The Houston Texans are 5-5 following their close win against the Tennessee Titans in Week 11. They were once again without C.J. Stroud and also continue to miss the services of starting running back Joe Mixon.
The veteran running back has yet to play this season as he recovers from a private, non-football-related injury. The five-time 1,000-yard rusher was placed on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list on August 26, with Nick Chubb and rookie Woody Marks sharing the workload in his absence.
Joe Mixon Injury Update
Mixon was outstanding in his debut season with Houston, posting over 1,300 total yards and 12 touchdowns. But a mysterious offseason injury has sidelined the 29-year-old all year, with no clear return date in sight.
How Mixon got hurt remains one of the season’s biggest unanswered questions. Fans and reporters have been asking for months, yet no one outside the organization seems to know for sure.
Reports suggest he suffered a non-football-related ankle injury during the offseason, keeping him out of training camp and the entire preseason.
The Texans confirmed the injury was serious enough to place him on the NFI list to open the year — a designation requiring him to miss at least the first four regular-season games. But with his absence now reaching 10 games, concerns continue to grow about when, or even if, he’ll return this season.
On Oct. 27, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was asked to provide an update on Mixon’s injury. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything to add on the running back’s situation.
“Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he has no update at this time on the status of injured running back Joe Mixon,” wrote Aaron Wilson X.
During Mixon’s unavailability, the Texans’ backfield-by-committee ranks towards the bottom of the NFL in terms of rushing statistics. According to PFSN’s Offense Impact metric, Houston has the 25th-ranked offense in the league.
PFSN’s RB Impact metric shows Chubb and Marks performing similarly through 10 games this season. Among 43 statistically eligible backs, the Texans RBs land 37th (Chubb) and 38th (Marks).
Last season, Joe Mixon was the engine of Houston’s offense, finishing with 1,016 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, along with 309 receiving yards and another score through the air.
In his absence, Houston’s ground game has struggled to find consistency, missing the balance Mixon provides to complement Stroud’s passing attack. The Texans are averaging just 107.6 rushing yards per game, a clear step back from their production a season ago.
They will face the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football in Week 12, and Mixon’s absence will be felt massively. Buffalo has struggled to deal with great running backs, and the Texans star could have had a hue game against them.