The Texans have placed starting quarterback Matt Schaub on injured reserve and signed Kellen Clemens to back up Matt Leinart and T.J. Yates.
Schaub visited a foot specialist in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday. It was determined that his Lisfranc injury suffered in Week 10 at Tampa Bay will require season-ending surgery, snapping a streak of 46 consecutive starts. He will have surgery next week.
"We were kind of holding out hope that maybe they saw a way he might rest and come back at the end, but they didn't think that was going to happen," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "(It's) disappointing. I hurt for him because he's having a Pro Bowl season, but he'll be back and he'll play a long time at a high level."
Clemens (6-2, 220) tried out for the Texans on Monday with four other quarterbacks. A 2006 second-round pick of the New York Jets out of Oregon, he spent the 2011 preseason with the Washington Redskins under former Texans offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
"He knows our terminology," Kubiak said. "I liked his workout, to be honest with you, of all the guys that we brought in last week. I think he can catch up probably quicker than anybody that we worked out, and he practiced good today."
Kubiak said Clemens, who started nine games in five seasons with the Jets, is coming in to be the Texans' third quarterback.
"T.J.'s our two," Kubiak said. "I've got a lot of confidence in T.J. I think he's getting better every day, and Kellen's here to be a three right now... I'm impressed with T.J. and how far he's come."
Schaub was throwing the ball less this year because of the Texans' dominant running game but still on pace for his third consecutive 4,000-yard season. He will finish 2011 with 2,479 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. He currently ranks second in the AFC in passer rating (96.8) and first in yards per pass attempt (8.49, a career-high).
"It's not his fault we weren't throwing it that much, but when we threw it, he was throwing it as good as anybody and he made probably as many big plays as anybody in the league," Kubiak said. "He cut down his turnovers. Everything he was doing, he was a better player this year than he'd been for me the previous four years. I think Matt's going to have a great career."**
The Texans also signed defensive tackle Ra'Shon Harris (6-5, 300) to their practice squad. Another Oregon product, Harris was a sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2009. The Texans released practice squad linebacker Thaddeus Gibson. Twitter.com/NickScurfield
