Following the Houston Texans’ 36-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills, many eyes turned towards the health status of starting LB Henry To’oTo’o. He suffered an injury tackling Bills TE Dawson Knox, and left the game. Now, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson is reporting that the Texans are placing Henry To’oTo’o on IR:
Earlier today, head coach DeMeco Ryans was quoted as saying To’oTo’o had suffered a shoulder injury and would be out “some time.” He stated that they had not decided at that time if they would place To’oTo’o on IR, but ultimately did so hours later. To’oTo’o will now miss a minimum of four games; the earliest he could return would be Week 6 for Houston’s match with the Jackonsville Jaguars in London, England on October 18th.
This comes as difficult news for a team that continues to lose players to significant injures. The rash started with third-string QB Graham Mertz tearing his ACL in the first preseason game, then extended to a similar season-ending injury for WR Jayden Higgins, and now, there are a total of five players on offense (Mertz, Higgins, Dell, Smith, Hagen) and seven players on defense (Horton, McDonald, Byrd, Gaye, Ingram) that are on the Texans’ injured reserve. In To’oTo’o’s place, backup LBs Jake Hansen, Jake Hummel (who is considered week-to-week with a groin injury), and rookies Wade Woodaz and Aiden Fisher will work to fill in his shoes. Hansen has been an exceptional special teams and reserve linebacker for Houston for the last few years, and Woodaz had some big plays in the preseason, but the LB depth is overall fairly inexperienced at this point. Not necessarily bad, but certainly a downgrade from To’oTo’o. Jake Hansen is the only healthy linebacker besides Azeez Al-Shaair with over 200 regular season snaps, so there will be some growing pains with the new players at the weak side position
To’oTo’o, 25, a fifth-round pick in Houston’s vaunted 2023 Draft, had recently signed a two-year, $16 million contract extension, keeping him in Houston through the 2028 season. Originally expected to be a backup LB to former Texan starter (and current Atlanta Falcon) Christian Harris, To’oTo’o would eventually take the starting job at weakside-linebacker his rookie year, and he’s held on to that job since. To’oTo’o has basically been a rock beside MLB Al-Shaair since 2024, and often became the thunder to his lightning. To’oTo’o had the speed and length to mirror running backs from sideline to sideline, and as he grew into his role with the Texans, began to make more plays against the pass and in the backfield. His magnum opus came against the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs last year, where he was truly exceptional in coverage. His statistics in 2025 were:
17 Games (14 Starts)
95 Tackles, 9 Tackles For Loss, 4 QB Hits, 2.5 Sacks, 4 Pass Deflections, 1 Fumble Recovery
930 Snaps, 65.1 PFF Grade (66.4 RDEF, 36.5 TACK, 80.6 PRSH, 59.5 COV)
Thankfully for Houston, their LB depth has the talent base to replace this production, but that will require the younger players to get up to speed a bit sooner rather than later. It’s another test for a Texans defense that might still be trying to find its footing after giving up 36 points in the opener, but it’s a test head coach DeMeco Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke have prepared the team for. I will dearly, dearly miss Henry To’oTo’o as one of my very favorite players from that great 2023 draft class, but I look forward to seeing how the next generation of Texans take his place until his return later in the season.
What do you think of this news? Will the Texans dearly miss Henry To’oTo’o, or will the combination of Hansen/Hummel/Woodaz/Fisher work out just fine? Next week, the Texans will host the 1-0 Cincinnati Bengals, who have a quarterback and running back that will look to test these new pieces on Houston’s defensive lineup. How do you think the Texans will respond to Cincinnati? Let us know down in the comments below!
Go Texans!
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 12: Henry To’oTo’o #39 of the Houston Texans lines up before the snap during an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on January 12, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)