The Houston Texans are sending to players to the Pro Bowl.  25-year old RB Arian Foster has been amazing again this year for the Texans.  He has played in 13 games for the Texans so far this year and he has carried the ball 278 times for 1,224 yards (4.4 ypc) with 10 TD grabs.  Foster has also caught 53 passes for 617 yards (11.6 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far this year.  27-year old CB Johnathan Joseph has proven to be quite a shrewd free agent signing for the Texans.  Joseph has played in 15 games so far this year for the Texans and he has 44 tackles, 15 passes defensed, 4 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and 2 tackles for a loss.

The Texans have lost 28-year old RG Mike Brisiel indfefinitely due to a fractured fibula.  He has played in 13 games (all starts) for the Texans this year.  He has now played in 50 games (47 starts) in his first six years with the Texans.  The Texans aren’t going to put Brisiel on the Injured Reserve List as they think he could return to the team in the playoffs at some point.

The Houston Texans have signed 40-year old QB Jeff Garcia.  Garcia last played in the NFL back in 2009 with the Philadelphia Eagles.  Garcia has played in 125 games (116 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 2,264 of 3,676 passes (61.6%) for 25,537 yards with 161 TD passes and 83 INTs (87.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 468 times for 2,140 yards (4.6 ypc) with 26 TD runs in his NFL career.  Garcia is 58-58 (50%) as a starting QB in the NFL and he has made it to the Pro Bowl four times in his career.  The Texans have released Kellen Clemens to make room on the roster for Garcia.

30-year old WR Andre Johnson has re-injured his hamstring and he is going to miss at least the next game or two.  Johnson has played in 6 games for the Texans this year and he has caught 31 passes for 471 yards (15.2 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  This is going to hurt the Texans’ passing game big time as T.J. Yates was looking for Johnson a lot last week before his injury.  Johnson has now caught 704 passes for 9,635 yards (13.7 avg) with 52 TD grabs in his first 9 years with the Texans.  He is quite simply, the best offensive player in Texans’ franchise history.  The Texans will need Jacoby Jones and Kevin Walter will have to step up while Johnson is out of action.

The Texans have lost 24-year old rookie punter Brett Hartmann for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL.  He played in 12 games for the Texans this year and he punted the ball 58 times for 2,573 yards (44.4 avg).  Hartmann had 7 touchbacks (12.1%) and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 15 times (25.9%).  This is a big blow to the Texans as Hartmann proved to be really good at placing the ball where he wanted to.

The Houston Texans have signed 36-year old QB Jake Delhomme.  Delhomme played in 5 games for the Cleveland Browns last year and he completed 93 of 149 passes (62.4%) for 872 yards with 2 TD passes and 7 INTs (63.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 8 times for -2 yards (0.3 ypc) last year.  Delhomme has now played in 102 games in his NFL career so far and he has completed 1,723 of 2,904 (59.3%) for 20,764 yards with 125 TD passes and 101 INTs (81.2 QB Rating).  Delhomme has also carried the ball 175 times for 328 yards (1.9 ypc) with 7 TD runs in his career.  Delhomme is the #3 QB for now, but I could see a scenario of him moving up the depth chart in the very near future.

The Texans have lost 28-year old QB Matt Leinart for the rest of the season due to a broken left collarbone.  Leinart played in 2 games (1 start) for the Texans this year and he completed 10 of 13 passes (76.9%) for 57 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (110.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard.  The starting job at QB for the Texans now falls to 24-year old rookie Tyler Yates.  Yates played decent in replacing Matt Leinart yesterday as he completed 8 of 15 passes (53.3%) for 70 yards without a TD pass or INT (66.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for -3 yards (-0.8 ypc) so far this year.  The Texans need Tyler Yates to step up because the Titans are lurking two games behind them in the AFC South.

The Texans have signed 28-year old QB Kellen Clemens.  Clemens played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Jets last year and he completed 1 of 2 passes (50%) for 6 yards without a TD pass or INT (56.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 2 times for 9 yards (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run last year for the Jets.  Clemens has now played in 25 games (9 starts) in his first five years in the NFL and he has completed 147 of 284 passes (51.8%) for 1,686 yards with 5 TD passes and 11 INTs (59.7 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 46 times for 128 yards (2.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his career.  Clemens is 4-5 (44.4%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  Clemens will start out #3 on the depth chart behind Matt Leinart and rookie T.J. Yates, but he could move up if he looks good in practice.

UPDATE:  (12/7/2011) – The Texans have released Kellen Clemens to make room for Jeff Garcia on the roster.  Clemens didn’t get into any games for the Texans.

28-year old lefty throwing QB Matt Leinart will be taking over the as the Texans’ new starting QB due to Matt Schaub’s season ending injury.  Leinart has played in 1 game this year for the Texans and he hasn’t thrown a pass, but he has carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard.  He last threw a pass in a regular season game back in 2009 for the Cardinals.  Leinart has played in 30 games (17 starts) in his NFL career so far and he has completed 340 of 595 passes (57.1%) for 3,893 yards with 14 TD passes and 20 INTs (70.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 47 times for 89 yards (1.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career so far.  Leinart is 7-10 (41.2%) as a starting QB in the NFL.  The Texans are a very run heavy offense, so Leinart should be able to hit on a heavy percentage of his passes off play action.  They will likely only need him to be a game manager type of QB going forward.

30-year old starting QB Matt Schaub is done for the season due to a Lisfranc injury to his foot which is going to require surgery to fix.  He played in 10 games (all starts) for the Texans this year and he completed 178 of 292 passes (61%) for 2,479 yards with 15 TD passes and 6 INTs (96.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 15 times for 9 yards (0.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs this year for the Texans.  Schaub has now played in 64 games (all starts) in his first five years with the Texans and he has completed 1,382 of 2,118 passes (65.3%) for 16,903 yards with 92 TD passes and 52 INTs (94.0 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 133 times for 214 yards (1.6 ypc) with 4 TD runs for the Texans.  This is a HUGE blow for the Texans, who are sitting atop of the AFC South with a 7-3 record.  Getting the Texans to the playoffs now falls on 28-year old Matt Leinart.