The Houston Texans defense could be without two of its best front-seven players this week against the Tennessee Titans.
Neither linebacker Blake Cashman (hamstring) nor rookie edge rusher Will Anderson (ankle) has practiced this week and both are uncertain to suit up in Week 15. Cashman will reportedly miss one-to-two weeks with his injury, according to KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson, while the severity of Anderson’s is unclear.
Cashman’s veteran absence will be a huge loss for the Texans. Apart from his production – 87 combined tackles, one interception, two sacks, five pass breakups and five quarterback hits – Houston moves Cashman around to put him in the best matchups against opposing offensive players. That idea will remain with him out of the lineup, but defense coordinator Matt Burke expounded on how important those situations are to the defense.
“This game at its core is about matchups, and so we’re trying to put our guys in the best matchups possible,” Burke said Thursday. “… And the players, they’re put in those positions to try to mitigate that for us. So, again, all those guys have played in those spots. Denzel [Perryman] has played a lot of football in his life, and Christian [Harris] has been good for us all year and some of those guys. So, again, it’s really just us trying to get us in the right spots and be in the matchups we want to be in.”
Anderson would also be hard to replace if he missed Week 15. The rookie has five sacks, 19 quarterback hits and eight tackles for a loss this season. Only fellow defensive end Jonathan Greenard has more on the team with 10 sacks.
Burke understands Anderson’s importance to the team, but also said he believes the defense could survive if he didn’t play.
“We’re going to give Will [Anderson Jr.] every chance to get back. But yeah, obviously when you lose a good player like Will, it’s difficult,” Burke said. “But, that room has been pretty good as a unit, and again, we’ve always preached – and I think ‘Mec’ [DeMeco Ryans] said it up here earlier in the week – rushing as a group. And when we do that, and we rush as a unit, there’s been a lot of effectiveness.”
Burke pointed at the interior defensive line play of Sheldon Rankins and Maliek Collins as an example of how the Texans are able to get pressure inside as well as outside the tackle box.
“I think both ‘Rank’ [Sheldon Rankins] and Maliek [Collins] have done a really good job of raising their game over the last few weeks,” Burke added. “So, we’ve been getting a little bit more inside push and inside action from those guys, which has helped, so hopefully that helps all of our edge rushers, no matter who is out there.”
The hope is obviously that Anderson and Cashman can play, but it sounds as though the Texans aren’t terribly worried if they were without two of their best defensive players.