What It Means:

Collins hasn't practiced since injuring his groin in Week 7 and he's trending toward missing another game on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Brandin Cooks (wrist/non-injury) was downgraded to DNP on Tuesday, so the Texans might be without their two leading receivers at home on Thursday. If that's the case, Phillip Dorsett, Chris Moore, and Tyron Johnson will attempt to catch passes from Davis Mills against the Eagles' secondary. There will also be more targets available for Rex Burkhead and Dameon Pierce out of the backfield.

numberFire's models currently expect Collins to sit and project Cooks to lead the Texans with 9.1 targets. The Eagles have the the third-best pass defense and third-worst run defense in our advanced team metrics, creating a funnel for Dameon Pierce and the ground game.