Texans RB David Montgomery Leaves vs. Titans With Injury, Ruled Out

The Houston Texans' running back room suffered a notable injury in their Week 5 matchup vs. the Tennessee Titans.

According to an injury update from the Texans, veteran running back David Montgomery has been ruled out for the rest of the game in Tennessee with a groin injury.

Montgomery initially went down with the injury in the second quarter, which would inevitably leave him questionable to return heading into the half. In due time, the Texans would downgrade him to out.

.@ShariffLawFirm Texans Injury Update:

#32 RB David Montgomery has been downgraded to out with a groin injury.
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 11, 2026

Before Montgomery left the game, he recorded five carries for 11 yards, with his longest run going for five yards; a similarly uninspiring performance that he's put together for the past few weeks.

And instead of getting a chance to build on those numbers, he'll see his day end a bit prematurely.

What David Montgomery's Injury Means for Texans

It's seemingly become a common trend for Texans players to suffer groin injuries over the past few weeks. It was only in Weeks 2 and 3 where Ed Ingram missed time with a groin issue, and last weekend against the Dallas Cowboys, Azeez Al-Shaair missed with a groin injury as well.

And now, Montgomery is the latest to add onto that list; another key starter for Houston on the offensive side, though hasn't had a sharp beginning to his Texans tenure like he would have hoped.

While Montgomery did chip in for three touchdowns in his Texans debut against the Buffalo Bills, he's followed up that performance with a combined 32 carries for 78 yards, coming out to an average of 2.4 yards per carry.

Based on what the Texans thought they were getting in Montgomery when trading Juice Scruggs and multiple draft picks for him from the Detroit Lions earlier this offseason, the veteran running back has fallen wildly short of those expectations this far.

And now, he could be at risk of missing some time moving forward, depending on how severe his groin issue is. At the very least, he'll be missing the rest of the game in Nashville.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) hands off to running back David Montgomery (32) during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The good news for the Texans is that they don't have many weeks on tap before their Week 8 bye week arrives. Houston has a trip to London in Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, then will host the New York Giants the following weekend.

If Montgomery is deemed out for an extended period, he could have a nice three-week span to recover, and get right before the Texans are back playing in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

For however long he's out––both for this game against the Titans and any time moving forward––you can expect Woody Marks to claim a lion's share of carries in the running back room, possibly with more work handed to veteran Dare Ogunbowale, who was signed to the active roster earlier this season, and is the only active running back on the roster for Week 5.

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