Houston Texans: Andre Johnson Helps His Team the Most by Sitting out vs. Browns

Every Texans fan has been anxiously anticipating the return of the most talented and one of the most important players on their roster.  Everyone wants to see No. 80 racing down the field, beasting cornerbacks and carrying what has been a relatively anemic pass offense in his absence.

However, with the news that he was held out of practice on Wednesday as he was still recovering from Monday's workout can only mean one thing.  He is not 110 percent, which is the only time he should be back on the field on Sundays.

The Texans will be facing the 26th-ranked offense this weekend. The Cleveland Browns are struggling to put up more than 300 yards per game of total offense and have posted just over 15 points per game. If the defense—which has become the strength of this team—can't shut down Colt McCoy without either of his top two backs, this is not a game the Texans deserve to win.

Despite the pathetic numbers that the Browns have put up, the Texans defense has given up even fewer yards per game. That is, only 286 yards per game (good for third best in the NFL).

To be fair, the Browns are an astonishing second in the NFL in passing defense, but that stat is probably in large part due to the fact that they have the seventh worst rush defense.

The Texans should be pounding Arian Foster and Ben Tate all day long on a defense that is not good at stopping the run.

The Texans were recently called "dirty" by several Jaguars players when they were interviewed by SportsRadio 610 in Houston. The offensive line probably did nothing wrong (there were no penalties or fines against them), but they ran the ball 39 times against a team that is a pretty good run defense.  When they did this, they got underneath the Jaguars' players skins. They got in their heads.

If they can do that to the Jaguars, they should be able to do that to the Browns and with even more success.

With that being the case, why would anyone risk further injury to Johnson?

This is a team with legitimate playoff expectations. However, if they want to go further than the first round, Johnson will be a key to their success.

When he injured himself, he was running with no one within five yards of him and he collapsed. With that being the case, it is obvious that every time he runs he is in jeopardy of re-injuring his hamstring.  That is not a risk the Texans can afford to take unless they are certain that Johnson is 110 percent healthy.

For the long term benefit of this team, Johnson must sit out this week and possibly even through the bye week. The team must do whatever it takes for him to be absolutely healthy for the final stretch and a possible playoff run. This is not an easy decision for the Texans coaches or trainers to make, but whatever they do, they should take a cautious route to getting him back onto the field.