Texans’ Will Anderson Jr., Nick Chubb return to practice; C.J. Stroud, Tytus Howard, Jalen Pitre, Ed Ingram sidelined

HOUSTON – Texans Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. returned to practice Thursday after missing one day to rest and rehab a minor quadriceps injury.

Anderson was listed as limited on the injury report. He leads the Texans with six sacks, and has 12 quarterback hits and one touchdown off a forced fumble with 24 career sacks and 35 tackles for losses.

“It was fine, felt good, get my body right,” Anderson said after practice. “Missed being out there with the guys, but it’s fun. Exciting challenge for this week, man. I can’t wait to spin again with these guys.”

Starting running back Nick Chubb returned to practice on a limited basis after missing one day with a foot injury. Having Chubb back is significant for a struggling running game.

And defensive end Denico Autry (knee) returned to practice and was limited.

Still sidelined, including quarterback C.J. Stroud (concussion) and kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn (quadriceps) already ruled out by coach DeMeco Ryans, offensive tackle Tytus Howard (concussion), offensive guard Ed Ingram (knee), tight end Harrison Bryant (shoulder) and nickel Jalen Pitre (concussion).

Pitre and Howard are not expected to play Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium. Ingram could miss the game, too.

Backup running back Dameon Pierce was limited for personal reasons.

Davis Mills will replace Stroud on Sunday as QB1. Fairbairn is being replaced by journeyman kicker Matthew Wright. Blake Fisher steps in for Howard. Ingram would be replaced at right guard by Juice Scruggs. Not having Pitre likely means more base defense and three-linebacker alignments with Azeez Al-Shaair, Henry To’oTo’o and E.J. Speed.

Stroud suffered the concussion Sunday on an unpenalized hit former cornerback Kris Abrams- Draine while sliding against the Denver Broncos.

“C.J. will be out,” Ryans said.

The Texans replaced Stroud with Mills, who struggled with his accuracy against the Broncos’ formidable defense.

He completed 17 of 30 throws for 137 yards with no scores and no interceptions. After halftime, Mills went 7 for 16 for 53 yards as the offense mustered no real production.

Stroud completed 6 of 10 passes for 79 yards before getting hurt.

Mills is the next man up for the Texans as he’ll prepare to face the Jacksonville Jaguars by taking the first-team snaps in practice this week and make his first start since the 2002 season, the year before Stroud was drafted second overall out of Ohio State.

Mills has a 5-19-1 all-time record as a starter, was signed to a one-year, $7 million extension earlier this season and has completed 62.3 percent of his career throws for 6,327 yards, 35 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.

“Davis has started games in his league before, so there’s nothing new for him,” Ryans said Wednesday. “It is a benefit for him, being able to get the reps throughout practice, getting every single rep that he can get. He’s done a good job with that. Today, he did an outstanding job. We were efficient in and out of the huddle, at the line of scrimmage. He did a great job of communicating.”

It’s possible that Mills, a former third-round draft pick from Stanford, might be starting more than one game.

Usually, players who suffer a concussion miss at least one game. In the case of Stroud, he was sidelined for two games when he suffered a similar type of concussion as a rookie against the New York Jets when he was hit by Quinnen Williams. Both times, the back of his head crashed into the ground as he was sent flailing backwards.

Mills is signed through the 2026 season as one of the highest paid backups in the game.

“You could play at any given snap. Unfortunate what happened to C.J. in the game,” Mills said. “I got thrown in there. That’s what I get paid to do, always be prepared, and it’s nice having a full week of practice going into this game to attack this defense and go out there and compete with the guys.”

Fairbairn is also ruled out for the Jaguars game and Matthew Wright will replace him this week after being signed to the practice squad. Howard is regarded as unlikely to play.

In order to be cleared under the NFL protocol, Stroud has to have no concussion symptoms, which normally include a gamut of sensitivity to light, headaches, blurred vision, loss of memory and other cognitive issues.

Stroud would need to practice twice and have no recurrence of symptoms and be cleared under a mandatory baseline neurological exam and by an independent doctor before returning to play. That was what happened with Pro Bowl wide receiver Nico Collins as he sustained a concussion against the Seattle Seahawks, missed one game against the San Francisco 49ers and then returned to play Sunday against Denver.

Could Mills have performed better? Certainly, but it’s a tough situation going in cold. Especially against a defense like the Broncos with the top-ranked pass rush in the league.

“Potentially, yeah,” Mills said after the game that included just 33 yards of offense in the fourth quarter. “There’s always a couple plays you want back or plays that you think you could execute better, but we’ve just got to keep pressing forward, have a really good week of practice going into this next week and find a way to get a win at home.”

After the game, his foundation posted photos of Stroud with his mother, Kimberly Stroud, along with a caption: ‘C.J. is OK. Thank you for your prayers."

The Texans offense went 0 for 3 in the red zone and 3 of 17 on third downs.

“It kinda fired a lot of guys up,” tight end Dalton Schultz said. “Obviously, you never want to see hour quarterback go down. Anytime you have a big-name guy like that go down, especially the quarterback, it sucks, but, dude, you gotta find a way to bounce back.

“It’s your time to step up. We We need the next guy to come in and just be consistent. Just execute.”

The Texans are at midseason crossroads at 3-5 overall. They rank ninth in the standings in the AFC. They are 3 1/2 games behind the AFC South division leading Indianapolis Colts. They are two games behind the Jaguars. This is a critical game.

“Right now,” Ryans said, “we can’t talk about the playoffs until we play football better.”

Howard is under the concussion protocol. His replacement is Blake Fisher.

“Tytus is under the concussion protocol as well, again we’ll see how those guys progress,” Ryans said. “As you guys know, concussions are very sensitive to each guy. We want to make sure they come back and are okay when they come back. We don’t want to rush guys back from concussions.

“It’s all about players’ health and safety. That’s the first and foremost thing I’m concerned about. Tytus is feeling better, I did speak with him as well. With Christian and DT, we’re still evaluating those guys and see what that looks like as the league goes on as well.”

Injuries continue to take a heavy toll on the Texans.

They placed third corner Jaylin Smith on injured reserve for the second time this season, ending this season. He previously had a hamstring issue. They also placed backup defensive end Darrell Taylor on injured reserve with an ankle injury.

Fairbairn kicked five field goals, accounting for all of the Texans’ points during an 18-15 defeat last Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

Fairbairn didn’t conduct interviews Sunday or Monday while undergoing treatment from team medical staff at NRG Stadium.

Fairbairn, 31, a former Lou Groza award winner at UCLA, has made 22 of 25 field goals this season for an 88 percent success rate. He missed a 51-yard attempt wide right Sunday. He has made 12 of 12 extra points. His longest field goal this season is from 57 yards. .

Wright has kicked for multiple NFL teams and was last with the Washington Commanders. He has made 56 of 65 career kicks and 43 of 45 extra points. He has also kicked for the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jaguars.

The Texans released fullback-tight end Dalton Keene from the practice squad.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com