"The more that we're out there, you see him grow every single day with C.J. and have a lot of confidence with him and the ball is going to go. We're going to distribute the football and I think he's going to continue to be a big part of what we do. There's no loss of confidence from my standpoint in Jaylin Noel and he knows that, too.”

Boutee, acquired in a trade from the New England Patriots in exchange for safety Jaylen Reed and a seventh-round draft pick, has four catches for 58 yards. A year ago, he caught six touchdowns.

"I think he's worked extremely hard since he's been here," Caley said. "I have faith and confidence in him. I think he's grown and he's been comfortable. Even when we started the season, I thought in the role and the relative role from a grouping standpoint that we had him in, he was comfortable with and I think that's going to continue to grow.

"He's catching on. We're getting more plays. We're stacking more plays, more situations each week and I'm confident in him being able to go out there and catch the ball. He had a couple of nice contested catches and stuff like that and he'll do those things. I have confidence in him and I think he'll continue to grow with us.”

Stroud, for his part, has played sharp football. He has no interceptions through two games and has completed 60.2 percent of his throws for 627 yards and two touchdown passes. No quarterback in the National Football League has attempted more passes. He's also been sacked seven times already.

The Texans are leaning on Stroud, a former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, to carry them.

"Dude, that's all he's done," Schultz said. "Since he's been here, all he's done is just execute at a high level. Every time you have him back there kind of leading the charge, you know he's gonna find a way to make a play, find a way to get somebody to the ball to make a play. Never a doubt with what you're gonna get from him."

Playing without Collins represents a major challenge, though.

The timing and the chemistry just isn't the same without Collins.

And the explosiveness is obviously absent without his impactful presence'.

“It can be tough," Stroud said. "You build chemistry throughout the offseason. I try my best to invite everybody to come throw with me, whether that's in California, or if that's here, wherever. We get those things done, but when the bullets are flying, it's a little different. I think we have to continue to build chemistry, because with Higgs not playing this season and then we got Nico out for we don't know how long. It's not just them, It's on me, too. I have to put the ball in better places and I think it definitely is tough, but we can get better at it.”

NOTE: With Clowney out again, the Texans will lean on reserve defensive ends Dominique Robinson and Sabastian Harsh behind Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL insider for KPRC 2 and Sports Talk 790. His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AaronWilsonSport