Taking a look at the Houston Texans injury report ahead of the Week 1 battle against the Buffalo Bills.
The Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills are set for a Week 1 matchup on Sunday that could very well end up being one of the best games of the opening weekend in the NFL. While many fans and analysts are wrapped up in the matchups that may determine the game, understanding the injuries is just as critical.
With that said, let's take a look at the Texans' injury report heading into the Week 1 matchup with the Bills.
For the Texans, the injury report is not filled with a ton of injuries, but there are a few players to pay attention to. The players on the injury report for Houston include edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, offensive tackle Trent Brown, and linebacker Wade Woodaz.
Starting with Anderson, this seems to be nothing to be concerned about, as he was not listed with an injury, he is simply resting and ensuring his body is ready for Sunday. As a result, Anderson did not participate in practice on Thursday, and for Wednesday, it was not listed whether or not he practiced, but based on the fact that he is resting, it is likely he did not practice on Wednesday either.
So, heading into Sunday, Anderson should be good to go and ready to wreak havoc as the Texans begin the 2026 season.
Now looking at McDonald, he was listed with an ankle injury and because of that he was a limited participant on Wednesday and actually did not practice at all on Thursday. At this point, McDonald is questionable for the game and for this Houston defense the hope is that he will play.
As McDonald prepares for Sunday, it will be interesting to see if he practices on Friday and how head coach DeMeco Ryans will evaluate other options in case McDonald cannot play against the Bills this weekend.
The third player on the injury report is Brown who is working through a wrist injury. The good news for the Texans is the fact that Brown was a full participant in practice in both Wednesday and Thursday which puts him in a good position to start at right tackle on Sunday and protect quarterback C.J. Stroud.
As long as Brown stays healthy over the next few days and does aggravate his wrist, he should be able to play and provide consistent performance for the Texans up front against the Bills.
Lastly, is Woodaz who is dealing with a thumb injury that he suffered in the preseason. Throughout the week Woodaz has had no setbacks and actually was a full participant in practice on Wednesday and Thursday as well which is a great sign for Houston for linebacker depth as well as for special teams.
Heading into Sunday Woodaz seems on track to make his NFL debut and assuming he is able to play, he should be able to make his presence know on defense and special teams.
So, after looking at the injury report for the Texans, it seems that Anderson, Brown, and Woodaz are all in a good position to play on Sunday, while McDonald is more of a question, but it seems like he has a good chance to play, which could put this Houston team in a position to be mostly healthy and create lots of problems for Buffalo on Sunday.
