Houston Texans Danieal Manning to miss 6-8 weeks

Houston Texans safety Danieal Manning (38) sacks San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) at Qualcomm Stadium. The Texans defeated the Chargers 31-28. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Houston Texans SS Danieal Manning made the switch from FS to a role in the box following the signing of Ed Reed and departure of previous SS Glover Quin, and it’s still too early to judge whether or not the switch has hurt or helped Manning. The 31-year-old veteran has recorded 24 tackles, a sack, and three passes defended so far this season, but he’s been more impressive in coverage than in run defense, which really isn’t a surprise.

There’s some bad news regarding Manning, as Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle reports, citing a source, that Danieal Manning is set to miss 6-8 weeks with a leg injury. It’s just more horrible luck for the Houston Texans, as they are already dealing with an injury to starting quarterback Matt Schaub (say what you want, but he’s a whole lot better than T.J. Yates), a significant injury to tight end Owen Daniels (short-term I.R.), and it seems like Duane Brown is still not 100%.

Manning is a solid SS on the Texans, and it will be interesting to see how the Texans effectively replace him. His injury isn’t a big blow to the Texans defense, but it is a significant blow given that he is regarded as a plus starter and will reportedly be out for a large chunk of time. It also comes at an inopportune time, as the Texans aren’t playing their best ball and didn’t look good defensively against the St. Louis Rams yesterday (Sam Bradford destroyed them). Rookie D.J. Swearinger looks set to replace Manning at SS, and let’s see if the hard-hitting South Carolina product can be solid in the interim.

His injury is reportedly a hairline fracture in his fibula.

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