Joe Mixon injury update: Texans GM Nick Caseiro noncommittal on Pro Bowl RB's availability for 2025 season

Texans running back Joe Mixon will miss at least four games after the team placed him on the reserve/non-football injury list, and Houston leadership was noncommittal in answering whether he will play at all this season. Mixon has yet to participate in training camp due to the foot injury he sustained earlier this year.

Mixon will be eligible to practice and play in Week 5 when the Texans square off against the Baltimore Ravens on Oct. 5. But neither general manager Nick Caseiro nor coach DeMeco Ryans would go so far as to set a timeline for his return.

"With all injured players, you kind of take it one day at a time," Caseiro said in his Wednesday media availability. "Whatever the timeline is, we handle it accordingly. The players that are on PUP or NFI, they're out four games or four weeks. So once we get through four weeks, we'll evaluate at that time."

When asked specifically if he expects Mixon to suit up at any point in 2025, Caseiro said, "We'll see. He will be evaluated after the four-week period."

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Mixon missed three games in 2024 with an ankle injury, but according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the latest issue cropped up this offseason well in advance of training camp. It has been a months-long ailment for the Pro Bowler, who shined in his first campaign with Houston as a 1,000-yard rusher for the fifth time in his eight-year career. He also caught 36 passes for 309 yards and a touchdown and has been a reliable receiver throughout his entire pro tenure.

"We'll just take it one day at a time," Ryans said on Wednesday. "Joe has played a lot of football. Whenever that time comes for Joe to be back and get back in the fold, it won't be anything revolutionary that he hasn't seen before or he hasn't done from the football perspective. Joe is an outstanding football player, so whenever that time comes, I feel like he'll have a very easy transition back to football. My expectation is for Joe, we're taking it one day at a time and when he's ready to be back, he'll be back."

The Texans acquired other options this offseason, but both running backs have more questions surrounding their outlook than a healthy Mixon. Rookie ballcarrier Woody Marks arrived in Houston as a fourth-round pick by way of USC and is entirely unproven at the pro level, and four-time Pro Bowler Nick Chubb signed with the Texans just half a season removed from a devastating knee injury.