The Texans placed wide receiver Jaylin Noel on injured reserve Wednesday and claimed running back Emari Demercado off waivers from the Cowboys, the team announced. Pro Football Talk first carried the move as a plain roster item. Later reports added that the injury is expected to end Noel's season.
Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith wrote that the toe injury is likely to end Noel's year. ESPN cited a source who confirmed he is expected to miss the rest of the season with turf toe. NFL Trade Rumors, citing Aaron Wilson, said Noel will miss the remainder of the season with the turf toe injury he has been dealing with. It also said Demercado's claim filled Noel's roster spot. The team announcement itself, as quoted in the feeds, does not give a timeline. The season-ending outlook comes from sourced reporting.
Noel, 24, was a third-round pick, per NFL Trade Rumors. His 2026 numbers show how much Houston is losing. He played all seven games and caught 19 passes on 23 targets for 331 yards and two touchdowns, an average of 17.4 yards. That is well above the 11.2 yards per catch he had on 26 receptions as a rookie. His 52-yard catch against Dallas on Oct. 4 and a 50-yarder at Jacksonville on Oct. 18 were his two longest plays. The Jacksonville game was his best, with four catches for 107 yards and a score.
He also worked as the return man. He has 14 kick returns for 369 yards this year, with a long of 53. He also returned punts in every game we have logged for him. His role shrank in the loss to the Giants on Oct. 25. He caught two passes for minus-3 yards, had one kick return for 21 yards and one punt return for 11. Whether the toe was bothering him that day is not stated in the reporting.
The 27-21 home loss to New York dropped Houston to 2-5, third in the AFC South. The Texans had won at Tennessee 26-3 and at Jacksonville 34-31 in the two games before that, so the slide is one game old. Noel's catch-and-return production came during that stretch.
Demercado arrives with little recent work. Dallas used him in two games this season, and he carried five times for 15 yards, a 3.0 average, with no catches. His last game was Sept. 20 against Washington. Last year he ran 44 times for 312 yards, 7.1 per carry, and caught 13 passes in 13 games. The reporting does not say how Houston plans to use him, or who will take over Noel's return duties.
Houston's next game is at the Chargers on Sunday, Nov. 8. That game will show how the Texans handle the loss of Noel.
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