For nine years, Johnathan Joseph has acted as the Houston Texans’ starter. However, that role appears to be fading away. With recent acquisitions of Bradley Roby (free agency), Gareon Conley (trade), Vernon Hargreaves (waivers) and Lonnie Johnson (draft), Joseph’s role in the Texans’ defense slowly diminished throughout the 2019 season.
On Saturday’s wild-card overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills, Joseph did not play a snap. He was inactive. However, despite his diminishing role in the Texans’ defense, he was not a healthy scratch.
“He’s dealing with some things relative to health,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said on Monday. “I think he’s doing better. I think he’s progressing, but he was not a healthy scratch, he had a hamstring. He’s dealing with some things.”
Joseph, 35, suffered a hamstring injury in the Texans’ 35-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 17. He played seven snaps. In the game before, he played in eight snaps, despite being healthy. He caught an interception in his limited snaps.
Joseph has not played a full-game since Week 5 against the Atlanta Falcons. In his 14th professional season, he has shown a bit of regression, allowing a 94 passer rating in coverage as compared to an 88.6 in 2018, per Pro Football Reference.
With Roby and Conley playing well as starters in the Texans’ defense and Hargreaves being groomed for the nickel role, it’s hard to envision Joseph making much of an impact against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round, even if he is healthy.
The consensus is that Joseph is nearing the end of his career. He is a free agent at the end of the season, has struggled with injuries in 2019 and has slowed down a bit. If he ends up calling it quits after the season, there is little doubt that “JJoe” will be considered the best cornerback in franchise history.
