Texans' Latest David Montgomery Injury Update Should Raise Concerns

The Houston Texans have been a bit depleted in their running back room because of their recent injury to veteran David Montgomery, who's been sidelined with a groin injury dating back to the first half of their Week 5 game against the Tennessee Titans.

Since Montgomery first went down, the Texans had labeled his status as "week-to-week," expecting to be an issue that could resolve itself after the bye, but wasn't anything that required the veteran running back to be placed on injured reserve.

However, now nearly a month removed from the injury to Montgomery, it seems like Houston still won't be getting him back in the lineup ahead of their Week 9 game vs. the LA Chargers.

Texans Announce David Montgomery Will Miss vs. Chargers

According to Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, the Texans will be without Montgomery for another week against the Chargers because of his lingering groin injury, but adds that the running back has made "some progress" in his recovery.

"David is still sidelined. He'll be out still," Ryans said on Wednesday. "We're trying to get him out on the field; trying to get him going. But right now, it's still week-to-week. But he has made some progress."

That's not exactly the most optimistically sounding update for the Texans' starting running back–– especially coming so early in the week.

Rather than the Texans attempting to give Montgomery a few attempts to go in practice over the course of this week before facing the Chargers, Houston has prematurely ruled him out multiple days before the weekend even arrives.

That means Montgomery will be missing over a month and at least three games while still recovering from said injury, and still might not be officially ready by the time the Texans are ready to take on the Cleveland Browns in Week 10.

Sep 20, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans running back David Montgomery (32) runs during the second quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In reality, Montgomery seems to have a real chance of missing four games on the Texans' schedule (on top of the extra time he was able to get during the bye last week). That's the stint of any player taken out of the lineup to then be placed on short-term injured reserve; an approach that Montgomery and Houston did not take.

So what's really going on with Montgomery here? In reality, we might not have a clear picture until arriving at next week's practice. If he's able to participate in any capacity then, that'll be a good sign for his in-game availability next weekend.

But until then, it'll be Woody Marks continuing to take the lead as the Texans' No. 1 running back against the Chargers, which is a role he's started to find his grove in quite well.

Over the course of the past three games, the Texans have given Marks at least 19 touches a game to average over 80 yards from scrimmage throughout those matchups.

Expect Houston to continue leaning on Marks in the backfield until further notice while still patiently waiting for his veteran counterpart to return from injury.

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