After missing the first game of his rookie campaign, Derek Stingley Jr.'s status against the Miami Dolphins is also up in the air. The Houston Texans No. 3 overall draft pick was sidelined with a hamstring injury in Sunday's 23-10 loss to the Washington Commanders.
"With a hamstring injury, the different degrees of hamstring injuries that I've had and seen, he has mild hamstring injury," Head Coach Lovie Smith said Monday. "What does that mean? I don't really know what it means either, but it kept him out of the game yesterday. I don't know exactly when he'll be back. Hopefully, sooner than later."
It's not great news for a Texans secondary whose next task is covering one of the NFL's best wide receiver duos in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. If Stingley can't suit up for Week 12 against the Dolphins, Desmond King will likely start in his place opposite Steven Nelson.
King, now in his sixth NFL season and second with Houston, led the team and tied his career-high with 10 tackles in his start against the Commanders.
"This past wide receiver group that we played, Derek Stingley didn't play so we were down our one corner going into the game," Smith said. "I thought Steve Nelson and Des King did some good things."
In his nine starts, Stingley has recorded 43 tackles (35 solo), 1.0 sack, five passes defensed and one interception.
The Texans will travel to Miami to face the Dolphins next Sunday. Kickoff is set for noon CT on CBS and SportsRadio 610.
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