Nico Collins Injury: Texans WR’s Week 2 Status vs. Bengals ‘In Jeopardy’ After Hamstring Scare, Total Already Sliding

Houston Texans star wide receiver Nico Collins suffered a hamstring injury during Wednesday’s practice, and his status for Sunday’s Week 2 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals is “in jeopardy,” according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Collins met with team doctors after the session, and while they don’t believe the injury is serious, the two-time Pro Bowler’s availability remains genuinely uncertain heading into the weekend.

The Texans listed Collins as a limited participant on their official Wednesday injury report. It’s an unwelcome case of deja vu for Houston’s top target, who missed five games during the 2024 season with a hamstring issue that eventually landed him on injured reserve. If the injury lingers into Sunday, it would mark the sixth straight season Collins has missed at least one game.

A Thin Receiver Room Gets Thinner

The timing compounds an already difficult situation at wide receiver for Houston. The Texans are already without Tank Dell and Jayden Higgins, both on injured reserve with knee injuries, leaving the depth chart razor thin even before Collins popped up on the report. If Collins can’t go against Cincinnati, Houston would be down to just four healthy wide receivers for a game against a Bengals defense that already has plenty to focus on with quarterback Joe Burrow.

Collins was coming off a productive 2025 campaign in which he hauled in 71 passes for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns across 15 games, averaging 15.7 yards per catch as the clear No. 1 target in Houston’s passing attack. He opened the 2026 season with three catches for 25 yards in a Week 1 loss to the Rams, a modest total by his standards but one that came in a game where the Texans struggled offensively overall. Losing him for any stretch would remove Houston’s most established downfield weapon at a moment when the offense can least afford it.

What the Betting Market Is Saying

The injury news has already found its way into the numbers for Sunday’s game. Houston opened as a 2.5-point favorite over Cincinnati with a total of 46.5, but the total has since dipped to the 45.5-46 range as Collins’ practice report made its way around the market — a sign that oddsmakers and bettors are pricing in the possibility that Houston’s passing game takes a hit without its top receiver. The spread itself has held mostly steady around Texans -2.5, suggesting the market still favors Houston based largely on the strength of its defense and home-field advantage rather than any shift in confidence in the passing attack.

For player prop bettors, Collins’ hamstring is the single biggest swing factor on the board this week. Any receiving yardage or reception props tied to him will hinge entirely on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday practice designations, and a downgrade to “doubtful” or “out” would almost certainly push more offensive volume — and prop value — toward whichever Texans receiver steps into the lead role, along with tight end Dalton Schultz. Houston’s season-long win total and offensive output markets are also worth monitoring if Collins’ absence turns into a multi-week issue, given his track record of hamstring setbacks lingering into extended absences.

Everything now points to the Texans’ final injury report of the week — likely Friday — as the moment that will move both bettors and fantasy managers. Until then, Collins remains squarely in the “in jeopardy” category, with real financial stakes riding on which way his hamstring responds over the next 48 hours.