The Houston Texans went on a bit of an injury roller-coaster ride on Thursday night regarding the status of new defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Following a report that he may have suffered a season-ending torn ACL injury, it was quickly revealed that his ACL was not torn and that he was undergoing further testing.
On Friday evening, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Gardner-Johnson’s injury is not only not as bad as originally feared, but it is possible that he could be back in the lineup as soon as the team’s season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
This is highly encouraging — and surprising — news for the Texans, because sometimes those knee injuries that look bad and sound bad typically end up having a bad result.
The best-case scenario would be no injury at all, and while that is obviously not the case here, this is probably the next-best result for Gardner-Johnson and the Texans.
Houston acquired him from the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles in a trade this offseason to help build what might be one of the NFL’s best secondaries.
Houston already has a dominant outside cornerback duo with Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter, and now it has a top safety in Gardner-Johnson joining that mix.
Even before adding Gardner-Johnson, the Texans were second in the NFL in interceptions during the 2024 season, picking off 19 passes. They trailed only the Minnesota Vikings, who had 24 picks.
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