Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon will miss at least the first four weeks of the 2025 season.
Hobbled by a foot injury that saw him placed on the active/non-football injury list in July, Mixon will be moved to the reserve/non-football injury list, the team announced Monday. The move will be made officially on Tuesday.
A spot on the reserve/NFI list equates to at least four games missed, which means Houston will be without its RB1 four contests at the Los Angeles Rams (Sept. 7), versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sept. 15), at the Jacksonville Jaguars (Sept. 21) and versus the Tennessee Titans (Sept. 28).
With Mixon out, that would indicate veteran offseason addition Nick Chubb, the longtime former Cleveland Browns standout, will hit the ground running as the presumed Week 1 starter for the Texans.
Mixon's diagnosis is worse than originally expected, as NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport initially reported the back's Week 1 status was in jeopardy, but an extended period missed wasn't likely.
The 29-year-old Mixon is coming off 2024 campaign in which he missed three games but still had 1,016 yards rushing -- the fifth 1,000-yard year of his career -- and rushed for 11 touchdowns to earn a Pro Bowl bid -- the second of his career and first with Houston.
Mixon missed the Texans' offseason program while dealing with the injury, which he suffered while working out this offseason. The injury was repeatedly downplayed by the club in the spring and summer.
Mixon was a Cincinnati Bengals mainstay from 2017-2023 before he was set to be released in the 2024 season, but the Texans swung a trade.
Now, the Texans will presumably look at another AFC North transplant with Chubb.
Chubb went to four straight Pro Bowls from 2019-2022 but was crushed by injuries in 2023 and 2024, playing a combined 10 games. He's currently on the comeback trail from a broken foot suffered in Week 15 of last season.
Just how much Chubb has left will be seen rather quickly in 2025. Houston will also likely look for bigger contributions from Dameon Pierce, Dare Ogunbowale and rookie Woody Marks until Mixon returns.
