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DJ Bien-Aime, ESPNSep 21, 2024, 03:44 PM ET
- DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July of 2022 after covering the New York Jets. He’s a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show, “Talkin’ Texans.”
HOUSTON — The Texans will be without their leading rusher in Week 3 as running back Joe Mixon will not travel to face the Minnesota Vikings.
Mixon suffered an ankle injury on what appeared to be an illegal hip-drop tackle during the Texans 19-13 Week 2 win over the Chicago Bears. The injury happened with 11:57 left in the third quarter when Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud completed a pass to Mixon, who ran up the sideline before he was brought down by Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards. The refs did not penalize Edwards and Mixon left the game, shortly, before returning.
Mixon finished the game with 11 carries for 25 yards but is seventh in the NFL in rushing yards (184) on the season. The Texans will also be without backup running back Dameon Pierce, who also missed Week 2 with a hamstring injury.
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Cam Akers is slated to receive the bulk of the carries for the Texans. Akers played for the Vikings in 2023 after being traded last September from the Los Angeles Rams. His season was cut short after suffering a torn left Achilles tendon in Week 9.
Last week, Akers spelled Mixon when he nursed his injury and rushed for 32 yards on seven carries, so the coaching staff is confident in his ability to handle the workload.
“He has great vision. He’s been running — ran zone scheme he came from — he did the same thing in Minnesota,” Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik said Thursday. “He’s really good at reading that, we call it riding the wave, finding the right hole to hit. He always plays under control. When he sees it, he hits it. He finishes physically. And he has really good contact balance and I’d say those are the things that jump out with Cam.”
