Texans WR Nico Collins Could Miss Time

It was a tough loss for the Texans' offense in the moment that would leave Stroud without his favorite target for the rest of the night, even though the end result would be a commanding 30-6 victory on the road thanks to a standout performance from Houston's elite defensive unit.

However, when looking ahead for what might be in store for the Texans' looming playoff battle against the New England Patriots in the divisional round, there's a real chance that their leader in catches and receiving yards won't be on the field with them.

Nico Collins Could Miss Texans' Divisional Round vs. Patriots

The concern for Collins centers on not just how his head injury looked in the moment when he was taken off the field against Pittsburgh, but also for the unlucky timing that it occurred while also paired with his previous concussion history from earlier this year.

If diagnosed with a concussion and placed in the NFL's protocol, it would only be the second time of Collins' career thus far, but it comes just under three months from his prior incident against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7 on MNF that would sideline the Texans star for one week, where he would then return in Week 9 against the Denver Broncos.

While in concussion protocol, the chances for Collins to be activated before this coming weekend without missing a game of action would be slim as is, but when factoring in that this could be a second occurrence of the season, the odds of him being able to rush back into the lineup against the Patriots become even slimmer.

Then, you'll also have to factor in the shorter timeline that Collins will have to work with, considering the Texans played on Monday night.

Houston will have just five days of rest before their next playoff game, and only one day of rest before hitting the practice field once again, where it seems very unlikely that Houston's star would be good to go. If they advance without him, then the conversation for his availability might also be a bit tricky for the week to follow, simply due to the implications of suffering his second concussion of the season.

Simply put, it's a dire situation to keep an eye on as the week progresses, as it'll rely on Collins passing five key benchmarks within testing while stuck in the NFL protocol. However, initial signs suggest Houston will have to game plan a bit differently than they typically do offensively as they'll potentially be going without their top pass-catcher, Collins.

Without Collins, expect Houston to extend more opportunities to their veterans Christian Kirk and Xavier Hutchinson, as well as their rookie playmakers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, who have each gained more and more trust from the coaching staff throughout the course of this year.