Jayden Higgins out for 2026 after tearing his ACL, both NFL Network and multiple other outlets confirmed this week, dealing an early and significant blow to the Houston Texans’ receiving corps. Here’s the full injury timeline, exactly what Houston loses on offense, and which receivers have the clearest path to picking up the slack.
Higgins suffered the injury during a joint practice between the Texans and the Las Vegas Raiders. He went down awkwardly after running a route in the end zone during 11-on-11 red-zone drills, initially walking off under his own power before the severity became clear. Sources told NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that the second-year wideout has a torn ACL and will miss the entire 2026 season. Cowboys team doctor Dan Cooper, who also operated on Texans linebacker E.J. Speed’s torn quad earlier this offseason, is set to perform Higgins’ surgery.
It’s the second ACL tear to hit Houston’s roster within a week, following a similar injury to backup quarterback Graham Mertz in the Texans’ preseason opener against the Chargers.
Higgins was coming off a promising rookie season. The 2025 second-round pick out of Iowa State caught 41 passes for 525 yards and six touchdowns, starting 10 games opposite Nico Collins in Houston’s passing game. His role only grew as the year went on four of his six touchdowns came in Weeks 10 through 18. And his two biggest single-game yardage totals arrived in Weeks 13 and 17, right as Houston caught fire late in the season. Texans beat writer John McClain called Higgins the most improved player on the roster dating back to the end of last season. He was widely expected to take another step forward as Houston’s clear No. 2 receiver in 2026.
That leaves quarterback C.J. Stroud without his most trusted target behind Collins. At a time when the Texans were already counting on a full season from a receiving corps that has dealt with injury after injury the past two years.
Houston’s first move is likely to come from its existing depth chart:
Beyond the current roster, Houston general manager Nick Caserio could look to free agency or a trade. One name that’s already surfaced: Brandin Cooks, who spent three seasons with the Texans from 2020 to 2022 and has ties to Houston’s current coaching setup through the Cowboys connection. Insiders have described the current wide receiver market as thin, though, with one local NFL reporter suggesting the more realistic path is that the Texans wait for roster cutdowns across the league before making an outside addition, and lean on their internal options in the meantime.
Losing Higgins is a real setback for an offense that was counting on him to take a leap in year two. Xavier Hutchinson is the most likely immediate beneficiary given his size and experience, but how quickly (and how effectively) Tank Dell can return to the field may end up being the single biggest swing factor in how much this injury actually costs Houston’s passing game in 2026.
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