Nico Collins is officially out for Week 2.
The Texans star wide receiver suffered a hamstring injury in practice earlier this week, ruling him out for Sunday’s matchup against the Bengals in Houston.
Collins, one of the top pass-catchers in the NFL, was limited during Wednesday’s practice and didn’t practice Thursday or Friday.
The injury adds to a long list of soft-tissue issues Collins has dealt with during his six-year NFL career.
In 2024, Collins missed five games with a hamstring injury.
He also missed seven games in 2022 with foot and groin injuries.
Collins appeared to be in full health to kick off the season, catching seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in the Texans’ season-opening loss to the Bills.
His absence creates another problem for an already depleted wide receiver room in Houston.
Second-year wide receiver Jayden Higgins, who was expected to be the Texans’ No. 2 receiver, tore his ACL during practice in August, knocking him out for the season.
Tight end Dalton Schultz and receivers Xavier Hutchinson and Kayshon Boutte are expected to get the bulk of the looks in the passing game with Collins sidelined.
Houston offensive coordinator Nick Caley expressed confidence that the Texans have enough pass-game options to withstand Collins’ absence.
“The good thing about the offense is we have a lot of guys that we have trust in,” Caley said. “I would say this, that we go through our reads and the ball finds the open guys. C.J. [Stroud] does a good job distributing the football. I think you saw that last week. We have guys that have a lot of experience with them and have played a lot of football and we’ll go through it like that.”
The Texans will now have to put that depth to the test as they look to avoid an 0-2 start without their top receiving threat.
