How the Texans will adjust without Jalen Pitre

Losing the elite corner/safety Pitre will handcuff a talent-bound secondary

Houston Texans will be without Jalen Pitre for several weeks due to a torn chest muscle. It’s a debilitating ry to a defense reeling from its worst performance of the season… and that includes the franchise high eight sacks.

Pitre had the third best PFF coverage grade on the team with a 71.3 score and had become the fulcrum of the defense with his hard hitting bravado.

The Texans lose their go-to slot corner. Pitre lined up over ²⁄₃ of the time at the slot corner. For the longest time, Pitre was listless in the multiple defensive coordinators and without a true positional home. Nestling into the slot role allowed the rest of the secondary to settle in; Veteran Eric Murray can play further off the line and dive head-first into the defense. Jimmie Ward can commend from the back of the defense and rookie Calen Bullock can be the ball hawk with limited tackling responsibilities.

This has been far-and-away Pitre’s best season. He was healthy, effective, and truly at home playing dime linebacker or nickel safety. He was the extra man in the box and true X-factor on this defense. Look at those consistent and imposing stats from PFF.

Before the Titans’ game, Pitre was on a roll. His past three games totaled 25 tackles, two tackles, for loss, and one pass defended.

Rookie Calen Bullock has been playing above his draft grade so far. The safety is a ball hawk in the back of the defense and solid at containing opposing deep threats. However, Houston doesn’t want Bullock anywhere near the line of scrimmage.

Most likely what will happen is Jimmie Ward will slide into that role. The rookie Bullock will have to go from a rotational defensive back to a starting piece in a thinning secondary. Houston already employs multiple secondary players that were cut before the season started: Lonnie Johnson Jr, Kadar Hollman, and Jeff Okudah.

This thin of a secondary puts the playoff run at risk. One more injury across the new starting five (Stingley, Lassiter, Ward, Murray, and Bullock) will leave the defense handcuffed. They’ll only play four defensive backs in that case.

Houston’s defense was embarrassed on Sunday. I was there. I saw it. Simply no grit in the secondary as Will Levis was 11/11 at one point. They have a chance to rebound against a horrific Jaguars offense. They’ll do so without their most dynamic playmaker.