Report: Texans OLB Duke Ejiofor tears ACL in first padded training camp practice

Houston Texans outside linebacker Duke Ejiofor tore his ACL at the end of training camp practice Friday.

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The Houston Texans will be without a young edge defender as Duke Ejiofor tore his ACL at the end of practice Friday.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the former 2018 sixth-round pick from Wake Forest injured his knee after the Texans’ first padded practice of training camp. Ejiofor was recovering from a ruptured Achilles that he sustained during May of 2019.

“It’s been unlucky,” coach Bill O’Brien of Ejiofor’s Achilles tear last season. “Duke’s a great guy and he just has had some bad luck. He’ll be back, though. He’ll be back at some point and he’ll have a chance to be a good pro football player.”

The rehab resets for the former Alief Taylor product, who produced 9.0 tackles, 1.0 sack, a tackle for loss, two pass breakups, and a fumble recovery in his 12 games with Houston as a rookie.

Houston will rely on rookie third-round outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, third-year linebacker Jacob Martin, and third-year linebacker Peter Kalambayi for edge rusher depth.

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