The rushing woes aren’t ending for the Texans. In his debut for the team, running back Joe Mixon delivered his 3rd best career performance with 159 rushing yards and a touchdown. However, now, he is struggling with a sprained ankle. He has already missed 2 games and now we have got an update on his injury.

NFL Insider Ian Rapoport tweeted that the RB missed practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. It indicates that he is not fit and won’t play on Sunday against the Bills. This leaves the team in a complex situation. When the best sits out, the coach has to dive deep into his options.

When the initial injury came out for the RB after the Bears game, it indicated that he was out for only a week. The team hasn’t put him on the Injured Reserve (IR) list. He also returned to practice on Friday before the week 4 Sunday game against the Jaguars. But since then, he is nowhere to be seen. This has led to questions on the handling of the player.

While one fan questioned the initial injury report and wrote, “Gets injured report comes out ‘We don’t expect this to be a multiple week injury’. Here we are multiple weeks later, ” another fan was curious about the team situation and commented, “How does he practice Friday and then not practice this whole week man.” One thing is certain. Joe Mixon isn’t revealing something about his injury. Or, he aggravated his injury while attempting to return last week.

Texans signed a 3-year $27 million contract with Mixon in March this year. They had high hopes, but in his absence, they are forced to go ahead with other options.

Houston Texans’ running back options in the absence of Joe Mixon

The Texans have 3 running backs available. Other than Mixon, Dameon Pierce is already injured. He only played the season opener against the Colts and has missed the last 3 games. Pierce would also not be playing against the Bills as he, too, didn’t practice this week.

The team is looking forward to the winning duo of Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale. In the last 3 games, Akers has been the team’s top rusher. During the week 4 game against the Jaguars, he had 13 rushes for 53 yards. He was significantly aided by Ogunbowale, who made the game-winning touchdown. Since then, his stakes are high.

The 3rd choice, British Brooks, a rookie, is yet to be fully tested. When Joe Mixon couldn’t make the cut for the week 3 game against the Vikings, the rookie played for a few minutes and recorded 1 carry for 2 yards. However, the times ahead are crunching and will decide the trajectory based on player performances.

Can the Texans overcome the hurdles and continue their winning mission? We’ll find out soon.