Joe Mixon Placed on Non-Football Injury List by Texans to Open 2025 NFL Training Camp

The Houston Texans will be without running back Joe Mixon at the start of training camp.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Wednesday the AFC South team placed Mixon on the non-football injury list.

This move comes after Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reported Mixon was sidelined in the spring because of an ankle injury. While he is on the non-football injury list to start training camp, Wilson noted his outlook was generally positive.

According to Wilson, Mixon was in a walking boot after suffering the injury during individual offseason training but is "regaining his mobility and health as he has ramped up his workloads all summer."

Given that backdrop, this is likely nothing more than Houston easing the veteran running back into the fold in the early stages of training camp. There is no need to rush him on the field more than a month before the season starts, even if his long-term outlook is generally positive at this stage.

He isn't the only Texans running back working his way back from injury, as new addition Nick Chubb saw his 2024 season come to an end because of a broken foot. The four-time Pro Bowler was also limited to two games in 2023 because of a knee injury that also sidelined him for the first six games of 2024.

In addition to Mixon and Chubb, Houston could count on Dameon Pierce in the running back rotation as well.

Still, Mixon is expected to be the starter and will look to build off the second Pro Bowl season of his career. He ran for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns while tallying 36 catches for 309 yards and a score last season as a key part of a Texans team that won the AFC South.

It was the fifth time in his career he surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the ground with the first four times coming when he was a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

With opposing defenses focused on slowing down C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins, Christian Kirk and the aerial attack, Houston will need Mixon to take advantage of holes up front to give the offense more balance. He did just that last year and will be in position to do so again if he is healthy.

And all indications are that he will be healthy sooner rather than later despite starting training camp on the non-football injury list.