The Houston Texans placed star wide receiver Nico Collins on injured reserve Wednesday morning. He will miss at least the next four games due to a hamstring injury sustained in Sunday’s 23-20 home win over Buffalo.
Collins leads the NFL in receiving yards (567) and is third in catches with 32. The fourth-year WR out of Michigan has three touchdown receptions.
Collins had eight catches for 117 yards in a 29-27 season-opening win at Indianapolis. He snagged six balls for 135 yards and one TD in a 19-13 home win over Chicago in Week 2.
In Week 4, Collins hauled in 12 receptions for 151 yards and one TD in a 24-20 home win over Jacksonville. In the win over the Bills, he had two catches for 78 yards and one TD on his only two targets before leaving the game with the hamstring issue.
The Texans will be without Collins at New England, at Green Bay, vs. Indianapolis and at the New York Jets. They hope he’ll be back for a Nov. 10 home game vs. Detroit on Sunday Night Football.
As of late Wednesday morning, most books had Houston (4-1 straight up, 1-3-1 against the spread) listed as a seven-point road favorite Sunday at New England. The total was 38 points.
Without Collins, look for Stefon Diggs to get even more targets. Diggs has 31 receptions for 315 yards and two TDs.
WR Tank Dell figures to increase his production as well. Before getting injured last year, Dell had 47 catches for 709 yards and seven TDs in 11 games. He missed the win over the Jags and has 13 receptions for 137 yards in four games.
The Texans have a two-game lead in the AFC South over the Colts, who are 2-3 SU and ahead of both the Titans (1-3 SU) and Jaguars (1-4 SU).
FanDuel has Houston tied with Detroit and Buffalo with the fourth-shortest odds to win Super Bowl LIX at +1100 (or 11/1). The book has the Texans as -470 ‘chalk’ to win the AFC South.