HOUSTON – Texans running back British Brooks, one of the defending AFC South champions’ top special teams players, is active for a Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, per a league source.
Brooks was inactive for the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
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Former starting running back Dameon Pierce, a former Pro Bowl alternate who missed the majority of the preseason with a strained quadriceps, will be inactive as a healthy scratch, per a league source. Pierce rushed for five yards on three runs against the Rams.
The Texans later made these moves official along with third quarterback Graham Mertz being inactive as well as defensive tackle Tommy Togiai, center Jake Andrews (high ankle sprain), wide receivers Christian Kirk (hamstring strain), and Braxton Berrios (hamstring strain.)
The Texans elevated fullback Jakob Johnson from the practice squad for the second week in a row.
They will go with two pure tight ends on the active roster for a Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at NRG Stadium: Dalton Schultz and Harrison Bryant.
Johnson can also play tight end.
When the Texans released Johnson and signed him to the practice squad, they did so with the understanding he would be elevated for games.
Signing with the Texans reunited him with former New England Patriots tight ends and fullbacks coach Nick Caley, the Texans’ new offensive coordinator.
Caley, his position coach in New England, once nicknamed Johnson, a native of Germany, the “German Tank.”
“Any time you can see the big guy get out in the open field, he got to use the stiff arm there,” Caley once said of the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Stuttgart, Germany native.
Johnson has 19 career receptions for 105 yards and one touchdown. He has 11 career tackles.
Johnson has also played for the Las Vegas Raiders. He played in three games last season for the New York Giants.
Johnson, 30, was initially signed by the Patriots as part of the NFL International Player Pathway program. He was previously with the Stuttgart Scorpions in the German Football League.
He played collegiately at Tennessee as a linebacker and was an All-Southeastern Conference academic honor roll selection.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com .