The Houston Texans received bad news on Sunday. The upside is at least it wasn’t a surprise and one the club had been bracing for.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, MRI results on Sunday confirmed starting running back Lamar Miller suffered a torn ACL in the team’s 34-0 shutout at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night at AT&T Stadium.
On the second play on offense for Houston, Dallas defensive tackle Maliek Collins broke through the offensive line and dropped Miller for a 1-yard loss. In the process, Collins’ helmet banged into the left knee of the Pro Bowl running back, who dropped the ball concurrent with being down by contact.
The injury leaves the Texans in a bind at running back. Throughout training camp and preseason, Miller was at the top of the depth chart with no competition. Instead, all of the competition focused on who would back him up from veterans Taiwan Jones to Josh Ferguson to Buddy Howell. Even undrafted rookies Damarea Crockett and Karan Higdon were battling for a spot on the roster.
The trade for Duke Johnson also filled a running back spot. However, with just 10 starts in his 64-game career with the Cleveland Browns and not a single 100-yard rushing game, Johnson may not be the feature back the Texans need to fill in for Miller.
