Texans DE Suspended; What's Next?

The Houston Texans are in need of some reshuffling on the defensive line after it was announced that veteran defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. was suspended four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Edwards is set to miss the the next month of action for the Texans, but the team has a plan to retaliate in his absence.

“It’s unfortunate that [DT] Mario [Edwards Jr.] isn’t here with us," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "Mario is playing really good ball for us and we just let the suspension play itself out. We will have guys step up in their role, we get [DT] Kurt Hinish back, added to the roster. We got [DE] Denico [Autry] in, we will continue to role our d-line as we have all year.”

Edwards, 30, recorded a season-high eight tackles in the team's Week 6 win against the New England Patriots, nearly matching his total from the previous five games (10). He also has two sacks to his name on the season, which will hurt the team overall.

That being said, having Denico Autry return from his own six-game suspension is huge for the Texans, and he'll look to make his team debut in Week 7. Hinish will also add some depth back to the defensive line, giving the team a deep group going into this week's matchup against the Green Bay Packers.