Ahman Green Out for the Season: Is His Career Over?

In an unsurprising move, Ahman Green was placed on IR today after it became apparent that the knee injury he suffered in Week 1 couldn't take game day activity. Undrafted Notre Dame running back, Darius Walker will be put on the active roster for the game against the Bucs this Sunday. Ron Dayne is expected to be the starter, though his time may be limited due to a minor ankle injury he suffered last week.

Green suffered what was called a "knee bone bruise" in the game against Kansas City. He tried to come back from that injury, but had to leave games due to swelling and pain. As I discussed last September, a diagnosis of a bruised knee bone gave Texans fans no comfort because the description of the injury sounded very similar to the same thing that ended Texans running back Domanick (Davis) Williams' career.

You hear fans talk about a bruised knee bone like it is no big deal, as if it is bumping it into a coffee table. However, as I understand it, the knee bone is a place with not a lot of blood flow, and can be hard to heal. If you have more of a medical interest in in knee bone bruises, check out this link. If you would like a first hand account of how knee bone bruises might slow down a sports blogfather, check out what Jamie Mottram has to say about it, including an x-ray of knee badness.

Domanick, Ahman, and Jamie: such promising sporting lives interrupted by what is a wussy sounding diagnosis, but actually is hard for doctors to treat, estimate healing time and determine its effect on future use.

Many people will suggest that Green on IR means that it was a huge mistake to sign an aging running back. Given his knowledge of the system the Texans were running you can understand why they acquired him, though the amount was a little brow raising. If the information that has been revealed about his injury is accurate, (a big if), any running back of any age could have been put on the IR with the same injury.

The Texans have buzzards luck with the injured reserve list, leading the lead with now 17 players on IR.

For those who are interested, you can check out Ahman Green's career to date stats here. Given his problems this season, they might be his final ones. He has come back from a worse injury, and in today's practice quotes he believes he will be back, and back with the Texans.

As for the Texans running game, one of Gary Kubiak's biggest regrets of last season wasn't getting rookie running back Chris Taylor more carries. Taylor went out during camp this year, but I am guessing Kubiak may have his regret about Taylor in mind some in wanting to see Darius Walker down the stretch.

In very limited time in the preseason, Walker had some promising moments with quick decision making and burst. Running against Tampa Bay can prove difficult in the best of circumstances, but will be a particular challenge given the new starter at the right guard position, Mike Brisiel.

If you are interested in getting more of a sense of who Darius Walker is, please check out his Wednesdays With Walker Texans TV segments. The Texans have him on camera showing how things are behind the scenes at Reliant Stadium.