Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the Texans
offensive line suffers another blow.
Last Sunday, LT Charles Spencer went down in the third
quarter of the Texans loss to the Colts. It was later announced that the 6-4,
337 lb. rookie from the University of Pittsburgh had endured a fractured left
tibia that was going to require surgery.
The surgery took place on Monday and reportedly went well,
according to Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak. Spencer will miss the rest of the
2006 season.
Kubiak spoke about Spencer during his weekly press
conference on Monday. He commented on Spencer’s recovery, saying “I
don’t think they’ll know a whole lot about his recovery for another couple
months… It’s a very, very severe injury. We just hope things work out well.”
As I’m sure Texans QB David Carr
does, as well.
With Spencer out of the lineup, the
Texans have entrusted T Ephraim Salaam to protect Carr’s back side. 
Salaam (6-7, 300) is a 9 year veteran of the NFL and started for the Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos for several years before he spent two seasons with
AFC South rival Jacksonville.
The other offensive lineman that
was selected in the third round of this year’s draft, T Eric Winston, will have
to step up now and play the swing tackle, a spot previously occupied by Salaam.
"Right now, the best thing for the team is to get Winston
going," Kubiak said. "It's a tough role to ask a young player like that to be a
swing guy on game day and have to know two spots, but for the future of the
team, we need to do that."