SEATTLE – Texans Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins suffered a concussion Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks when his head bounced off the artificial turf while trying to catch a pass in the fourth quarter.
Collins is now under the mandatory NFL concussion protocol. He must pass a baseline neurological exam and have symptoms subside and return to practice before he can be cleared to play.
Recommended Videos
Collins went to the blue medical tent for evaluation before being ruled out for the remainder of the game at Lumen Field.
“Right now, he has a concussion,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “So, evaluate him as the week goes on.”
With the Texans, coming off an embarrassing 27-19 loss where an ineffective offense was the primary issue and now having a short week of prep for a Sunday home game against the San Francisco 49ers, Collins’ availability is in doubt. The Texans are already playing without starting slot receiver Christian Kirk after he reinjured his hamstring last week.
The Texans struggled to get Collins more involved as the offense delivered an ugly performance as they went 1 for 3 in the red zone and couldn’t run or pass the football well.
He was targeted a team-high 10 times, but had just four catches for 27 yards. Collins had an uncharacteristic dropped pass in the first half.
Collins, who caught 68 passes for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns last season, has 26 catches for 339 yards and three touchdowns on 46 targets this year. He leads the Texans in targets, yards and touchdown catches.
Without Collins and possibly Kirk, the Texans will lean on Xavier Hutchinson, rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel and Braxton Berrios as well as tight end Dalton Schultz. Schultz led the Texans with a season-high nine catches for 98 yards on 10 targets in a losing cause Monday night.
“I thought he played really well,” Stroud said of Collins. “I got to find a way to get him to touch the ball. I got to throw him a better ball. That’s just the bottom line. It’s going to be tough. He’s our best player on offense. He’s one of the best players in the league time and time again.
“We also got to find ways to get him the ball in better situations. So that starts with me trying to get us in the right looks. But, yeah, it would suck. Hopefully, he’ll be okay and we have a short week, but if not we got to just step up in other ways, and, you know, put more on my plate hopefully and try to help us out.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com