Pats Pulpit
The Houston Texans will take on the New England Patriots on Sunday without star wide receiver Nico Collins.
After suffering a concussion in Houston’s wild card victory, Collins was officially ruled out Friday after missing the entire week of practice.
A Pro Bowler each of the last two seasons, Collins led Houston in 2025 with 71 receptions and 1,117 receiving yards — the third straight year he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark. Quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Texans offense will now be without their top pass catcher in the divisional-round matchup.
“What Nico has done – go back to his pre-draft visit, meeting with him and watching his growth as a pro, he’s a very good player,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said of Collins.
Without Collins last Monday night, veteran Christian Kirk paced Houston’s pass catchers with a season-high eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers.
“Well, they’re not afraid to go inside. They run a lot of inside breaking routes in play action. They all block. I think they have a great mixture,” Vrabel said of the Texans’ receiver group. “[Xavier] Hutchinson has got a combo platter. Kirk’s played at a high level for a lot of years, a lot of inside slot production and not just option routes, stuff down the field, the vertical stuff down the field.”
Houston also drafted a pair of rookies receivers — both from Iowa State — with two of their first three selections in this year’s draft, including using their first pick (No. 34 overall) on the 6-foot-4 Jayden Higgins.
“I liked [his draft evaluation] a lot,” Vrabel said Friday. “I’ve known [Iowa State head coach] Matt Campbell for a long time and some of the coaches at Iowa State. They spoke highly of both him and Jaylin Noel. Long, athletic, productive, really good catch radius, willing to block. Those are all the same things that you see from his tape now, and the more he plays, I think the better he’s gotten.”
As the Patriots will look to slow down Houston’s pass catchers, they will have cornerback Christian Gonzalez available. After suffering a head injury of his own last weekend, Gonzalez practiced in full on both Thursday and Friday before clearing the league’s concussion protocol.
