What to Expect From Texans' Defense If Kayden McDonald Misses Week 1

The Houston Texans could be without one of their highly selected rookies from this offseason's draft in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills.

Per the Texans' Thursday injury report following their second practice before Week 1, rookie defensive tackle Kayden McDonald didn't participate due to an ankle injury.

Houston #Texans Thursday Injury Report for Week 1 vs. the Buffalo Bills: pic.twitter.com/yHzz6KAEfY
— Houston Texans PR (@TexansPR) September 10, 2026

It's a bit of a shift from McDonald's participation in Wednesday's practice. He was able to give it a go in limited fashion, yet has now been downgraded just three days out from gameday.

There's one more practice the Texans have on deck before Sunday's matchup, which gives McDonald optimism to participate more expansively and provide more hope that he'll be good to go for his NFL debut against Buffalo.

However, there's also a chance that McDonald remains limited, and potentially misses out on the Texans' action this weekend. And if that's the case, Houston's defensive line could end up panning out a bit differently as a result.

How Texans' Defensive Line Changes Without Kayden McDonald

With the Texans holding five defensive tackles on their 53-man roster, losing McDonald for Week 1 would simply slim their interior rotation by one. But the nice chunk of depth that Houston has at the position certainly does help their ability to stay afloat if they are indeed forced to go shorthanded.

Upon the release of the Texans' unofficial depth chart, McDonald was slotted in as the defense's DT5. So that status, if true, might indicate his role in the rotation is expected to be minor from the jump, if he is in the lineup.

Though if he doesn’t play, those below Houston's top starters––which are currently Logan Hall and Mario Edwards––might be due for more work to come their way as a result.

Jul 30, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans defensive tackle Kayden McDonald (93) during training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

During Edwards' stint with the Texans last season, he was on the field in 33% of the defensive snaps in the games that he played.

There was no game throughout the year in which Edwards logged over 50% of the snaps, so he may not be in store for an extremely different role, though could be trending closer to that 40% snap share number.

As for Hall, he might be in for a bit more work than Edwards, but projecting his outlook tends to be a bit tougher. It'll be his first game in a Texans uniform, and he'll be someone transitioning between the inside of Houston's defensive front and off the edge.

However, when looking at how his time went with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, Hall played in over 58% of their defensive snaps. So maybe that's a sign of things to come.

Expect Texans to Pick From Practice Squad

Knowing that the Texans could be down a piece of their defensive line, there's a good chance that the team decides to bring up a name from their practice squad to bolster the back-end of their depth chart.

And if the Texans decide to do so, there's one player who sticks out as the most likely elevation: defensive tackle Junior Tufana, who was just signed to Houston's practice squad earlier this month after he was waived from the New York Jets.

Houston did have two defensive tackles on their practice squad earlier in the week that gave them more options at the position, but opted to waive one of them, Dominic Bailey, to bring on quarterback Mark Gronkowski.

So if McDonald ends up missing––which will be clearer once the Texans' final injury report releases on Friday––don't be shocked if Tufana gets a call-up to the active roster to provide a more secure layer of depth on their front seven against Buffalo.

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