Xavier Hutchinson

Woods was ruled out on Friday with a foot injury, which should put Xavier Hutchinson into a clear role against New England behind Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell. Houston's secondary is banged up with Ward and Lassiter out with injuries. D'Angelo Ross and Eric Murray should start. Broeker and Weaver are healthy scratches.

The Texans also lost No. 1 WR Nico Collins (hamstring) to injured reserve this week. Woods' absence solidifies Xavier Hutchinson's role as the No. 3 wide receiver, at least in the short term. Hutchinson is more so a deep-league and DFS flex option than a 12-team starter.

Woods had a chance to compete for the No. 3 role with No. 1 WR Nico Collins (hamstring) now on injured reserve. Beginning the week with a DNP is not ideal though. Fellow backup WR Xavier Hutchinson appears to have the inside track for the fill-in starter role at this time.

Will miss at least the next four games Texans are placing WR Nico Collins on injured reserve due to his hamstring injury. He will be sidelined a minimum of four games. (Adam Schefter on X) FF Today's Take: The hamstring bites another. Collins was injured in Week 5 on a 67-yard TD catch but will now miss the next 4 games. The earliest he could return would be Week 10 against the Lions. The Texans don't have their bye until Week 14. Xavier Hutchinson finished out the game in Nico's role so he's worth a look if you need WR help. Perhaps more target will flow to Tank Dell in the coming weeks.

When addressing WR Nico Collins' injury on Monday, Texans HC Demeco Ryans said, "it takes a couple of weeks for a hamstring, so we'll evaluate that on a week-to-week basis." It's not exactly a concrete timetable for Collins' return, but it sounds like the Texans are bracing for a potential multi-game absence. We'll keep an eye on Collins this week, but fantasy owners should at least prepare to be without him for this Sunday's game vs. the Patriots. Collins' absence would leave behind a ton of opportunity for WRs Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell. Xavier Hutchinson stepped in as Houston's No. 3 WR in the second half of last week's game but would be a desperation fantasy play.