The last NFL team to make the playoffs after starting 0-3 was the Houston Texans in 2018. Whether they can pull off another remarkable turnaround remains to be seen. Still, back-to-back wins over the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens before their bye week are certainly steps in the right direction.
Following a dominant 44-10 victory over the Ravens in Week 5, Houston showed strength in every phase of the game. Now sitting at 2-3, Texans fans are wondering when Joe Mixon will return to give the offense a boost. Here’s the latest on the star running back’s status.
Latest on Joe Mixon’s Injury
How Mixon got hurt remains unclear outside the organization. The star running back sustained a non-football-related injury during the offseason, keeping him out of all of training camp and preseason. While details of the incident haven’t been made public, it has been confirmed that the injury involves Mixon’s ankle.
Mixon was eligible to come off the PUP list last week before the Texans faced the Ravens. However, according to reporter Aaron Wilson, head coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters that Mixon isn’t ready to play. Wilson adds that his sources tell him “it will be much longer, if at all, for Mixon to get back on the field this season.”
Texans general manager Nick Caserio was asked about Mixon’s status after Week 5, and he remained non-committal about whether the running back will play this season.
“He is making progress, so, we wouldn’t put a particular timetable on it,” Caserio said. “So think over the next few, three, four weeks probably get a little more information here, kind of see how it is progressing, but you know, take them one day at a time, I think once we kind of get to that period, probably have a better sense of, you know, which way it’s going to go, you know, for the duration of the year.”
Throw in the fact that Ryans was recently speaking about Mixon’s contributions in the past tense, and there are some concerning red flags for the 29-year-old.
“We miss Joe, miss his energy and enthusiasm and everything he brought to our team,” Ryans said. “We continue to press forward and hope he’s doing well.”
With Mixon out, Nick Chubb began the season as Houston’s lead back, but rookie Woody Marks has since cut into his workload. In the Week 4 win over the Titans, Marks had a breakout game with 17 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown, plus four receptions for 50 yards and another score.
However, things changed in Week 5 as Chubb was again the Texans’ leading back. So far this season, he has 58 carries for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Based on PFSN’s Running Back Impact metric, Chubb is currently the 30th-ranked player at his position, while Marks is 38th.
In 2024 with the Texans, Mixon rushed for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns on 245 carries while adding 36 receptions for 309 yards and another score. He led the team in total touchdowns during both the regular season (12) and playoffs (two), firmly establishing himself as the backbone of the offense.
Mixon’s Fantasy Outlook
Given the mysterious nature of Mixon’s injury, and the fact that he’s missed three games in two of the past three seasons while logging over 2,100 career touches, it’s anyone’s guess when (or if) he’ll play this season.
The 29-year-old has averaged more than 4.1 yards per carry just once in his career, making him more of a volume-based fantasy asset than one who can deliver explosively with limited work. With over 1,200 scrimmage yards in four consecutive seasons, Mixon remains a potential weekly option if healthy, but that’s a big if.
If the Texans get a bell-cow version of Mixon late in the year, he could be a difference-maker in the fantasy playoffs. Houston hosts the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders in Weeks 15–16, both favorable matchups. That said, if you’re using a valuable roster spot on Mixon, it might be time to move on.
In the meantime, can you rely on Chubb of Marks? Chubb has been held under nine PPR points in three of five games this season and seems to be trending away from the high-volume role that made him of any interest to us in the first place.
In Weeks 1-3, the veteran’s snap share was hovering around 50%, but it fell to 42% against the Titans and then 34% against the Ravens.
This offensive line ranks in the bottom tier of the NFL, and that removes almost all hope for a player like Chubb (and it means Marks will also have an uphill battle if he’s named the starter).
I have no issue with holding onto Chubb for a few more weeks, but I wouldn’t count on him being near your starting lineup. Marks, on the other hand, has shown intriguing versatility. While his performance against Baltimore was limited, he has outsnapped Chubb over the past two weeks. With the burst Marks has displayed, it’s very likely he will continue to take a growing share of the backfield workload as the season progresses.
