Many NFL fans are looking for an injury update for Nico Collins after the Texans wide receiver suffered a concussion in the wild card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, January 12. Late in the third quarter, the 26-year-old caught a pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud but had a hard fall where he fell on his face and was in enough pain that he needed to be taken to the blue medical tent. After being carted to the locker room, he was ruled out with a concussion. And now Texans fans are worried that Collins might not be able to play when the team faces the New England Patriots on Sunday, January 18 in the NFL Divisional Round.
When will Nico Collins return?
Nico Collins has a low chance of returning to the field for the Patriots game, according to an analysis from NFL injury expert Jesse Morse on X (formerly Twitter).
The doctor, who specializes in assessing football injuries, gives him a “30% chance” of clearing the sport’s concussion protocol within six days.
Morse notes that this is the second concussion that Collins has apparently received in his career, with his first being sustained earlier this season against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7. That injury forced him to miss one game. That said, he suggests that this second concussion could take longer for him to recover from.
He explained, “The fact that he required help off the field, that this is his 2nd concussion in less than 3 months (sometimes repeat concussions cause lingering symptoms) and that this game was played on a Monday (short week), will make him clearing the protocol very difficult.”
The NFL concussion protocol, which Patriots’ Christian Gonzalez is also going through, has five steps and each step requires a minimum of one day to clear. So the earliest that Collins could return to the field is Saturday, with him needing to be in limited practice on Thursday for him to have a shot to return in time.
The doctor says this applies to wide receiver Justin Watson too, who also received a concussion in the second half of the game.
