Now, that's certainly an eye-catching comment coming from Ryans when factoring in the pending status of Mixon. The Texans' veteran runner was far and away the lead man in Houston's backfield last year, handling a staggering 245 carries, 200+ more carries than the next closest backs in Dameon Pierce and Cam Akers, who each logged 40 apiece.

The Texans are starting the season without Joe Mixon. The star running back will miss at least the first four games after the team announced Monday that Mixon will be placed on the reserve/non-football injury list at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Tuesday is the day NFL teams have to cut down their rosters to 53 players.