The Houston Texans reportedly signed wide receivers Sterling Shepard and Zay Jones on Friday.
The addition of both veterans comes on the day Houston placed second-year WR Jayden Higgins on season-ending injured reserve after tearing his ACL in Tuesday’s practice.
Shepard and Jones will provide a boost to what was already a thin receiving corps even before the Higgins injury. Shepard is entering his 10th NFL season, and will be joining his third team. He spent the last two years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the eight before that with the New York Giants.
Shepard peaked in his third NFL season when he hauled in 66 catches for 872 yards and four touchdowns.
Jones, on the other hand, is entering his ninth NFL season for his fifth team. He suited up for the Arizona Cardinals for the last two seasons. Jones also had his best season for the Texans’ AFC South rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars, when he had 82 catches for 823 yards and five touchdowns in 2022.
Shepard and Jones join Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson in the Texans’ receiving room.
Higgins, though, was primed for a second-year breakout. After being selected with the second pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Higgins had 525 yards and six touchdowns in his rookie season. He had received praise from Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley.
Texans WR Jayden Higgins had 32 catches for 404 yards and five touchdowns over the last 10 games of 2025. (Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
“He’s put in work. He’s so much more comfortable — I thought he was comfortable last year by season’s end. The familiarity with the details and nuances of the offense, he’s playing clean. He can play all over,” Caley said last week. “He doesn’t have any limitations, he really doesn’t.”
Instead, it will be a lost season for Higgins. As he recovers, the Texans will try to make up for his loss with the help of Shepard and Jones.
