Texans HC DeMeco Ryans: 23 injured players 'doesn't stop our process' for preparing for Bengals

There were 23 players listed on the Houston Texans’ injury report Wednesday.

Eleven — including first-round pick Will Anderson — did not practice.

Seven — including wide receiver Nico Collins — were limited.

There were multiple wide receivers, and offensive tackles, too. There was a fullback and a kicker, as well.

For a Texans squad seemingly trending in the right direction after a thrilling C.J. Stroud-led Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it’s certainly not the best news to begin Week 10.

Nonetheless, Houston rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans isn’t making any excuses as his team prepares for the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

“It doesn’t stop our process,” Ryans said Wednesday, via team transcript, when asked about the difficulty of preparing without knowing the status of multiple key players. “We go through the same process, and things happen. That’s life. Things don’t go your way all the time, so I continue to smile through it, and we’re going to have our best guys out there. Whoever is available, we’re going to have our best guys out there and we’re going to play the Texan brand of football.”

Among the plethora of notable Texans dealing with injuries are Anderson (knee), running back Dameon Pierce (ankle), receivers Collins (calf), John Metchie III (ribs) and Robert Woods, offensive tackle Tytus Howard (knee) and Laremy Tunsil (knee) and defensive backs Steven Nelson (back/neck) and Jimmie Ward (hamstring).

Collins caught one of Stroud’s five touchdowns during the latter’s Player of the Week performance against the Bucs. On Wednesday, Collins was one of six skill players on the injury report.

Howard and Tunsil, who have dealt with injuries all season, are two of five offensive linemen dealing with ailments. Throughout the year, the Houston offensive line has been a mix-and-match affair due to the injury bug. Week 10 will clearly be no different.

“We’ll continue to put our best five out there with the offensive line,” Ryans said. “When it comes to moving guys around and all those things, that’s more internal coaches’ decisions of things we’ll handle.”

And special teams isn’t free of injury woes, either, as kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn didn’t practice Wednesday due to a quad injury and is unlikely to play Sunday. Houston signed kicker Matt Ammendola earlier this week to the practice squad, giving him three days to get ready.

“We’ll see,” Ryans said when asked if Ammendola would have apt time to prepare. “We got a kicker ready at halftime last week. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Said kicker was Dare Ogunbowale, a running back who converted a pivotal 29-yard field goal.

Ryans laughed, making his aforementioned comment. He’s keeping things positive and embracing the next-man-up mentality. Those attributes have helped him lead Houston to a surprising start in which the 4-4 Texans have already surpassed last year’s win total.

Still, 23 players on the injury report definitely isn’t your average Wednesday.