Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak is no longer holding his breath after left tackle Duane Brown suffered a lower left leg injury during Wednesday's practice. Brown took a few more reps before bowing out and having his left ankle iced.
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Lucky for the Texans, Brown's injury turned out to be only a bone bruise.
"I don't expect to be out too long," Brown told reporters, adding that he is day to day. "It's extremely scary. Once I got the X-rays and everything came out negative, I was extremely relieved."
Kubiak said Brown's leg was rolled up on during practice.
"We are lucky. ... He'll probably miss a couple days. ... He's an important piece to the puzzle," Kubiak said.
Earlier in the day, before the X-rays, Kubiak said the team was holding their breath on Brown's injury.
A 2008 first-round pick out of Virginia Tech, Brown has been a durable player during his four-year career, not missing a single game due to injury. Brown was suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season for violating the NFL's policy on performing enhancing drugs.
Brown has developed into one of the NFL's better left tackles, and losing him for any stretch of time would significantly weaken a Texans' offensive line that lost right guard Mike Brisiel (free agency) and right tackle Eric Winston (cap casualty) this offseason. Missed time could also hurt Brown financially, as he's entering the final year of his rookie contract.
