By Jordan Long
The Houston Texans were hit with devastating news about running back Lamar Miller after their preseason loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday. Miller took a handoff with 13:44 left in the 1st quarter. He was hit and never got up. Houston took him off the field on a cart. It was feared he tore his ACL during the play. It was worse. Miller tore both his ACL and MCL, ending his season.
Miller was expected to be the Texans #1 running back this year, coming off last season where he rushed for 973 yards. Houston was optimistic Miller’s legs would take pressure off of quarterback Deshaun Watson. His running was going to open up the passing game and keep defenses off balance. The Texans expected him to run for 1,000 yards. Miller hadn’t played in the other 2 preseason games. It was his first action. The play went for -1 yard.
According to Chron.com, Texans coach Bill O’Brien said, “It was serious. It was a tough thing to see. I think our backfield situation with depth is actually decent, but it’s very difficult to lose a guy like Lamar for a lot of reasons. He’s a great pro. He’s an awesome guy in the locker room. We’ll deal with it. We’ll overcome it and we’ll keep plugging away.”
The Texans must wonder why they played Miller. He is their star running back and it took one play for them to lose him for the season. It is easier to say now, but the Texans should have let him rest until the regular season. Then again, he needed work against another NFL defense. There also wasn’t a guarantee Miller wouldn’t have been injured in practice or the 1st game of the year.
The Texans starting running back is now Duke Johnson. Johnson was acquired on August 8th from the Cleveland Browns. In his four year career Johnson has 1,286 rushing yards. He wasn’t the #1 running back when he was with the Browns. Johnson has a chance to be the primary back. He has yet to play in the preseason. Hopefully Johnson can run the football for this team and help them win games.
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