With mounting injuries this season, the Texans added wide receiver DeAndrew White and tight end MyCole Pruitt to the active roster this week. Both White and Pruitt were elevated from the Texans practice squad on Tuesday. Bruce Ellington and C.J. Fiedorowicz, who suffered season-ending injuries in Sunday's loss to Tennessee, were placed on injured reserve.
Pruitt (6-2, 258), a fifth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, had stints with Minnesota and Chicago before the Texans signed him to their practice squad in September. Selected by the Vikings, the Southern Illinois product saw action in all 16 games with three starts that season. He finished his rookie campaign with 10 catches for 189 yards.
"Pruitt, he's really done a good job since he came in here," O'Brien said. "He's made some plays for us on the scout team. He's done a good job on special teams on the different units that we've used him on there on scout teams and he's earned the right to be up. He's played. He played in the playoff game for Minnesota. He's played football in this league. So, we're excited to see what he can do."
White spent the final 15 weeks of the 2016 regular season and the entire postseason on the New England Patriots practice squad. The second-year receiver out of Alabama made big plays during the Texans training camp at the Greenbrier, but later released after an injury. White also contributed on special teams during his 2015 season with San Francisco, fielding six kickoffs for 142 yards in four games.
"DeAndrew, we really liked him in training camp," O'Brien said. "I thought he had a real shot to make our team in training camp and then he dove for a ball, made a great catch, but he landed wrong and he had a pretty significant injury. So, we felt like in the best interest for us to move on at that point and hopefully try to get him back when he was healthy and that's what we did. It's good to have him back on the team, no doubt about it."
The Texans return to NRG Stadium after back-to-back road games to host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. Kickoff is set for noon on FOX and SportsRadio 610.
Check out photos from Wednesday's practice as the Texans prepare for Sunday's game against the 49ers.
