Houston Texans’ star player ‘not scheduled to return’ against Buffalo Bills (report)

A short week has all signs pointing to the Buffalo Bills taking on a Davis Mills-led Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football.

Stroud, 24, remains in the concussion protocol after suffering a concussion in the Texans’ Week 9 matchup against the Denver Broncos. It’s the second known concussion for the third-year quarterback.

The Texans held a walkthrough on Monday and Stroud was listed as a non-participant. Making it through the concussion protocol at this point seems unlikely, and Aaron Wilson of KRPC in Houston reported that Stroud is not scheduled to return this week.

In a story on KPRC’s website, Wilson shared that Stroud is still dealing with symptoms from the concussion, but added that they are subsiding.

“Although Stroud is feeling better with symptoms of sensitivity to light and headaches subsiding, per sources, the timing of the game and the requirement of practicing twice with no symptoms and being cleared by an independent neurologist has a negative impact on his availability,” Wilson wrote.

Stroud’s absence is certainly a loss for the Texans, but Houston’s backup, Davis Mills, has held his own the past two weeks.

Mills has led Houston to back-to-back wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. During that stretch, Mills has completed 53-of-86 (61.6 completion percentage) for 566 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He has also rushed for one touchdown in that span of time.

Buffalo will have the chance to move to 8-3 on the year if they are able to defeat the Texans on Thursday Night Football.