Earlier this week during a joint practice with the Panthers, Texans newly signed right tackle Braden Smith was carted off the field, and now we have more details on his injury.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the veteran with 110 games of NFL experience suffered a foot injury and isn’t expected to be out long-term:
This is a major win for the Texans, a club that over the past two seasons has been very aggressive in an attempt to rebuild its offensive line.
Smith was a second-round pick of the Colts in 2018 out of Auburn and quickly acclimated to the professional game in Indianapolis. While he’s missed time with injury in all eight of his NFL seasons to date, he’s always played in double-digit contests each year.
He signed a two-year, $20 million contract in Houston this past offseason and turned 30 in March.
A gritty, ultra-physical blocker, Smith has allowed allowed more than 30 pressures in the regular season once, and that came in 2019.
The timeline of “a few weeks” for his foot injury makes him potentially available for the Bills and Texans contest Week 1. The game will be 18 days after Smith suffered this injury.
If Smith cannot go, expect either 33 year old Trent Brown or third-year pro Blake Fisher, the latter of whom has mostly been a liability in pass protection in his first two seasons across 855 total snaps, to replace Smith at right tackle.
The week of Bills-Texans — after Labor Day — we’ll have to closely monitor whether or not the veteran will be ready to get back on the field ahead of the regular-season opener.
