The Texans have lost 25-year old backup safety Dominique Barber for the rest of the year as he fractured his Lisfranc bone in his foot last Sunday against the Ravens.  He needs season ending surgery to repair it.  Barber played in all six games for the Texans this year and he had 3 whopping tackles.  Barber has now played in 39 games in his first four years with the Texans and he has 57 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 5 passes defensed.  The Texans will miss Barber more on special teams than on defense going forward.

The Houston Texans have  released 28-year old WR David Anderson.  Anderson played in 2 games for the Texans this year and he caught 1 pass for 9 yards.  He has played in 63 games in his first six years with the Texans and he has caught 82 passes for 895 yards (10.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  The Texans obviously feel that Derrick Mason is way better Anderson, and they are right about that.

The Houston Texans have acquired 37-year old WR Derrick Mason from the New York Jets for a conditional 7th round pick.  Mason played in all five games for the Jets this year and he caught 13 passes for 115 yards (8.8 avg).  He has now played in 223 games in his first 15 years in the NFL and he has caught 937 passes for 12,006 yards (12.8 avg) with 66 TD grabs.  This was a good pickup for the Texans as they didn’t get much production out of the WRs last weekend against the Raiders.

Initially reports said that 27-year old starting fullback James Casey had a torn pectoral muscle.   But, it is only a strain and he will be day to day.  Casey has played in all 5 games for the Texans so far this year and he has 1 carry for 11 yards.  He has also caught 9 passes for 163 yards (18.1 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  The converted TE has great hands and he gives Matt Schaub another weapon in the passing game.  If Casey has to miss some time due to his injury, 28-year old Lawrence Vickers would take over at fullback.  He has played in all five games for the Texans so far this year but he has yet to touch the ball.  His game is blocking for the running game.

The Houston Texans have lost 26-year old OLB Mario Williams for the rest of the season due to a torn pectoral muscle which will require surgery to fix.  Williams played in 5 games for the Texans this year and he had 11 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defensed.  Williams has now played in 82 games in his first six years with the Texans and he has 241 tackles, 53 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 10 passes defensed and 26 tackles for a loss.  This is a huge loss for the Texans as Williams was their best pass rusher.

The Houston Texans will be without 30-year old WR Andre Johnson for a while due to a hamstring injury.  This is a big blow to the Texans’ passing game.  Johnson has played in all 4 games for the Texans this year and he has caught 25 passes for 352 yards (14.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Texans are hoping that Jacoby Jones is ready to step up and be the main man in the passing game until Johnson is ready to return to action.  Jones has played in all 4 games for the Texans so far this year and he has caught 7 passes for 91 yards (13.0 avg).  Jones has the speed to get down the field and make big plays, but he’s not consistent on the shorter routes.

The Texans have waived 25-year old RB Steve Slaton.  Slaton played in 3 games for the Texans this year and he carried the ball 7 times for 20 yards (2.9 ypc).  He also caught 1 pass for 6 yards also this year.  Slaton played in 42 games in his 4 years with the Texans and he carried the ball 425 times for 1,832 yards (4.3 ypc) with 12 TD carries.  He also caught 98 passes for 811 yards (8.3 avg) with 5 TD grabs for the Texans.  With Arian Foster back and ready to rock, the Texans decided that they had better uses for Slaton’s roster spot which led to his release.

The Houston Texans have lost 28-year old backup OT Rashad Butler for the rest of the season due to torn triceps that he injured against the Dolphins last weekend.  Butler played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Texans this year.  He has now played in 42 games (4 starts) for the Texans in his first five years with the team.  The Texans have signed 25-year old OT Andrew Gardner off the practice squad and he will replace Butler in his role as the backup OT.  Gardner has only played in 1 game in his NFL career and it came way back in 2009 with the Dolphins.

31-year old RB Derrick Ward has a high ankle sprain which will cause him to miss multiple weeks.  Ward started the season opener for the Texans and he carried the ball 11 times for 39 yards (3.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Ward played in all 16 games (0 starts) in his first year with the Texans in 2010 and he carried the ball 50 times for 315 yards (6.3 ypc) with 4 TD runs.  He also caught 7 passes for 61 yards (8.7 avg) last year.  With Arian Foster (hamstring) also missing some time, the Texans are getting thin at RB.  But they still have Ben Tate and Steve Slaton so they should be o.k. until Foster and Ward are ready to return to action.

The Houston Texans have signed 28-year old WR David Anderson.  Anderson played in 12 games for the Texans last year and he caught 11 passes for 117 yards (10.6 avg).  He has played in 61 games in his first five years in the NFL (all with the Texans) and he has caught 81 passes for 886 yards (10.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  With Kevin Walter out a while, this signing made perfect sense.  Anderson knows the offense and he should be ready to play this weekend against the Dolphins.