Ka'imi Fairbairn will miss the Houston Texans regular-season opener on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"He will not kick this week," Head Coach David Culley said in his Wednesday press conference.
The Texans kicker had been dealing with a pulled muscle from the final preseason game on Aug. 28. Fairbairn tweaked his leg in pregame warmups. With no other kicker on the roster, DB Justin Reid handled kickin, but the Texans did not attempt a field goal in preseason action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Entering his sixth season, Fairbairn is coming off a 2020 season where he recorded the second-most points (118), field goals made (27) and second-best field goal percentage (87.1) in a single season in his career.
With Fairbairn out, Culley did not name a replacement.
"We're not sure yet," Culley said. "We'll find out this week."
On Tuesday, the Texans signed third-year K Joey Slye to the practice squad. Slye started all 32 games for the Carolina Panthers from 2019 to 2020. He set a franchise record for kicking eight field goals longer than 50 yards during the 2019 season. Last year, he connected on 29-of-36 field goal attempts (80.6 percent) and made 33-of-36 extra-point attempts (91.6 percent).
The Texans open the 2021 regular season against Jacksonville at NRG Stadium on Sept. 12. Kickoff is set for noon on CBS and SportsRadio 610. Click here.
