The Houston Texans will look to take the next step during the 2024 season. After an incredible 2023 campaign, the Texans will look to become true contenders in the gauntlet that is the AFC and the entire league.
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The Texans took the necessary steps in that direction by acquiring one of the top running backs in the league, Joe Mixon. After spending his entire career with the Cincinnati Bengals, he is now a member of the Texans.
While Mixon is set to make a massive impact on the 22-year-old franchise, he has been dealing with an undisclosed injury. Although he hasn’t been doing much throughout training camp, Mixon finally returned to the practice field, where he did team drills on Wednesday.
Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
Whatever it is, it has apparently healed.
Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle said that Mixon is close to being back to total health.
“He looks close to being back to full health if he isn’t,” Alexander noted.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans changed his mind last week after suggesting Mixon would play in Saturday’s eventual preseason win over the New York Giants, but it seems that was just a matter of caution and not indicative of a setback or concern.
The 28-year-old returned to practice on Aug. 11 after he missed the first two and half weeks of training camp with a quad injury. Although the quad injury has kept him out in the past, it appears that the quad injury didn’t resurface once he returned to practice in the following days.
In the meantime, backup running back Dameon Pierce has been a shell of himself. Pierce has done nothing to alleviate the concerns about his fit as a runner or blocker. Pierce has carried the ball eight times for nine yards in two preseason games.
Mixon is set to play a massive role in this newly revamped Texans team. The former Oklahoma Sooner is coming off a solid season with the Bengals, where he recorded 257 rushing attempts for 1,034 yards, the fourth time he has recorded 1,000+ yards, nine rushing touchdowns, and an average of 4.0 yards per carry. In total, he collected 12 touchdowns both on the ground and through the air.
In mid-March, the Bengals decided to trade their former second-round pick to the Texans in exchange for a 2024 seventh-round selection previously obtained from the Arizona Cardinals. He signed a three-year, $27 million contract extension through the 2026 season a day later.
The Bengals drafted the one-time Pro Bowler in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft with the No. 48 overall pick.
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