Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon is expected to miss “an extended period of time” while dealing with a foot injury. He will be reevaluated closer to the start of the season, though there doesn’t seem to be an official timetable as to what that means.
Mixon was initially placed on the Non-Football Injury list several days ago to begin training camp, so his absence isn’t totally shocking. However, it seems the issue with his foot may be more serious than initially thought, and while the 29-year-old is an experienced veteran, it’s still tough for him to miss much of camp as the team installs new offensive coordinator Nick Caley’s changes to the scheme.
We’ll provide updates here as they become available.
Potential injury impact
The Texans had a rough season offensively in 2024, falling to 19th in offensive scoring and 22nd in total yardage after ranking 13th and 17th in each during quarterback C.J. Stroud’s rookie campaign the prior year. The passing game struggled due to a variety of factors including poor offensive line play and numerous injuries to key receiving weapons, which led the team to rely more heavily on Mixon.
During the veteran’s first season in Houston, he took 245 carries for 1,016 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. His 4.1 yards per attempt ranked just 33rd among halfbacks but he broke off 28 explosive runs of 10+ yards, 10th most at the position. Mixon also caught 26 of 48 targets for 309 receiving yards and one more touchdown, so while he wasn’t a force through the air, he still played a role in that regard as well.
Given how much Houston leaned on their backfield star, it’s easy to see how his absence may cause concern for the franchise. At 29 years old, Mixon isn’t young for the position by any means and he’s dealt with a history of nagging injuries before. Hopefully this foot issue doesn’t linger for too long, but in the case it does, the Texans will go to Nick Chubb, Dameon Pierce and rookie Woody Marks as the next men up in the backfield.
While the first two are more likely to see work on the ground if Mixon misses significant time, Marks does look like a candidate to play a role on passing downs after the team traded up in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select the USC product. He’s a potential fantasy football sleeper to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.
