The Houston Texans continue to face significant uncertainty regarding the future of star running back Joe Mixon, who was conspicuously absent for the entirety of the 2025 NFL season due to a mysterious and poorly explained foot injury.
A Season-Long Enigma
The Texans' plans were thrown into disarray just over a month before the 2025 campaign kicked off, when the team announced that Mixon, aged 29, had sustained a foot injury. The initial statement was notably vague, indicating only that the Pro Bowl player would be sidelined for 'an extended period of time'. This absence proved to be season-long, with Mixon failing to suit up for a single game as Houston's season ultimately concluded with a Divisional Round playoff defeat to the New England Patriots last weekend.
No Answers from the Top
When pressed for an update on Mixon's condition and his potential return for the 2026 season, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans offered little in the way of reassurance. 'I don't know the answer to that right now,' Ryans told reporters on Monday. 'No clarity.' The coach further declined to elaborate on the specific nature of the injury that kept Mixon on the non-football injury list all year, only cryptically stating, 'He didn't jump off a building. He wasn't doing anything irresponsible. It was a freak thing.'
On-Field Impact and Contractual Limbo
The void left by Mixon's absence was keenly felt. In response, the Texans moved to sign four-time Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb in free agency during June, leaning on him and rookie Woody Marks to carry the rushing load. Ryans acknowledged the significant impact of losing a player of Mixon's calibre: 'When you have your best players, you're going to be a better team. Joe, he's a really great running back for us and not having him, yes, of course, it affected our running game. Joe is one of the top running backs in this league. That affected us.'
The statistical evidence supports this claim. In 2024, with Mixon leading the charge, the Texans ranked a respectable 15th in the league for rushing. This past season, without his services, they plummeted to 22nd overall.
Mixon's future is now shrouded in doubt. He has one year remaining on the two-year, $19.7 million contract he signed with Houston, placing his NFL career in a state of limbo. His debut season with the Texans, following a trade from the Cincinnati Bengals, was highly productive, seeing him rush for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns. This performance was consistent with a stellar eight-year career that began in Cincinnati, during which he has recorded five separate 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
As the offseason begins, the central question surrounding the Houston Texans remains unanswered: what is the status of Joe Mixon, and will he ever return to the form that made him one of the league's most feared running backs?
