Texans put WR Jaylin Noel on IR with expected season-ending turf toe injury
Houston placed receiver Jaylin Noel on injured reserve Wednesday with turf toe, an injury the team expects will end his season after he led the Texans with 331 receiving yards.
Noel headed to IR with turf toe
The Texans put receiver Jaylin Noel on injured reserve Wednesday, and the team expects him to miss the rest of the season with turf toe. He got hurt in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Giants during a kick return, falling awkwardly as he was tackled. A source told ESPN the timeline, confirming an earlier report from the Houston Chronicle.
Noel is a second-year wideout out of Iowa State and a 2025 third-round pick. This season he leads the Texans in receiving yards with 331, averaging 17.4 yards per catch, and he has given the offense a second dynamic option alongside Pro Bowl receiver Nico Collins.
The way it happened says something about how much Houston was leaning on him. He was not just the top target in the passing game, he was also back deep on returns, which is how a tackle on a return in the fourth quarter turned into a season-ending injury.
A real hole in the passing game
Losing Noel is not a small thing for Houston. He was the team's leading receiver by yardage this season, and he gave the offense a second weapon defenses had to account for next to Collins. For a team that has struggled to find consistent offense, that is a real loss.
Houston was already piecing together its receiver room before this. Noel was out producing the rest of that group, and now the Texans are replacing their top receiver in the middle of a season that has already given them more losses than wins.
Houston does have options
The Texans are not completely without answers at receiver. Tank Dell finally returned in Week 7 after missing 22 months following a devastating knee injury from December 2024. Dell led all Texans wideouts in receiving yards with 43 in the game against the Giants.
Houston also traded for former No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. after Week 5. Harrison caught a touchdown pass against the Giants, giving the Texans another name to lean on while Noel is out.
That leaves Houston with Collins as the established number one, Harrison as the big name added at midseason, and Dell working his way back into shape after the long layoff. None of them replace what Noel was doing on his own, but together they are the plan.
Roster move and the bye week
Houston made a corresponding move Wednesday, signing running back Emari Demercado to the 53-man roster. The Texans are 2-5 on the season and now head into their bye week with a receiver room that looks different than it did a week ago.
The bye week timing helps some. Houston gets a week to sort out who picks up Noel's targets before the schedule turns back over. The Demercado move is the kind of roster housekeeping teams do when an injury forces changes to the 53-man roster, even at a different position.
Facts per ESPN. Opinion is the taproom's.