Rookie defensive back Derek Stingley Jr. missed the Houston Texans' Week 11 match against the Washington Commanders. And it appears Stingley's status for Sunday's contest against the 7-3 Miami Dolphins is up in the air.
Stingley has been dealing with a hamstring injury for a week, which held him out of Wednesday's practice at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
"Hamstrings are tricky a little bit," coach Lovie Smith said. "You don’t know exactly how long they’ll take. He’s out there, he’s rehabbing, getting better. On exactly when he’ll be ready to go, we don’t know that."
A weakened secondary unit at Hard Rock Stadium could result in a long day for the Texans. Houston is taking on one of the league's best wide receivers corps that features Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
The duo has recorded a combined 2,026 yards on 132 catches and 10 touchdowns. Without Stingley, Hill and Waddle could replicate their dominating performance from the Dolphins' 31-27 win over the Detroit Lions. Both players notched over 100 receiving yards during the road win.
"This receiving core that we have coming up right now, when you have a player in that one position, Tyreek Hill, we all know what he does," Smith said. "Miami does a great job with their offense too because there’s still a commitment to the run and you have to play their wide receivers a certain way. No one has been able to solve that problem yet. Look forward to it."
Smith believes Desmond King did some good things filling in for Stingley, but the Texans still felt the effects of not having their No. 1 cornerback.
Stingley has registered 43 tackles, five pass deflections and 1.0 sacks through the first nine games of his career.
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