Heading into their 2020 regular season finale against the Tennessee Titans, the Houston Texans offensive line could see more reshuffling.
In Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Texans were already without starting right tackle Tytus Howard, placed on injured reserve. Howard suffered a collision in Week 15 at Indianapolis that required an overnight hospital stay. Roderick Johnson started in Howard's place. However, on the same drive of the second quarter, both left tackle Laremy Tunsil and left guard Brent Qvale both went down with injuries. Qvale suffered a concussion and could miss the final game.
"It looked like that on the field he wasn't moving," interim head coach Romeo Crennel said. "Probably, he was knocked out. So, they took him in and they said that he has a concussion. He's in the protocol, so whether he can make it out this week or not, I'm not sure. They haven't talked to me about it today. I'll have to wait to find out."
Tunsil left the game with a foot injury and did not return. His status for Sunday's game is still uncertain.
"He had that foot – they'll look at it, and like I said, they'll scope it and whatever they do to see if there's any major injury or not," Crennel said. "They'll let me know what the prospects are. Whether he'll play yet, I don't know yet."
If Tunsil can't play, Johnson likely will slide over to left tackle like he did against the Bengals. Rookie Charlie Heck stepped in at right tackle while second-year offensive lineman Max Scharping entered the game at left guard, where he started 14 games last year.
Despite losing three starters (only center Nick Martin and right guard Zach Fulton remained), Houston's offensive line still paved the way for 166 net yards rushing and 322 net yards passing in the 37-31 loss. David Johnson had his first 100-yard rushing performance of the season, with 12 carries for 128 yards and touchdown. Brandin Cooks also had seven catches for 141 yards and touchdown.
"I think that they came together and decided that the game plan was a pretty good game plan and that they'd been working on their technique, blocking technique, effort technique, and it came together very nicely. We talked all year about these guys and if we can get a running game going that'll help the quarterback and help the passing game. When we had some success, I think that that encouraged them more, so then they started coming on double teams and on the proper angles and on the hustle down the field."
The Texans will host the Titans on Sunday for their final game of the 2020 season. Kickoff time has been flexed to 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS and SportsRadio 610.
