Texans’ Will Fuller out for season with torn knee ligament

Published 5:00 am Saturday, October 27, 2018

HOUSTON (AP) — Texans receiver Will Fuller has a torn knee ligament and will miss the rest of the season, a big blow to a team that has won five in a row and is coming off a high-scoring victory.

He was injured during the fourth quarter Thursday night against Miami when he became entangled with a defender and tumbled to the ground.

Coach Bill O’Brien said Friday he doesn’t know when Fuller will have surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

“I’m very disappointed for Will because Will’s a great guy,” O’Brien said. “He’s really been playing at a high level.”

Fuller had a season-high 124 yards receiving with a 73-yard touchdown on Thursday before the injury. He had 503 yards receiving and four touchdowns in seven games this season. The third-year player was a first-round pick in 2016.

The Texans ran up a season-high 42 points against the Dolphins and have recovered from their 0-3 start to the season. At 5-3, they are leading the AFC South.

“If you go through every team, everybody’s dealing with injuries,” O’Brien said. “It’s such a cliche, but the coaching staff, the players, we all have to pitch in and figure it out and figure out how we’re going to construct the offense. And maybe some things will be the same and maybe some things will be a little bit different.”

The loss of Fuller is the latest setback for a team which played without receiver Keke Coutee on Thursday night. The rookie from Lufkin, a fourth-round pick, injured his hamstring last Sunday against Jacksonville after missing the first three games of the season with a different hamstring injury.

Since Houston doesn’t play again until a trip to Denver on Nov. 4, there is a possibility that Coutee will be healthy by then.