By Marc Sessler
Around the NFL Writer
Published: Sept. 18, 2017 at 04:34 p.m. |Updated: Sept. 18, 2017 at 04:53 p.m.
Jaelen Strong‘s run in Houston is over.
The Houston Texans released the third-year wideout, the team announced on Monday.
The move comes as a slight surprise, but Strong played just 20 snaps and wasn’t targeted against the Bengals last Thursday night. He also missed the opener while serving a one-game suspension for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.
Strong was arrested in Scottsdale, Arizona, in February 2016 on a marijuana possession charge.
On the field, the 2015 third-rounder played in 19 games for the Texans, hauling in 28 catches for 292 yards and three scores.
Strong struggled with his conditioning and never emerged as a game-changer, but his release does nothing to help a thin, banged-up cast of weapons surrounding rookie passer Deshaun Watson.
Behind star wideout DeAndre Hopkins, Braxton Miller caught his first two passes of the year against Cincy. Bruce Ellington, meanwhile, missed Week 2 with a concussion, while the team continues to wait on Will Fuller, who is out for at least a few more weeks with the broken collarbone he suffered in August.
Put it all together and it’s no time to hold your breath for this offense to morph into a juggernaut.