Jalen Pitre

Both Pitre and Montgomery, who are week-to-week, have a chance to come back after Houston’s Week 8 bye. They’ve both missed two weeks now with their respective injuries. The latter three are healthy scratches.

Pitre suffered a left shoulder injury in Week 5, now revealed to be an AC joint sprain. The good news is he won’t require surgery or go on injured reserve, but the 27-year-old is considered “week-to-week.” Given the designation, Pitre seems unlikely to play Week 6 against the Jaguars.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports the deal has $29.156 million in guarantees. Pitre missed the back half of last season with a pectoral tear, but excelled in his new role as Texans nickel corner with a career-best 71.3 PFF coverage grade. This isn’t a needle-moving re-signing, but clearly Houston valued their slot corner highly to get this done ahead of the draft. Pitre was set to enter the final year of his rookie contract in 2025.

Pitre reportedly suffered a partially torn pectoral muscle and will undergo a repair that will sideline him for the remainder of the year. Pitre is technically a safety but primarily functions as the Texans’ slot DB, which is notable for fantasy purposes. Pitre finishes with a team-high 31 coverage tackles and six passes defended.

He partially tore the pec in Week 12’s loss against the Titans. His absence put Eric Murray on to the field as a deep safety and Jimmie Ward moved up to be the main nickel for Houston. Ward caught a pick-six in Pitre’s absence, so perhaps the drop-off won’t be stark, but Murray has never been a great defender. Pitre had been having the best season of his career with a 79.5 PFF run grade in 660 defensive snaps.

Pitre initially was ruled questionable. He left in the second quarter without his helmet and was not spotted on the sidelines at the beginning of the second half. The Texans moved Jimmie Ward into the nickel safety spot.