Andre Johnson Injury: How Texans Will Benefit from Johnson's Injury

Andre Johnson collapsed mid-stride in the Texans' win on Sunday, but he didn't take the Texans down with him. They will persevere and come out stronger in the long run.

This battered franchise will end their season fast, and be a dangerous team as the playoffs go on.

The Injury

The exact depth of Andre Johnson's injury is not public knowledge. We do know that it is a hamstring issue. We can reasonably conclude that it is pretty severe. First, players don't typically fall down with minor hamstring pulls.

Johnson hit the turf like he was shot, and no one even touched him. That is not a good sign.

The second thing pointing to this injury coming with a lengthy recovery time is found in the following quote from Texans coach Gary Kubiak.

Kubiak, via the chron.com:

"

"We're still in an evaluation process. We're going to get a couple different opinions over the course of the next two days. Once we get a better evaluation and see how he progresses over the next two days, I can probably answer your question better."

"

Teams and players don't usually seek second opinions when they get news they like.

How the Texans Will Benefit

Andre Johnson has nearly doubled all receiving stats (except touchdowns) of the Texans' second leading pass grabber TE Owen Daniels.

He is way beyond doubling the production from the next closest wide receiver, Jacoby Jones. Johnson has 25 catches and 352 yards. Jones has seven catches and 91 yards.

That is a staggering gap. It also isn't good for the health of the Texans' pass game. The more diverse an attack, the harder a team is to game plan for.

The Texans' offense has the running game to lead this team. They will be able to weather Johnson's injury, and in the process Matt Schaub will build up some chemistry with other receivers.

This will make the Texans virtually unstoppable when Johnson returns.

Possible Recovery Time

Hamstring injuries can't be rushed. They need to be fully healed, or players risk re-injuring them. Let's just look at this at a worst case scenario and say Johnson has a Grade 3 hamstring injury (the most severe). This seems likely given the evidence above.

Methodistsports.com did a study of professional football players with hamstring injuries. Although, when they say football, they mean soccer and rugby. This is not ideal, but it was the best and most thorough numbers I could find.

Anyway, the average recovery time from a Grade 3 was 28.5 days.

Schedule

Here is the Texans remaining schedule:

Week	Opponent
5	Oakland Raiders
6	at Baltimore Ravens
7	at Tennessee Titans
8	Jacksonville Jaguars
9	Cleveland Browns
10	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
11	Bye
12	at Jacksonville Jaguars
13	Atlanta Falcons
14	at Cincinnati Bengals
15	Carolina Panthers
16	at Indianapolis Colts
17	Tennessee Titans

Conclusion:

Johnson's injury comes at the wrong time for time for the Texans. They have a difficult stretch of games ahead, including a looming showdown with division co-leaders the Titans.

Still, the Texans have the horses to beat the Titans with or without Johnson, and they are their only legitimate competition for the division crown at this point.

The Texans are going to make the playoffs this year. And when they do, they will be a stronger team because they learned how to pass without relying on Johnson.