Houston Texans safety Reed Blankenship says he’s ready to play this weekend versus the Cleveland Browns after missing the past few weeks with a concussion and a broken hand.
Blankenship, who last suited up against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London last month, returned to practice Wednesday as a limited participant.
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“You don’t really realize how much you love it until you … step back from it for a couple weeks,” Blankenship said. “I’m glad I got to spend time with my baby girl too, my wife. But at the end of the day, not going out there and doing what I love for these past couple weeks hurt a little bit.”
The Texans signed Blankenship in the offseason to a three-year deal but his start to the season was a rocky one. The lone new player in the Houston starting defense, the unit underperformed in the first few weeks with the secondary in particular taking a step back compared to last year.
Despite missing two full games and part of the Jaguars contest, Blankenship is third on the Texans in tackles and one of four players with an interception.
Safety M.J. Stewart, who missed the start of the season with an injury of his own, has filled in for Blankenship as the starting safety alongside Calen Bullock.
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This wasn’t Blankenship’s first concussion, he said. But his perspective this time around the injury this time is different because of the family and life he is building outside of football.
“When I didn’t have a kid and a wife, it was different,” Blankenship said. “I wanted to stay out there and tough it out, was very stupid. But now start thinking about longevity. You want to be a dad, a father. You wanna be present.”
Blankenship said he didn’t know when during the Jaguars game he injured his hand. He has a visible scar on the top of his hand, and will probably wear a splint in games.
The 27-year-old safety is a right-hander for everything so injuring his left hand would be the preferred option for having a broken hand. But it didn’t mean it was easy.
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“You don’t realize how much you need it until it’s gone. Well, not gone,” Blankenship said to laughs. “You know, gone for a couple weeks.”
Linebacker Jake Hummel and cornerback Jaylin Smith also returned to practice Wednesday. Hummel has been injured all regular season while Smith got placed on injured reserve after the Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Both have a 21-day window to be activated from injured reserve.
David Montgomery didn’t practice as he continues to rehab from a groin injury.
“David Montgomery is still going through the process,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He’s getting better. We’re encouraged by his progress so far.”
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Rookie Keylan Rutledge also didn’t practice Wednesday with what Ryans called a “stinger.” The official injury report listed the injury as neck/shoulder.
Rutledge has started every game this year at left guard after being taken in the first round of the draft.
“We’ll see how he progresses throughout the week,” Ryans said.
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This article originally published at Houston Texans safety Reed Blankenship ready to return from broken hand, concussion against Browns.
