HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins expects to play Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys after he missed five games with a hamstring injury. “I feel like myself,” Collins said Friday. “I feel like that was the main part.
” Collins led the NFL with 567 yards receiving when he was injured on a 67-yard touchdown grab in an Oct. 6 win over the Buffalo Bills. He spent four weeks on injured reserve before being activated last Saturday.
But he wasn’t ready to return Sunday night and was inactive for Houston’s loss to Detroit , leaving him out for a fifth straight game to match the longest streak of consecutive games missed in his four-year career. “You don’t want to miss no games, but that’s part of it,” he said. “But it’s a long season, it’s a marathon and you want to take care of your body.
But missing time hurts. You want to be out there with your brothers, making plays.” Houston lost Stefon Diggs to a season-ending knee injury Oct.
27 and the Texans' passing game has struggled without Collins. He remains the team’s leading receiver despite his extended absence. Quarterback C.
J. Stroud is thrilled to have Collins back. “He has that personality where he wants the hard coverage guy, he wants the hard routes to run, he wants to make the hard plays,” Stroud said.
“When he gets the ball, he is dangerous. He is able to turn good into great. He runs guys over.
He does all these things. ..
. He gets everybody juiced up to play h.