Former Buckeye Gareon Conley Placed on Texans' Injured Reserve

Houston Texans cornerback and former Ohio State Buckeye Gareon Conley won't suit up for the team's opener against the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

Conley was placed on the injured reserve on Monday with an ankle injury. He will miss at least the first three games. Conley suffered the injury during the offseason and had surgery, but he was cleared to practice during training camp before being placed on the IR. Multiple accounts indicate it looked like Conley would need more time to recover. He started training camp on the physically unable to perform list.

Helping Conley and the Texans' cause, the NFL made changes to the injured reserve rules this year. Players can be activated from the IR after only three weeks. In the past, players were required to miss a minimum of eight games once they were put on the injured reserve list.

Conley was listed as a starting cornerback for Week 1 alongside former Ohio State Buckeye Bradley Roby. It's likely that Lonnie Johnson, a second-round pick out of Kentucky in 2019, will start in Conley's place.

According to ESPN's Sarah Barshop, Vernon Hargraves and 2020 fourth-round selection John Reid are likely to be Houston's starting slot corners while Conley is on IR.

The Texans traded for Conley last year midway through the season. After coming over from the Raiders, Conley made 27 tackles and registered 11 passes defended in eight games.

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