Texans WR Brandin Cooks OUT vs. Cowboys With Calf Injury

The Houston Texans will be without their top wide receiver Brandin Cooks for the second consecutive game due to a calf injury.

HOUSTON — Veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks will miss his second consecutive game on Sunday when the 1-10-1 Houston Texans face off against the 9-3 Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

Cooks is dealing with an ongoing calf injury that sidelined him during the Texans' Week 13 loss to the Cleveland Browns. 

In addition to Cooks, the Texans will likely take the field without second-year wideout Nico Collins due to a foot injury. Both players have missed the first two days of practice ahead of their Week 14 match in Dallas.

"With the calf muscle, we really don’t know," coach Lovie Smith said. "He had a calf injury that caused him to miss last week. If you just look at how it takes you to come back from a calf muscle, I don’t know if it’s mild or what. It kept him out of the game, so we’ll see."

After the Texans failed to deal Cooks at the trade deadline in November, the two respective parties have not been on the same page.

Cooks has sent a variety of cryptid tweets expressing his displeasure with the franchise, which led to his absence against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 3. His last game came during the Texans' 30-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins. He caught five balls for 59 yards. 

"He’s our leader in our receiver room — we love him," wide receiver Chris Moore said. "When all that stuff happened, we all know, or at least most of us, that’s just part of the business. You never know really what’s going to happen and either way, we’re happy to have him back and see him in the building."

Cooks has recorded 44 receptions for a team-best 520 yards and a touchdown through eight games this season. 

Before the 2022 campaign, Cooks had eclipsed over 1,000 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons, notching 2,187 yards and a dozen touchdowns in his first two seasons in Houston.

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