The Texans made their final roster move at the 3 p.m. CT deadline Saturday by placing running back Chris Brown on the reserve/injured list with a back ailment that has sidelined him throughout this preseason.
The transaction puts Houston at the 53-man roster limit and rounds out the team's backfield with running backs Ahman Green, Steve Slaton, Chris Taylor and fullback Vonta Leach.
Brown, one of the Texans' major free agent acquisitions this offseason, spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Tennessee Titans. A former third-round draft choice, Brown had five rushing touchdowns last year and figured to fit well into the Texans' zone-blocking scheme that he first learned at Colorado.
Unfortunately, Brown never was able to get on track during training camp because of a back problem that forced him to miss three preseason games. In his only action at New Orleans, Brown carried eight times for 19 yards.
The Texans held out hope that Brown would be available this season. After practice Saturday morning, the team still had not made a decision as they awaited results from medical tests.
"We have a lot of people right now looking at the injury and trying to get us the best information possible to what they think," head coach Gary Kubiak said after practice. "What's the best scenario? What's the worst scenario? That's what we are sorting out right now."
Brown initially experienced back pain on July 28, which was the fourth day of training camp practices. After Brown missed a few days, Kubiak became concerned.
"Injuries have held him back in his career," Kubiak said after practice July 31. "But he did have a good offsesason. He worked with our team and didn't miss anything. He was fine. He had a good OTAs and made every practice. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed right here. I'm hoping he's back here in a couple days. I know he can help this football team, but we know we've got to get him out here. We're just going to do everything we can to get him healthy and stay positive on the issue and try to get him back out here."
