One of the major revelations from the Texans' 40-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday was the play of backup running back Jawhar Jordan.
In his NFL debut, the second-year running back had 15 carries for 101 rushing yards. It marks the first 100-yard rushing game from a Texans player this season. Jordan aso had a pair of receptions for 17 yards. His 118 scrimmage yards are the most ever by a Texans player in their NFL debut.
Jordan's 50-yard carry in the third quarter of Sunday's game was also the longest run by a Texans player this season and the longest by any player in the franchise's history making his NFL debut. He also became just eighth player in NFL history to average 6.5 yards per carry with at least 15 attempts in their debut.
So does this mean more playing time for Jordan, even when Woody Marks and Nick Chubb are both fully healthy?
"We'll cross that bridge when it gets there," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said Monday. "But I think more so, for right now with this game yesterday, it's just about giving Jawhar his praise for what he was able to accomplish. I thought he did an outstanding job of taking advantage of the opportunity that was presented to him. He did a great job of getting over 100 yards rushing, making some explosive runs for us. That's just a credit to Jawhar."
Immediately after the game, Ryans talked about how the team was well aware of Jordan's ability from what he does in practice.
"He showed the explosiveness and the speed that he has and that we've seen in practice, while he's been on the practice squad for us," Ryans said. "It shows, again, whenever your number is called are you ready for that opportunity? No one knows until you get that moment. It's about you taking advantage of that moment and not looking back and I thought Jawhar handled it very well."
Quarterback C.J. Stroud also heaped praise on Jordan for his performance.
"Jawhar is my dog, somebody who I got to see come in and put in work and been making plays for a long time at practice, in [training] camp, preseason games," Stroud said Sunday. "He gets a shot today and I thought he took full advantage. He's a brother in Christ and I know he was relying on the Lord. I'm just super proud of him and his ability to make cuts and set up blocks. I thought he did a great job and he's super fast.
"I tried to get out there on one of them and block for him, but he's a little too fast for me. But I thought he did amazing today. I'm super proud of him."