{"id":268236,"date":"2025-08-07T05:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/268236\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T05:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:36:10","slug":"texans-get-a-boost-with-return-of-christian-harris-dameon-pierce-with-nick-chubb-sidelined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/268236\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans get a boost with return of Christian Harris, Dameon Pierce with Nick Chubb sidelined"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. \u2013 One of the most talented football players on the roster, Texans<\/a> <\/a>linebacker Christian Harris <\/a>put in grueling hours last year preparing for what he had hoped would be a breakout season.<\/p>\n

That included training in sand pits and doing defensive back drills to further accentuate his superior athleticism.<\/p>\n

Despite all of his work, Harris\u2019 season went awry.<\/p>\n

The former Alabama standout and third-round draft pick first injured his calf in July at training camp, there wasn\u2019t even an inkling that a soft-tissue injury would sideline him the entire preseason as well as the first three months of the regular season. However, Harris had a setback as he aggravated his strained calf in August and was placed on injured reserve. Although he returned to action late in the season, he injured his ankle and missed the entire offseason. <\/p>\n

Now, Harris is back and looked quick and decisive in his movements during a light walkthrough style practice Wednesday morning at The Greenbrier Sports and Performance Center. He lined up with the first-team defense next to team captain Azeez Al-Shaair.<\/p>\n

Harris was joined in his return by running back Dameon Pierce who ran with the first-team offense. Pierce had been out most of the spring and at training camp with a strained quadriceps before being activated Monday from the physically unable to perform list. Pierce took the first-team snaps while Nick Chubb didn\u2019t practice one day after leaving practice and walking out under his own power with a trainer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s dope to see those guys come back,\u201d Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud said after practice. \u201cIt\u2019s not always easy. They feel like they\u2019re isolated from the team and I think the most important thing is just getting them around us and around the guys. I think those guys are pivotal to our success and I\u2019m excited to see those guys come back and work their tails off.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was limited to three games overall, 20 tackles and one sack one year removed from a 101-tackle, two-sack season during which he started 12 of 16 games played and displayed a high-energy, aggressive style of play. When he got back on the field, Harris injured his ankle and was sidelined again.<\/p>\n

Harris and the Texans are hoping for a healthy 2025 season and the production he was generating two seasons ago.<\/p>\n

With 4.44 speed in the 40-yard dash, Harris is faster than many of the running backs he competes against.<\/p>\n

Harris played defensive back in high school in Baton Rouge, La.<\/p>\n

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans expressed confidence that the team can get Harris ready for the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a challenge getting Christian back,\u201d Ryans said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of him being in a good spot where he can come out and play well. He\u2019s been dialed in. So, when he comes back, it\u2019s nothing new to him. It\u2019s just a matter of getting back into playing football. So, there\u2019s no challenge there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

A former fourth-round draft pick and Pro Bowl alternate from the University of Florida, Pierce is a power runner with some breakaway speed who doubles as a dangerous kickoff returner. With Joe Mixon still on the non-football injury list with an ankle-foot injury and making progress as he tries to get back in time for a season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams, Pierce\u2019s return bolsters a think backfield that\u2019s been led by Nick Chubb.<\/p>\n

Pierce rushed for 293 yards and two touchdowns as the primary backup to Mixon last season. He has rushed for 1,648 career yards and eight touchdowns. He rushed for a career-high 939 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie starter and was honored with the NFL\u2019s Angry Run of the Year award.<\/p>\n

He averaged 37.7 yards per kickoff return with a long return of 80 yards. He had a 98-yard return for a touchdown three years ago.<\/p>\n

Togiai impresses coaches<\/p>\n

Reserve defensive tackle Tommy Togiai does a lot of things right, especially being a consistent physical presence at the line of scrimmage.<\/p>\n

The former Cleveland Browns fourth-round draft pick from Ohio State joined the Texans last season and played in eight games, recording 28 tackles, 1 1\/2 sacks and two tackles for losses. He\u2019s an example of the outstanding depth for the Texans on defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Tommy, I talk about being consistent, growing every day,\u201d Ryans said. \u201cTommy, if I had to bet, he\u2019s our most consistent player probably on our team. He was in our building working on the first day in February. He\u2019s in the weight room working out. He\u2019s never missed a beat. He\u2019s always working. He\u2019s always doing it the right way. <\/p>\n

\u201cI can always highlight Tommy in a meeting because his technique, effort, everything is going to be on point every single time. It\u2019s not by happenstance. This guy is working in the background to be where he is. So, it\u2019s cool for younger guys to see a guy like Tommy who\u2019s bounced around. But, he\u2019s stuck here with us because it\u2019s a guy you can trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preseason plan for C.J. Stroud likely means short night in Minnesota<\/p>\n

If Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud plays Saturday night against the Minnesota Vikings along with other starters, it\u2019s expected to be a short appearance.<\/p>\n

Ideally for Stroud, he prefers to get some fast work.<\/p>\n

Stroud played briefly in the second preseason game last season against the Pittsburgh Steelers after not playing in the Hall of Fame game last year against the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s up to the coaches, whatever they feel is suited for me,\u201d Stroud said. \u201cI like to be out there and get hit once or twice or whatever just to feel the emotion again. It\u2019s a little different than practice. But, whatever DeMeco decides, I\u2019m good with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W. Va. \u2013 One of the most talented football players on the roster, Texans linebacker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[23383,11317,7,221,253,2368,6,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-268236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-texans","8":"tag-christian-harris","9":"tag-dameon-pierce","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-houston-texans","13":"tag-houstontexans","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-texans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114985866620316254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}