Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins expects to return to action on Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys after missing five games due to a hamstring injury. “I feel like myself,” Collins said on Friday. “I feel like that was the main part.”
Collins was leading the NFL in receiving yards with 567 when he got injured on a 67-yard touchdown catch during a win over the Buffalo Bills on October 6. He spent four weeks on injured reserve before being activated last Saturday.
However, he wasn’t ready to return for Sunday night’s game and was inactive for the Texans’ loss to Detroit, marking his fifth straight game missed, which ties the longest streak of games he’s missed in his four-year career.
“You don’t want to miss no games, but that’s part of it,” Collins said. “But it’s a long season, it’s a marathon and you want to take care of your body. But missing time hurts. You want to be out there with your brothers, making plays.”
The Texans lost Stefon Diggs to a season-ending knee injury on October 27, and without Collins, their passing game has struggled. Despite being out for several games, Collins remains the team’s top receiver.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud is excited to have Collins back on the field. “He has that personality where he wants the hard coverage guy, he wants the hard routes to run, he wants to make the hard plays,” Stroud said. “When he gets the ball, he is dangerous.
He is able to turn good into great. He runs guys over. He does all these things. … He gets everybody juiced up to play hard and I definitely feel like we have been missing that.”
Collins takes pride in hearing such praise and feels it’s part of his role to help lift his teammates’ performance.
“I feel like you bring the energy, you bring the best out of everybody,” Collins said. “You bring the physicality. I’m showing my teammates that I’m bringing it. So, I need everybody to come in with me.”
Collins hopes to help the Texans, who lead the AFC South, get back on track after losing their last two games and three of their last four. They are counting on his return to help address some struggles they’ve had in the second half of games.
Houston has scored just 15 points after halftime in their last four games, with no touchdowns. In their 26-23 loss to Detroit, the Texans led by 16 points at halftime but were shut out in the second half.
“I want to change it,” Collins said. “Add another piece out there, another weapon. … Every time I touch the ball I’m trying to score and just bringing that juice and just having another playmaker out there brings a lot to the offense. And I can’t wait to go out there and play.”
