Texans declare David Montgomery inactive again

Per head coach DeMeco Ryans, Montgomery remains week-to-week. He did not practice today and we assume he won’t get on the field in any capacity this week. Woody Marks will make another start. Facing a down-horrific Chargers squad, Marks should finally get going after two underwhelming starts in Montgomery’s absence. He is a locked-in RB2 for Week 9.

Montgomery could still need more time to recover from his Week 5 groin injury. Woody Marks should be expected to start against the Chargers this weekend, at this time. Montgomery technically still has a chance to resume practicing this week, but today likely would have served as the first ramp-up session if he had a good chance of playing.

Montgomery, who missed the Texans’ last two games with his injury, is coming off the team’s Week 8 bye, and there was some hope he might be able to get on the field for Week 9’s game against the Chargers. While that may still be the case, it’s possible we will need to wait until Wednesday, when the team releases its first injury report, to see how Montgomery is trending heading into the weekend. The 29-year-old running back has struggled mightily this season even when healthy, rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries while averaging a dismal 2.7 YPC. Even if he is active against the Chargers, Montgomery would be hard to trust as anything more than an RB3/Flex play given his performance pre-injury.

This will be the second game in a row that Montgomery has missed due to the groin injury he suffered in Week 5. Woody Marks, who totaled 17 touches in last week’s win over the Jaguars will again lead the Texans’ backfield. He has averaged 18.0 touches per game over the last two weeks and will be a volume-based RB2 with a chance at significant upside. Safeties Jalen Pitre (AC joint) and S Reed Blankenship (concussion) will also miss this week’s game against the Giants, putting the Texans down a handful of starters with one game left before their Week 8 bye.

Like we said yesterday, Montgomery is still seemingly in the week-to-week camp. Woody Marks and Dare Ogunbowale will likely split backfield touches this week. The Texans used both Marks and Jawhar Jordan last week, but Jordan suffered an injured reserve-worthy injury. Marks should be in starting lineups, but he may be more of a FLEX than a reliable RB2. Ogunbowale is a low-floor PPR dart throw.

We were told early last week that Montgomery is week-to-week. Today’s absence suggests he is still week-to-week and will likely be ruled out again on Friday, though we do not know that for sure. We will provide an update before then if his status changes. In the meantime, Woody Marks will get the start again this week, potentially with less touch competition. Jawhar Jordan totaled 50 yards and a touchdown on seven total touches last week, but was surprisingly placed on injured reserve today. Dare Ogunbowale remains a receiving factor, though.

Klein remains a healthy scratch. David Montgomery was ruled out on Friday after missing all three practices this week because of a groin injury. Woody Marks will handle the lion’s share of the backfield touches versus the Jags.

We already knew that Montgomery was considered week-to-week, so this is unsurprising. Woody Marks will start for however long Montgomery is sidelined. The Jaguars field one of the NFL’s best run defenses, but Marks ceded just one snap to Dare Ogunbowale last week. Theoretically, he should remain in a near-full-time role, elevating him to the RB2/FLEX tier despite the tough matchup.

Ryans said Woody Marks “will carry the load” for the team while Montgomery is sidelined. It’s been a tough start to the season for Montgomery, who scored three times in Week 1 but has been locked out of the end zone ever since while averaging a career-low 3.5 yards per touch. Marks has been slightly more efficient than Montgomery this season, but the Texans’ running game as a whole has left much to be desired. Marks’ expected workload makes him worth a waiver wire claim where available, but fantasy managers shouldn’t expect anything more than RB3 levels of production at this time. The Texans will take on the Jaguars in London in Week 6.

It sounds like Montgomery is in danger of missing both the Jaguars and Giants games before Houston’s Week 8 bye, assuming this is just a mild injury. Woody Marks will take over as Houston’s lead back for the time being and could be in for sizable role given how no other back received a snap or touch once Montgomery went down in Week 5.