The Houston Texans have a dilemma at cornerback, and much of it depends on the availability of starter Johnathan Joseph.
The 35-year-old tweaked his hamstring in the final practice of Week 6 on Oct. 11 as the Texans prepared to face the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Though he had a questionable designation and made the trip with the team, Joseph was a game-day scratch. That left Houston with veteran Bradley Roby to lead a rookie tandem of Lonnie Johnson and Xavier Crawford, along with journeymen Keion Crossen and Phillip Gaines, to defend Tyreek Hill and the Chiefs’ receiving corps.
After Roby left the game with a hamstring injury of his own, one that will sideline him for a month, the return of Joseph against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7 is paramount.
Yet coach Bill O’Brien didn’t have an definitive answer about Joseph’s status when asked Wednesday in his press conference.
“I don’t know,” O’Brien said. “I think that’s really day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels today. He’ll be out there today. We’ll see how he feels. It really is day-to-day.”
On the Wednesday injury report, Joseph was listed as having been a limited participant, but so was Roby, who ostensibly has a worse prognosis than Joseph.
If the Texans don’t have Joseph against the Colts, they will have to roll out with their same two rookies and same two veterans. They were able to contain Hill for a half, and they would have to find a way to contain the Colts’ T.Y. Hilton for the entire game.
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