August 25, 2025 • 10 mins
Wex and AC react to the news of Pro Bowler Joe Mixon being placed on the NFI list to begin the regular season with the Houston Texans. What happens long-term at tailback? Can Nick Chubb live up to the expecations as the feature back? How does this change roster cutdown day for certian players on the bubble?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, you want to start the show with the
(00:01):
televised version of the show with breaking news. Sure, let's
hear some breaking.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Ji do.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's crazy about this? It's not happened yet, technically. The
Houston Texans just tweeted the following with the caption and
update on running back Joe Mixon and take graphic that says, tomorrow,
at three pm Central Standard time, we will officially move
running back Joe Mixon from the active slash non football
(00:29):
injury list to the reserve slash non football injury list.
Players placed on the reserve non football injury list may
begin to practice and play after the club's fourth game
of the regular season. We will provide further updates at
an appropriate time. Which is basically exactly what you said
off air to one of our coworkers during a commercial break.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, I've had a lot of conversations with people over
there since the offseason began, and he did not participate
in those offseason workouts and obviously throughout training camp and
even here today, both before, during, and and in between
parts of the show today. That is exactly what I said.
When the Texans travel to Baltimore, that's week five, that's
game five. That's the first possible Joe Mixon game, and
(01:11):
now the Texans have just confirmed it. That was just
my belief on where I thought he was from a
recovery standpoint, and concerned about you having a player on
the active roster that you can't use for a week
or two or three. Why not just make it the
full four, especially if you don't really think there's much
of a chance he's ready for weeks one or two.
But they'll officially move him from the PUP list pre
(01:32):
season to as you said, the reserve I said pup,
I mean NFI list. He'll go to the reserve non
FI list, which opens the window for him to practice
and then play after the fourth game of the regular season.
But the ankle injury that clearly had some sort of
complications or some difficulty in recovery, or maybe something that
(01:53):
made it worse or just didn't have it recovering. Why
or something else happened did happen, And that's why the
first person to carry the football this year for the Texans,
as we thought, will not be Joe Mixon, probably will
be Nick Chubb, but not a guarantee. He could start,
and you could come out throwing you could run a reverse.
Jalen Nole could be the first guy to carry the football.
(02:14):
Damian Pierce, for all I know, could carry it. Dari
on third and long on a draw could be the
first guy to carry it. But they ended last year
with what clearly was a bell cow at running back
in his one season with the Texans, and they will
start his second year with somebody else or else's trying
to get things going. From a run game standpoint, everything
about how they've schemed up the run here in the preseason,
(02:36):
granted against the competition they were playing against, I was
pretty enthusiastic about how they're able to run the football,
what they're trying to do up front. They're dictating these
plays like, well, we've never seen it before while Domiko
has been head coach. We'll see if it plays out
that way against the Rams in Week one, the Bucks
in Week two, the Jags and Titans in Week three
(02:58):
and four, none of which we'll see. Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, well, you kind of stole my thunder with that
last little bit there, because I was going to ask
you guys forget the other team's health, Like, for example,
Matthew Stafford in the first week and I know that's
a big forget, but you know, just stick to the
Texans here. If fully healthy Joe Mixon's ready to go,
what were you thinking their record would have been in
the first four weeks anyways, at the Rams home for
(03:22):
the Bucks, at the Jags home for the Titans.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I'll start by saying his presence doesn't change my opinion
on the outcome of any of those games or any
others throughout the season. Why because I think if you
can run the ball, you can run the ball. And
if they do what they're supposed to claim they're going
to be able to do this year, then they'll be
able to run the ball and run the ball effectively enough.
And I don't regard Mixon as a game changer. He's
(03:47):
clearly plus. He's top half of the league. But if
you really ran down the list of game changing running
backs from start to finish, she wouldn't probably place too
particularly high. Now, if there's a massive drop off between
Joe Mixon and what they have, which I'm not expecting,
then I'll be totally wrong. But he's not going to
I don't think his running ability or pass catching ability,
(04:07):
both of which are good, would have been the difference
maker between they were winning and losing on the road
in LA or Jacksonville or winning and losing at home
against Tampa or Tennessee, especially since I think all of
the players they will use instead can do at least
as well, if not better, as pass blockers, which probably
matters for this year's team at least early in the season,
(04:29):
because I think they're going to be a very very
different team if they're healthy later in the year up
front than they are for these first few weeks. What
he said basically, I mean, for me, I think they
were going to go three and one with or without
Joe Mixon in the backfield.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Well, I think and I'm not trying to disagree with you, guys,
just to disagree. And I realized that you're a big
Joe Mixon guy. You should well, I'm a big Joe
Mixon was a huge part of what they were doing
to be successful at the big of the early part
of last season. Guy, that's a really long sentence, by
the way, that's the kind of guy you are. But
I mean, put that on a teach and he went
down with that injury. There was a drop off in
(05:05):
their offense last year. Now you didn't have the same receivers,
and I mean Nicocollins is that is the that is
the guy, Okay, But after that, you know, Stefan Diggs
was there, Tank Dell was there. Tank Dell's still here,
by the way, he's just not playing obviously, But it's
a different look. I'm not saying that you can't be
(05:26):
successful without him, but I also do think there is
a drop off from a healthy Joe Mixon and whatever
else you have, which does include Nick Chubb.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, it remains to be seen because obviously we haven't
seen Nick Cayley's offense, we haven't seen Cole popovich technique teaching,
we haven't seen Tay Ursery and the other major changes
they made on the offensive line, and Nick Chubb has
zero carries as a Texan.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
None of those things have been seen.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And I don't want to base too much on what
was seen at either a training camp or off season practice,
or certainly in the five carries that Nick Chubb had
during the preseason, or anybody else for that matter. But
I don't know that they're going to be missing a
lot of what. Like I said, I think I explained
it well the first time through I don't want to
dismiss his value to this team, and they can be
(06:09):
exceptional potentially if he's healthy, and Nick's healthy and capable
and whomever else. Because when the offseason began or the
training camp began, and I wasn't certain on where Joe
Mixon's health would take him, I thought there was a
real chance that Damian Pierce was basically battling for a
roster spot. Well he's not anymore, because they obviously have
a roster spot if Joe Mixon's not going to be
Assuming that, I didn't know where Woody Marx would fit
(06:32):
into this, and I know he can be a part
of their passing game if they want. Know where Darre's
fit is. He's still probably going to be looked at
as a guy who will see the field in third
down situations. I'm just not sure how they'll end up
deploying them. Do we view the Rams or the Bucks
or Jacksonville or Tennessee as a team that's going to
(06:52):
overwhelm the Texans up front?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I think the Texans are trying to do the things
they're doing running the football because because it helps them,
like the run dictates the pass. I kind of got
bored with that comment the last five years in the NFL,
so I don't find it as a blanket statement all
that true anymore. But I think it will be definitely
true for this team. It will be the complete opposite
for the Cowboys. They're not gonna run the ball at
(07:17):
all this year. They're not gonna be capable of it.
They don't have the backfield for it, and they might
not have the blocking for it. Dak Prescott's gonna throw
a billion passes this year.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
And oh and teams know that, by the way.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And teams know that the Texans want to help their
pass protection by not telling the defense come get our
quarterback all the time, by hopefully being able to run
on first and or second down, or at least produce
third downs that are third and four, third and five
instead of the always popular twenty twenty four version third
(07:46):
and nine, third and eleven or thirty eight turned into
third and thirteen because somebody said, I'm gonna jump early
here and say I get a hit start, I'm blocking
a false start you.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Brought Oh boy, you brought up a good point like
that's not a just like I think it's no small
thing that you know Joe Mixon to Nick Chubb or
whoever else is back there. Nick Hayley hasn't called to
play yet, not one that counts anyway. And that was
probably as much a part of your lack of success
(08:17):
on offense, especially as the injuries piled up. I mean,
you can blame a lot of that on injuries, and
they should have frankly, but there were some things that
it was just like, come on, like adjust do something. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Last year, the three games that Mixon missed completely, the
Texans won two of them. One of them was against
They won against Jacksonville and Buffalo and Houston, and they
got creamed in Minnesota. And that game in Minnesota from
a running perspective, the first game without mixing fully. He
was hurt the week before against Chicago.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Also Week five. Was it not what the Minnesota game?
Last year? It was Week three? Oh it was. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
He got hurt in the home opener against Chicagogo and
then missed three four five weeks three four and five
games three four and five.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I was screwed up with my schedule.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
They could they couldn't run the ball at all against Minnesota,
and then the game dictated exactly what I'm talking about
then they couldn't afford to run the ball, and everybody
knew they were everybody the Vikings knew they were going
to pass all games building because they were falling behind
and they couldn't stop their pass rush. So that's exactly
what you're trying to avoid. What unfolded in that game,
which could unfold in any games. Managed to run the ball. Okay,
(09:24):
in the other two games, and the rest of their season,
there weren't great games, and there wasn't such a huge
change in the games that he was back. There were
the games where they got to dictate it, like the
way they ran against the Jets, the way they ran
against the Cowboys, you would think, oh great, they dominated,
and they did well. They only won one of those
two games. There's it's not always about that, And I'm
hesitant to pointed last year versus this year because of
(09:46):
the dramatic changes they're making. Sounds like I hate Joe Mixon.
I hope it doesn't, because it's not true. I do
think he was. He was honestly much better last year
than I ever expected him to be, and I think
he would be very very good in this Nick Kayley offense.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
And and they play Baltimore this year. Hopefully he'll be
out there. That's Week five.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Joe Mixon unavailable to the Texans as they will place
him on the reserve NFI list as part of their
getting this roster down to the fifty three man limit,
which they have to do by three pm tomorrow. More
on what this means next
Speaker 1 (10:19):
The A t on Sports Talk seven ninety
All right, you want to start the show with the
(00:01):
televised version of the show with breaking news. Sure, let's
hear some breaking.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Ji do.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
What's crazy about this? It's not happened yet, technically. The
Houston Texans just tweeted the following with the caption and
update on running back Joe Mixon and take graphic that says, tomorrow,
at three pm Central Standard time, we will officially move
running back Joe Mixon from the active slash non football
(00:29):
injury list to the reserve slash non football injury list.
Players placed on the reserve non football injury list may
begin to practice and play after the club's fourth game
of the regular season. We will provide further updates at
an appropriate time. Which is basically exactly what you said
off air to one of our coworkers during a commercial break.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah, I've had a lot of conversations with people over
there since the offseason began, and he did not participate
in those offseason workouts and obviously throughout training camp and
even here today, both before, during, and and in between
parts of the show today. That is exactly what I said.
When the Texans travel to Baltimore, that's week five, that's
game five. That's the first possible Joe Mixon game, and
(01:11):
now the Texans have just confirmed it. That was just
my belief on where I thought he was from a
recovery standpoint, and concerned about you having a player on
the active roster that you can't use for a week
or two or three. Why not just make it the
full four, especially if you don't really think there's much
of a chance he's ready for weeks one or two.
But they'll officially move him from the PUP list pre
(01:32):
season to as you said, the reserve I said pup,
I mean NFI list. He'll go to the reserve non
FI list, which opens the window for him to practice
and then play after the fourth game of the regular season.
But the ankle injury that clearly had some sort of
complications or some difficulty in recovery, or maybe something that
(01:53):
made it worse or just didn't have it recovering. Why
or something else happened did happen, And that's why the
first person to carry the football this year for the Texans,
as we thought, will not be Joe Mixon, probably will
be Nick Chubb, but not a guarantee. He could start,
and you could come out throwing you could run a reverse.
Jalen Nole could be the first guy to carry the football.
(02:14):
Damian Pierce, for all I know, could carry it. Dari
on third and long on a draw could be the
first guy to carry it. But they ended last year
with what clearly was a bell cow at running back
in his one season with the Texans, and they will
start his second year with somebody else or else's trying
to get things going. From a run game standpoint, everything
about how they've schemed up the run here in the preseason,
(02:36):
granted against the competition they were playing against, I was
pretty enthusiastic about how they're able to run the football,
what they're trying to do up front. They're dictating these
plays like, well, we've never seen it before while Domiko
has been head coach. We'll see if it plays out
that way against the Rams in Week one, the Bucks
in Week two, the Jags and Titans in Week three
(02:58):
and four, none of which we'll see. Joe Mixon.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, well, you kind of stole my thunder with that
last little bit there, because I was going to ask
you guys forget the other team's health, Like, for example,
Matthew Stafford in the first week and I know that's
a big forget, but you know, just stick to the
Texans here. If fully healthy Joe Mixon's ready to go,
what were you thinking their record would have been in
the first four weeks anyways, at the Rams home for
(03:22):
the Bucks, at the Jags home for the Titans.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I'll start by saying his presence doesn't change my opinion
on the outcome of any of those games or any
others throughout the season. Why because I think if you
can run the ball, you can run the ball. And
if they do what they're supposed to claim they're going
to be able to do this year, then they'll be
able to run the ball and run the ball effectively enough.
And I don't regard Mixon as a game changer. He's
(03:47):
clearly plus. He's top half of the league. But if
you really ran down the list of game changing running
backs from start to finish, she wouldn't probably place too
particularly high. Now, if there's a massive drop off between
Joe Mixon and what they have, which I'm not expecting,
then I'll be totally wrong. But he's not going to
I don't think his running ability or pass catching ability,
(04:07):
both of which are good, would have been the difference
maker between they were winning and losing on the road
in LA or Jacksonville or winning and losing at home
against Tampa or Tennessee, especially since I think all of
the players they will use instead can do at least
as well, if not better, as pass blockers, which probably
matters for this year's team at least early in the season,
(04:29):
because I think they're going to be a very very
different team if they're healthy later in the year up
front than they are for these first few weeks. What
he said basically, I mean, for me, I think they
were going to go three and one with or without
Joe Mixon in the backfield.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Well, I think and I'm not trying to disagree with you, guys,
just to disagree. And I realized that you're a big
Joe Mixon guy. You should well, I'm a big Joe
Mixon was a huge part of what they were doing
to be successful at the big of the early part
of last season. Guy, that's a really long sentence, by
the way, that's the kind of guy you are. But
I mean, put that on a teach and he went
down with that injury. There was a drop off in
(05:05):
their offense last year. Now you didn't have the same receivers,
and I mean Nicocollins is that is the that is
the guy, Okay, But after that, you know, Stefan Diggs
was there, Tank Dell was there. Tank Dell's still here,
by the way, he's just not playing obviously, But it's
a different look. I'm not saying that you can't be
(05:26):
successful without him, but I also do think there is
a drop off from a healthy Joe Mixon and whatever
else you have, which does include Nick Chubb.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Yeah, it remains to be seen because obviously we haven't
seen Nick Cayley's offense, we haven't seen Cole popovich technique teaching,
we haven't seen Tay Ursery and the other major changes
they made on the offensive line, and Nick Chubb has
zero carries as a Texan.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
None of those things have been seen.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
And I don't want to base too much on what
was seen at either a training camp or off season practice,
or certainly in the five carries that Nick Chubb had
during the preseason, or anybody else for that matter. But
I don't know that they're going to be missing a
lot of what. Like I said, I think I explained
it well the first time through I don't want to
dismiss his value to this team, and they can be
(06:09):
exceptional potentially if he's healthy, and Nick's healthy and capable
and whomever else. Because when the offseason began or the
training camp began, and I wasn't certain on where Joe
Mixon's health would take him, I thought there was a
real chance that Damian Pierce was basically battling for a
roster spot. Well he's not anymore, because they obviously have
a roster spot if Joe Mixon's not going to be
Assuming that, I didn't know where Woody Marx would fit
(06:32):
into this, and I know he can be a part
of their passing game if they want. Know where Darre's
fit is. He's still probably going to be looked at
as a guy who will see the field in third
down situations. I'm just not sure how they'll end up
deploying them. Do we view the Rams or the Bucks
or Jacksonville or Tennessee as a team that's going to
(06:52):
overwhelm the Texans up front?
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Now?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
I think the Texans are trying to do the things
they're doing running the football because because it helps them,
like the run dictates the pass. I kind of got
bored with that comment the last five years in the NFL,
so I don't find it as a blanket statement all
that true anymore. But I think it will be definitely
true for this team. It will be the complete opposite
for the Cowboys. They're not gonna run the ball at
(07:17):
all this year. They're not gonna be capable of it.
They don't have the backfield for it, and they might
not have the blocking for it. Dak Prescott's gonna throw
a billion passes this year.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
And oh and teams know that, by the way.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And teams know that the Texans want to help their
pass protection by not telling the defense come get our
quarterback all the time, by hopefully being able to run
on first and or second down, or at least produce
third downs that are third and four, third and five
instead of the always popular twenty twenty four version third
(07:46):
and nine, third and eleven or thirty eight turned into
third and thirteen because somebody said, I'm gonna jump early
here and say I get a hit start, I'm blocking
a false start you.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Brought Oh boy, you brought up a good point like
that's not a just like I think it's no small
thing that you know Joe Mixon to Nick Chubb or
whoever else is back there. Nick Hayley hasn't called to
play yet, not one that counts anyway. And that was
probably as much a part of your lack of success
(08:17):
on offense, especially as the injuries piled up. I mean,
you can blame a lot of that on injuries, and
they should have frankly, but there were some things that
it was just like, come on, like adjust do something. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Last year, the three games that Mixon missed completely, the
Texans won two of them. One of them was against
They won against Jacksonville and Buffalo and Houston, and they
got creamed in Minnesota. And that game in Minnesota from
a running perspective, the first game without mixing fully. He
was hurt the week before against Chicago.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Also Week five. Was it not what the Minnesota game?
Last year? It was Week three? Oh it was. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
He got hurt in the home opener against Chicagogo and
then missed three four five weeks three four and five
games three four and five.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I was screwed up with my schedule.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
They could they couldn't run the ball at all against Minnesota,
and then the game dictated exactly what I'm talking about
then they couldn't afford to run the ball, and everybody
knew they were everybody the Vikings knew they were going
to pass all games building because they were falling behind
and they couldn't stop their pass rush. So that's exactly
what you're trying to avoid. What unfolded in that game,
which could unfold in any games. Managed to run the ball. Okay,
(09:24):
in the other two games, and the rest of their season,
there weren't great games, and there wasn't such a huge
change in the games that he was back. There were
the games where they got to dictate it, like the
way they ran against the Jets, the way they ran
against the Cowboys, you would think, oh great, they dominated,
and they did well. They only won one of those
two games. There's it's not always about that, And I'm
hesitant to pointed last year versus this year because of
(09:46):
the dramatic changes they're making. Sounds like I hate Joe Mixon.
I hope it doesn't, because it's not true. I do
think he was. He was honestly much better last year
than I ever expected him to be, and I think
he would be very very good in this Nick Kayley offense.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
And and they play Baltimore this year. Hopefully he'll be
out there. That's Week five.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Joe Mixon unavailable to the Texans as they will place
him on the reserve NFI list as part of their
getting this roster down to the fifty three man limit,
which they have to do by three pm tomorrow. More
on what this means next
Speaker 1 (10:19):
The A t on Sports Talk seven ninety
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