Report: Houston Texans will place RB Ben Tate on injured reserve
By Brad Rowland
It has been a completely miserable season in Houston for the Texans, and now, they’ve lost their last healthy (and productive) running back for the remainder of the 2013 campaign.
Texans to put Ben Tate on IR, per ESPN's Josina Anderson.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 18, 2013
News that Tate has been placed on IR comes as a bit of a surprise, simply given the fact that he was pretty effective in Week 15 against Indianapolis (16 carries for 72 yards), but he reportedly underwent a CT scan on his injured ribs, and that seemingly revealed some damage.
On the season, Tate has 771 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground, and he has been one of the lone bright spots for the team in the wake of Arian Foster’s injury and a disastrous, 12-game losing streak. This is also a blow to Tate because he is in a contract year (as evidenced by his comments about possibly leaving Houston), and there were some rumblings about his durability moving forward even before this latest issue, which certainly won’t help that evaluation.
It would benefit the Texans greatly (in the draft, etc.) to drop the final two games of the year, and Tate’s reported absence “helps” them in that way. Still, it is never a good thing to see one of the best offensive weapons on a team heading to IR, but that’s where we find ourselves with Tate.