Xavier Hutchinson News: Targeted five times in loss

Hutchinson caught three of five targets for 30 yards in Sunday's 18-15 loss to Denver in Week 9.

The returns of Nico Collins and Christian Kirk were expected to impact Hutchinson's relevance, but his targets remained high by his standards. The third-year wideout is averaging five targets per game over the last three weeks after opening the season with three per game prior to Houston's Week 6 bye. He continued to hold off rookies Jayden Higgins (one target) and Jaylin Noel (zero) for the WR3 role. Starting quarterback C.J. Stroud (concussion) was removed in the second quarter of Sunday's loss and replaced by backup Davis Mills, who led the offense for 11 possessions but led the Texans to just 15.6 yards per drive on average. If Stroud misses further time, it would impact the ceiling of all the team's skill players.