Summary
✓Reviewed by Laura Bennett Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins will miss the entire 2026 NFL season after tearing his ACL during a joint practice session with the Las Vegas Raiders on August 18, 2026, in Houston, according to NFL...
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Houston Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins will miss the entire 2026 NFL season after tearing his ACL during a joint practice session with the Las Vegas Raiders on August 18, 2026, in Houston, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport and confirmed by multiple outlets including ESPN and the Associated Press. The second-year wideout, a 2025 second-round draft selection, went down while running a route in end-zone red-zone 11-on-11 drills and left the field before subsequent testing confirmed the diagnosis.
The injury is a significant blow to Houston’s receiving corps heading into the regular season. Higgins was widely projected to be a key contributor in his sophomore campaign after a productive rookie year in which he caught 41 passes for 525 yards and six touchdowns across 17 games, averaging 12.8 yards per reception.
How the Injury Happened
Higgins suffered the ACL tear on Tuesday, August 18, during the Texans’ joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders at Houston’s facility. According to reporting by ESPN, the injury occurred while Higgins was running a route in end-zone red-zone 11-on-11 work. He left the field under his own power before the full extent of the damage became clear. Subsequent medical evaluation confirmed a torn anterior cruciate ligament, ending any doubt about his availability for the 2026 regular season.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported the diagnosis on Wednesday, August 19. The AP then confirmed the news through a source with direct knowledge, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Houston Texans receiver Jayden Higgins is expected to miss the season with a torn ACL,” the AP reported, citing the person familiar with the injury.
Who Is Jayden Higgins?
Higgins entered the NFL as Houston’s second-round selection in the 2025 draft out of Iowa State, where he amassed 3,317 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns over his college career, according to ESPN’s college stats database. The 2025 NFL season represented his professional debut, and the numbers were encouraging: 41 receptions, 525 yards, six receiving touchdowns, and a 12.8 yards-per-catch average across all 17 games. He posted a long reception of 75 yards, demonstrating the deep-threat ability that made him a coveted draft prospect.
The table below summarizes Higgins’ 2025 NFL regular season statistics, as reported by NFL.com:
| Season | Team | Games | Receptions | Yards | Avg | TDs | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Houston Texans | 17 | 41 | 525 | 12.8 | 6 | 75 |
Impact on the Texans’ Receiving Corps
Losing Higgins removes what was expected to be a meaningful piece of Houston’s passing attack in 2026. ESPN’s reporting characterized the injury as a “big hit” to the Texans’ receiving corps, noting that the second-year receiver had been positioned to take on a larger role after his successful rookie season. The absence is compounded by what multiple outlets described as another ACL setback within the Texans’ roster in a short window, further thinning Houston’s depth at the position.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans acknowledged the evaluation process following the joint practice session, according to ESPN, though no formal public statement specifically addressing the diagnosis was attributed to him by name in the initial reports. The team had not released a surgery timeline or detailed recovery plan as of August 20, 2026, per local outlet KHOU.
Reports from ESPN, NBC Sports, and Yahoo Sports all pointed to a redistribution of snaps and targets among Houston’s remaining receivers. No single direct replacement was named in official team communications as of the time of publication. The Texans were set to face the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday, August 20, in a Week 2 preseason game — their first scheduled contest following the joint practice sessions where the injury occurred.
Preseason Context: Raiders Joint Practices
The Texans had arranged two joint practices with the Las Vegas Raiders in the lead-up to their Week 2 preseason game, a scheduling format increasingly common across the NFL as teams seek high-intensity competition reps without game-speed collision risk. The irony of Higgins’ ACL tear — one of football’s most feared non-contact injuries — occurring in a practice setting rather than a live game underscores the inherent risk in preseason preparation at any level of contact.
NFL Network’s Rapoport reported on August 19 that Higgins tore his ACL “in Tuesday’s joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders,” with ESPN similarly confirming the August 18 practice as the site of injury. The timeline from injury to confirmed diagnosis spanned roughly 24 hours before the news became public on Wednesday morning.
NFL Preseason Injury Toll in 2026
The Higgins injury arrives during a particularly active stretch of preseason news across the NFL. Also confirmed on August 20 by AP sources: the Cleveland Cavaliers and Clippers were engaged in a four-team deal involving Peyton Watson, and the Dallas Wings’ No. 1 overall pick Azzi Fudd was set for season-ending knee surgery — illustrating how August’s pre-regular-season window often concentrates the year’s most impactful injury announcements across professional sports.
For the Texans specifically, the timing is particularly painful. Houston enters 2026 as one of the AFC’s more intriguing teams under Ryans, and depth at skill positions becomes critical when a young standout is lost before the season begins. For readers tracking the broader intersection of sports results and roster implications, the Higgins loss is a textbook case of how preseason events reshape regular-season projection models.
What Happens Next for Higgins and the Texans
ACL recoveries typically require nine to twelve months of rehabilitation, meaning Higgins’ earliest realistic return would fall sometime in the second half of the 2027 preseason at the earliest, assuming a standard surgical and recovery timeline. No surgery date had been publicly announced by the Texans as of August 20, 2026.
In the near term, the Texans’ front office and coaching staff face immediate decisions about the 90-man roster and whether to pursue an external addition to compensate for the lost depth. The wider sports landscape heading into late August will shift quickly as NFL teams finalize 53-man rosters ahead of the regular season opener, but the Higgins news gives Houston a specific and urgent gap to address.
Higgins, who will turn 24 during his recovery, has the age and prior production to return as a legitimate contributor if his rehabilitation goes smoothly. His 2025 rookie season demonstrated both the receiving ability and route-running precision that made him a second-round investment, and the Texans’ long-term investment in his development is expected to remain intact.
Key Takeaways
- Injury: Torn ACL, confirmed by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and the Associated Press on August 19, 2026
- When it happened: Tuesday, August 18, 2026, during joint practice with the Las Vegas Raiders in Houston
- Player: Jayden Higgins, second-year wide receiver, 2025 second-round pick from Iowa State
- 2025 stats: 41 catches, 525 yards, 6 TDs, 12.8 yards per reception in 17 games
- Season status: Out for the entire 2026 NFL season
- Surgery timeline: Not yet publicly announced as of August 20, 2026
- Recovery outlook: Standard ACL rehabilitation is a nine-to-twelve month process
Sources
- Sources: Texans’ Jayden Higgins has torn ACL, out for … — espn.com
- https://www.nfl.com/news/texans-wr-jayden-higgins-torn-acl-out-2026-season
- Texans WR Jayden Higgins tears ACL in training camp … — sports.yahoo.com
- Texans WR Jayden Higgins tore his ACL – NBC Sports — nbcsports.com
- Houston Texans WR Jayden Higgins tears his ACL in joint … — houstonchronicle.com
