Even with star receiver Nico Collins out for the Houston Texans’ matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, receiver Jaylin Noel did not have an expanded role for the second week.
Despite being targeted five times, he only had one reception for 31 yards and ran just 14 total routes.
He was still an active part of their special teams, with a kick return for 31 yards and three punt returns for an average of 10.7 yards. But this marks the second week in which a catch by the second-year receiver has been considered an explosive, yet his route totals remain minimal.
In fact, rookie wideout Lewis Bond, who was called up from the practice squad, finished with more routes than Noel by the time the clock struck zero.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans has been pleased
with the improvements he has seen in the return game, but is going to continue to see how his role on the offense increases.
DeMeco Ryans put some onus on the WRs yesterday:
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) September 21, 2026
“We had multiple opportunities to make plays. The ball was up. We pushed the ball downfield. We had opportunities. We didn’t capitalize on those opportunities. I’m proud of how CJ distributed the ball but whoever is out there,… pic.twitter.com/jOKjV8FoKT
“We all have a lot to work on. Coaches, players, we all have a lot to work on. It's not good enough,” Ryans said. “And I think it's easy to sit back and kind of nitpick, ‘Hey, what didn't go wrong?’ ‘J-Noel’ got one big explosive on the pass, did another good job on the jet sweep. ‘J-Noel’ has done a great job. He improved in the punt return area. He did a really good job of being decisive as a punt returner. I thought ‘J-Noel’ took a huge step this past week and he got better for our football team and he put us in position to have some opportunities to go score. As we continue to build off of what he's shown, we'll continue to see how that role continues to thrive.”
Noel was drafted by Houston in the third round in 2025. As a rookie last season, he finished the year with just 26 receptions for 292 yards and two touchdowns.
There was hope that his role would increase this season, especially after Jayden Higgins tore his ACL and would not be able to play this season. Through the first two games of the season, that has not happened yet.
Why? It remains a mystery.
"With our receivers, we have different packages of different guys with different play calls they are in. How those snap counts kind of come about, it depends on how the game is going, how the game is flowing," Ryans said. "No one wants to see 'J-Noel' make more explosive plays than all of us, so just got to find a way to keep moving it around and find a way to make plays offensively no matter who it is that's getting the football."
The Texans take on the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at Noon.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Why is Jaylin Noel's role so limited for the Texans' offense? DeMeco Ryans weighs in
