HOUSTON — For the second consecutive season, the Houston Texans ended the year ranked towards the bottom of the NFL in rushing. During the 2021 campaign, the Texans finished with the league’s worst rushing attack after averaging 83.6 yards on the ground, a slight decline from the 91.6 yards they averaged in 2020.
The Texans’ inability to run the ball was a major disappointment for a team that began the season with five running backs on their 53-man roster. But Houston managed to have some success with veteran Rex Burkhead.
Burkhead led the Texans in rushing for the year after he recorded 427 yards and three touchdowns on 122 carries across 14 games played. His best game of the season came during the Texans’ 41-28 Week 16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, where Burkhead posted a career-best 149 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
After providing the Texans some stability in their abhorrent run game, Houston re-signed Burkhead to a one-year contract extension prior to their season finale against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
“Very thankful — I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” Burkhead said. “Looking forward to being a part of it next year. I love the guys and the people in this organization and that was a no-brainer for me in discussions. I wanted to be back here. I wanted to continue to grow as a team and do that with the guys and the men in this locker room.”
Despite ending the year with a 4-13 record, Burkhead said he is excited to be a part of the Texans’ rebuild for an additional season. Burkhead said during his media availability on Monday that he believes the Texans have their foundational pieces in place, and team management is trying their best to get good people in Houston.
“They may not have seen that in the win category this year, but you can see it in the locker room,” Burkhead said. “You can see it with guys the way they come to work and leadership from a lot of veteran guys showing those young guys how to work.”
He continued: “(Danny) Amendola, he was a great piece for us all year just his leadership, the way he goes about his daily process. You can see some of those younger receivers, younger guys in that group taking hold of that and understanding this is how you go about being a professional every single day, and how to strive for greatness and how to get better not only individually but collectively as a team.”
With another job secured for the upcoming season, Burkhead believes his on-field production will be better in 2022 — given that he is entering the offseason healthy.
When he signed with the Texans last June, Burkhead spent all of the offseason rehabbing the ACL injury that cut his final season with the New England Patriots short.
Burkhead said his goal entering his second season with the Texans is to get his body back to tip-top shape while helping Houston add more victories to the win collum.