The Houston Texans are no strangers to making last-minute adjustments to their offensive line, and despite wholesale changes to their playing staff up front this offseason this trend seems hard to buck.
Last week in Green Bay the Texans were already without starting center Nick Martin due to injury and subsequently lost his backup Greg Mancz during their first preseason loss to the Packers, 29-26.
Thankfully, Bill O’Brien heralds versatility in his squad and this has come in handy the last few weeks as the offensive line has shown up in countless different iterations to accommodate injuries and to find each player’s best fit.
“We’ve got to get Nick (Martin) back in there, but Greg got hurt in the game,” said O’Brien on Thursday at the Methodist training center.
“Not too much you can do about that. It’s a good thing we have Zach (Fulton), Senio (Kelemete) has come in there, jumped in there.”
Right guard Fulton took over at center for Mancz in preseason Week 1 while left guard Kelemente also has the ability to line up in front of Watson if necessary.
Said O’Brien; “Shaq (Maurquice Shakir) has done a good job in there, but it’s just the nature of the deal. There’s not too much you can do about it. You just have to do the best you can.”
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that Shakir will make the 53-man roster given that there are four guys who they tend to line up at center ahead of him. But the Texans may well look to keep him on the practice squad, given their need for depth in that seemingly injury-prone offensive line.
