With the Houston Texans on a short week, current injured players might be out again if not fully cleared.
That seems to be the case for defensive captain and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who has remained sidelined for the previous two games after suffering a knee injury in Week 6’s road win.
Will Al-Shaair suit up on “Thursday Night Football” when the Texans take on the New York Jets? Here’s what happened and his current status entering Thursday morning.
Azeez Al-Shaair injury update
Al-Shaair suffered a knee injury in the third quarter of the team’s Week 6 win over the New England Patriots. While he returned for several drives, the veteran did not play in the fourth quarter.
Houston elected to let Al-Shaair rest up in Week 7. He wasn’t cleared by the team’s medical staff to return last week against the Indianapolis Colts, leading to Houston signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Devin White to a one-year deal.
While Al-Shaair did practice on Tuesday, the Texans ruled him out once more. He will miss his third consecutive game as Houston looks to improve to 7-2 to close out the month of October.
How long will Azeez Al-Shaair be out?
Since Al-Shaair practiced on Tuesday, one could assume he’s close. The Texans will have three days off to recover before beginning Week 10 preparation against the Detroit Lions, which falls on Sunday Night Football and primetime.
It feels likely the window to return is more so in favor of next week rather than Week 11’s showdown on Monday Night Football.
Azeez Al-Shaair stats
Al-Shaair has been an essential member of Houston’s front seven and remains the captain on the field. He’s second in total tackles (40), third in tackles for loss (4.5), fourth in pass breakups (4) and has a sack in six games.
Texans LB depth chart
With Al-Shaair out, the Texans will be down one starter. Henry To’oTo’o, who missed the last two games with a concussion, is expected to start Thursday night as the team’s MIKE linebacker.
Here’s the rest of the linebackers on the active roster:
- Neville Hewitt
- Jake Hansen
- Devin White
- Jamal Hill
- Del’Shawn Phillips
Hewitt led the team in tackles back-to-back weeks in place of Al-Shaair with 15 combined stops. Hansen recorded 10 stops in two games.
White, a former first-round pick in 2019, isn’t expected to start but could see prominent reps as the No. 3 option. Last week against the Colts, he recorded three tackles.
Last season with the Buccaneers, White had 83 tackles, six pass deflections and two interceptions.