Texans' Joe Mixon to miss first four games on reserve NFI

The Houston Texans will begin the regular season without starting running back Joe Mixon after the team moved him from the active nonfootball injury list to the reserve nonfootball injury list at roster cutdown this week, the club announced. The move, finalized at the roster deadline, makes Mixon ineligible for at least the first four games of the 2025 season while he continues to recover from a foot or ankle issue sustained in the offseason.

"Players placed on the Reserve Nonfootball Injury list may begin to practice and play after the club's fourth game of the regular season," the team said in a social media post. General manager Nick Caserio told reporters he would reassess Mixon's status at the end of that four-game window but offered no assurance the Pro Bowl running back would play this season. "We'll see. We'll take it one day at a time," Caserio said. Head coach DeMeco Ryans echoed that cautious approach and defended Mixon's privacy, saying when Mixon returns "it won't be anything revolutionary that he has not seen before."

Mixon, 29, missed offseason workouts, training camp and the preseason after being seen in a walking boot. He was acquired in a March 2024 trade with...