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Jacob Martin won’t be the only member of your Houston Texans sidelined for Sunday’s tilt in Jacksonville because of COVID-19. I type “because of” not to imply that anyone else has tested positive. Due to close contact with Martin, however, fellow linebackers Whitney Mercilus and Dylan Cole will also be held out of Texans-Jaguars on Sunday afternoon.
Because of contact tracing, LBs Whitney Mercilus and Dylan Cole will join OLB Jacob Martin on COVID-19 reserve list and none will play against Jaguars. They must test negative for 5 days in a row.
— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) November 5, 2020
As Aaron Wilson tweeted, this means Brennan Scarlett, Jonathan Greenard, and presumably practice squad linebackers or a late free agent signee or two should play a metric ton this week. Does the absence of Martin, Mercilus, and Cole change how you view the likely outcome of Houston-Jacksonville? Or are you still confident a decimated Texans defense can contain Jake Luton in his first career start in the NFL?