Case Keenum’s official ascension to the starting lineup won’t be the only change to the Texans coming out of the bye week.
The Texans announced Monday that they have signed five players to their active roster to replace the four players cut last week and linebacker Brian Cushing, who was lost to the season to a leg injury.
Three of the players are running backs, which suggests the Texans have their doubts that Arian Foster and Ben Tate will both be healthy enough to play this week. Both of the backs missed Monday’s return to practice with a hamstring injury and broken ribs, respectively.
Deji Karim, Dennis Johnson and Ray Graham are the new members of the backfield. Graham was on the team’s practice squad and Karim spent the summer with the Texans before losing out to Cierre Wood, who was released last week, for a roster spot. Johnson was signed off of the Browns’ practice squad, where he landed after also failing to make the Texans this summer.
The team also signed linebackers Tavares Gooden and Jeff Tarpinian. Gooden was with the 49ers last season and sent out a tweet indicating he would retire last April, although his agent refuted it and Gooden has since worked out for several teams. Tarpinian was recently on the Panthers practice squad and played 10 games for the Patriots over the last two seasons.