Quarterback Matt Schaub could miss four weeks with an MCL injury on his left knee.
Quarterback Matt Schaub suffered an injury to his medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his left knee on Sunday at Minnesota. It appears he will miss an extended period of time, including this week's game against the Baltimore Ravens.
In the meantime, Sage Rosenfels will be the Texans' starting signal-caller.
"I know it's going to keep (Matt) out at least a couple weeks," coach Gary Kubiak said. "It could possibly be up to four.
"Sage is the guy going into this week's game. We'll have to make a decision after that."
Schaub, who is walking on crutches after undergoing an MRI Monday, injured his knee when Vikings defensive end Jared Allen hit the quarterback low on the first series of Minnesota's 28-21 victory at the Metrodome. Schaub played through the injury in the first half, despite getting sacked three times.
{QUOTE}By halftime, his knee was stiff and swollen and Kubiak replaced him with Rosenfels.
"It's very frustating," Kubiak said of Schaub's injury. "He's been playing as good as anyone I've been around the last few weeks.
"It's sad because he's making a ton of progress."
Rosenfels finished the game by completing 21-of-29 passes for 224 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
After going 4-1 as a starter when Schaub was injured last season, Rosenfels started in the Texans' 31-27 loss to Indianapolis in Week 5 at Reliant Stadium. In the game, he completed 21-of-33 passes for 246 yards with a touchdown, an interception and two lost fumbles. On Sunday, he will start against the Baltimore Ravens, a team whose defense ranks second in the NFL.
"I think the biggest thing is that I've got to go out there and I've got to play as close to a perfect game as possible," Rosenfels said. "This defense isn't going to give many easy ones, or any easy ones. So, I've got to go out there and basically play perfect football. I can't turn the ball over. I've got to hit guys when they are open. When nothing is open, I've got to throw it away and move on because mistakes have been killing us, and against this team they will definitely be magnified being that this defense is definitely one of the best in the league."
He finished last year with a career-high 15 touchdown passes and 1,684 passing yards.
"I have a lot of confidence in him," Kubiak said of Rosenfels. "He's played very good football for this team.
"This is an opportunity that he's been talking about all offseason."
The Texans also have rookie quarterback Alex Brink, a seventh-round pick from Washington State, on the practice squad. Tight end Owen Daniels, who was recruited to play quarterback at the University of Wisconsin before switching positions, is an emergency option.
Kubiak said the team plans to work out more players on Tuesday, but Brink could be the backup this coming weekend.
"I have confidence in Alex," Kubiak said. "It's probably a pretty tough situation to put him in right now, to be honest with you."
