Texans Coach Talks Joe Mixon Injury

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans knows the impact Joe Mixon's injury had on the team following a hip drop tackle.

Caleb Skinner | Sep 17, 2024

Sep 8, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (28) out runs Indianapolis Colts cornerback Jaylon Jones (40) during the second half at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images / Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

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Houston Texans

This offseason the Houston Texans went all-in on improving their divisional-round roster from a year ago adding the likes of guys like Danielle Hunter, Stefon Diggs, and Joe Mixon.

The Texans offense has shown some cracks through two weeks of play, but that mostly came during their second game against the Chicago Bears. The reasoning for that could be given to the less-than-stellar offensive line play when in pass pro, but there was another element missing throughout different portions of the game — running back Joe Mixon.

The offense ran through Mixon in the Texans' first game where he carried the ball a whopping 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown. Things weren't likely going to be the same for Mixon, but he likely would have had a larger imprint and impact on the game outside of his nine carries for 25 yards and three catches for 25 yards if it hadn't been for him suffering an ankle injury due to a perceived hip drop tackle that ultimately wasn't penalized.

🚨NEWS: #Texans star RB Joe Mixon got injured on this play, after the #Bears LB CLEARLY USED THE HIP-DROP TACKLE TO TAKE HIM DOWN.

NO CALL FROM THE REFS.

What are we doing…

(via @AryePulli)
pic.twitter.com/MlXY5Mo7FC
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 16, 2024

Mixon left the game for some time before returning, but he never seemed to get back to where he was before the injury. The severity of the ankle injury is unknown at this point, but if Mixon were to miss time the Texans will likely roll out some combination of Akers, Ogunbowale, and Pierce.

Following the game head coach DeMeco Ryans spoke about how Mixon's absence impacted the flow of the game for his squad.

“Losing Joe [Mixon] was tough for our offense," Ryans said. "The production that Joe had the first week was beneficial. It was key to our success in the first week."

It is undeniable that Mixon figures to have a large presence in what Houston wants to accomplish this season and having him out for any extended amount of time can throw a wrench in the metaphorical wheel.

With the hip drop tackle becoming a major talking point last season and into this season by the NFL and NFLPA it is a wonder as to why it wasn't called at this specific moment and for Ryans he fully believes that it should have been.

"With the tackle, in my mind it is definitely considered the hip drop when a defender unweights himself, and he puts all his weight on the on the runner’s legs," Ryans said. "You see why we want to get the hip drop tackle out of the game because it causes a lot of injuries when it happens. The hip drop tackle doesn't happen much, but the percentage of injury when it does happen is very high and you saw that there with Joe and his ankle."

The hip drop tackle is considered one of those bang bang plays where it becomes hard to interpret in real-time, however, with the expanded ability of replay one would think this is something that shouldn't be passed up on especially considering how much the rule was talked about and the emphasis on player safety around the league.

When prodded about whether he would get the league involved with a review of the incident, Ryans said they indeed would send the play to the league for further clarity moving forward

"We always try to send those plays into the League to make sure we have clarity, so our players have clarity when they're on the field, so they can play as fast as possible and leave no doubt,” Ryans said.

The Texans will now aim to start 3-0 when they head to Minnesota to take on the surprising 2-0 Vikings either with or without Mixon leading their backfield.

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