Texans Receive Major Nico Collins Update as Star Receiver Returns to Practice

Houston has scored 23 points in two games without its top receiver, and Wednesday's practice puts Nico Collins in play for Sunday's game against Dallas.

by Sahil Goswami

Sep 30, 2026

Nico Collins of the Houston Texans

Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Nico Collins is back on the practice field, and the timing matters for a Houston Texans team still looking for its first win. The two-time Pro Bowl receiver returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since straining his hamstring Sept. 16, according to Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle. Collins has missed the last two games, and Houston lost both to fall to 0-3.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported over the weekend that Collins had a “decent chance” to play Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, and coach DeMeco Ryans said Monday the team was “hopeful” to have him back. Tests after the injury showed a Grade 1 strain, the mildest kind, and KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson reported at the time that the Texans were preparing for a two-game absence. Wednesday’s return lands right on that schedule.

What Collins changes for C.J. Stroud

Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins (12) scores a touchdown Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Houston has scored 23 points in two games without him. The Texans lost 20-6 to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2, and in that game Stroud went 8 of 20 for 102 yards against man coverage, according to ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime. A week later, the offense managed only 223 total yards in a 19-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Stroud has 794 passing yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions through three games, but the Texans have scored just 54 points.

Tight end Dalton Schultz has absorbed much of the workload, catching 12 passes for 140 yards on 14 targets against Cincinnati. The Texans still don’t have another receiver who wins one-on-one the way Collins does. He caught seven of 10 targets for 75 yards and a touchdown in the 36-31 opener against Buffalo, and he came into the year off three straight 1,000-yard seasons.

The Texans have reason to be careful. Collins missed five games in 2024 with a hamstring injury, and the official injury report will show whether he was limited or a full participant Wednesday. How he handles Thursday and Friday will say more about Sunday than one practice. Houston dug out of a 0-3 hole last season with a 12-2 finish, but a fourth straight loss at home to Dallas would make that path a lot narrower.