Ex Falcons Starting DB's Injury Woes Continue with Houston Texans

Jeff Okudah's injury-riddled NFL career hit another point of frustration with the Houston Texans.

The Houston Texans placed former Atlanta Falcons cornerback Jeff Okudah on injured reserve Wednesday. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former Atlanta Falcons cornerback Jeff Okudah's injury struggles have followed him to the Houston Texans.

The 25-year-old Okudah, who played in 13 games with nine starts for the Falcons last season before signing with the Texans in free agency this spring, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with a hip injury sustained in a Week 1 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Okudah saw only five snaps before departing with the injury.

It's another unfortunate chapter in the injury-riddled book of Okudah's career.

Drafted No. 3 overall in 2020, Okudah battled injuries in each of his first two seasons, including a torn Achilles in the first game of 2021. He made seven starts in 10 games across the two campaigns. In 2022, he missed two games due to a concussion, though he started the other 15.

Last season in Atlanta, Okudah suffered an ankle injury during training camp that cost him the first two games of the season, and he missed another contest later in the year due to another ankle ailment.

Okudah fell out of favor in the Falcons' secondary as the season progressed. After a strong performance from then-rookie cornerback Clark Phillips III in place of the injured Okudah in Week 14, Phillips maintained the job for the remainder of the year.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Okudah played in less than a quarter of the Falcons' defensive snaps in Week 15, saw just four snaps in Week 16, failed to see the field in Week 17 and played only six snaps in the season finale.

Okudah was hoping to return to a more prominent role in Houston -- but he now has to wait at least four weeks to do it.