is making progress in his rehabilitation.
“Doing well,” O’Brien said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “I would say that to put a timetable on it, I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you. I think he’ll be able to do some things in the offseason program, though. He’s doing really well.”
The same weekend that J.J. Watt and Kealiea Ohai got married — Feb. 15-16 — Howard married Chelsea King, whose fried chicken got big praise from Howard in preseason.
O’Brien joked that Howard didn’t take a honeymoon and went right back to rehabbing his knee. All kidding aside, the 6-5, 322-pound tackle provided next-level pass protection for quarterback Deshaun Watson and opened up running lanes for Carlos Hyde, who finished with his first 1,000-yard season of his career.
“He’s doing really well,” said O’Brien. “He’s a great kid. We’re glad he’s on our team.”
