Texans Kamu Grugier-Hill Carted Off; Serious Injury?

- Veteran linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, one of the Houston Texans' best defensive players, was carted off the field with what appears to be a serious right knee injury.

Grugier-Hill was in pass coverage by himself when his right knee buckled underneath him when he was attempting to backpedal. The non-contact injury Sunday afternoon against the Seattle Seahawks removes from the game one of the most aggressive, instinctive linebackers in the league.

Grugier-Hill leads the Texans with a dozen tackles for losses, including two Sunday.

He had a franchise-record 19 tackles a week ago against the Indianapolis Colts.

Grugier-Hill’s 13 tackles in the first half tied Jamie Sharper for the most tackles in a half in franchise history, and he joined Derwin James as the only NFL players to have 13 or more tackles in a single half this season.

Grugier-Hill was the first NFL player since the 1999 season to finish with 19 tackles, three for losses and a sack. He’s up to three sacks this season.

“He was on every tackle,” Texans linebacker Christian Kirksey said. “Kamu has done, like, really well this year for us. I love the way he played. Just the energy that he brings to the team and to go out there and see him do that, it's no surprise to me. He was flying around. He's a great player. I'm happy to see him actually achieve that and get the franchise record.”

Signed to a one-year contract with a maximum value of $3.25 million that included a $1 million signing bonus by Texans general manager Nick Caserio, Grugier-Hill kept demonstrating how productive he can be when given extended playing time.

Grugier-Hill built a reputation for speed, versatility and toughness during his first five NFL seasons.

A former Eastern Illinois standout where he was teammates with San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, Grugier-Hill has run the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds with a 38 ½ inch vertical leap and a 10-9 broad jump.

The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Hawaii native recorded one sack and 21 tackles last season for Miami, playing under a one-year contract for Dolphins coach Brian Flores, his linebackers coach in New England.

Now, Grugier-Hill is sidelined, perhaps for the remainder of the season.

Grugier-Hill is hoping to extend his time with the Texans with a new contract. The Texans are open to the idea of bringing back Grugier-Hill, according to league sources.

“I love it here, I really do,” Grugier-Hill said before the Seahawks game. “It's been a frustrating year for sure, but I can see the bones that they're trying to instill and have here and the culture here. It may not look like it right now, but I think this could be a place that I want to be. And I want to help build the culture. I want to grow and be part of it.”

“You can see the bones, you can see the guys we have. There's great guys. I said this last week. We have a record at, what, 2-10 now, and you would think that the locker room would be toxic and everyone is pointing fingers at everyone. But it's really not that. We're just trying to figure it out. We have great guys in the locker room. Everyone comes to work every day, does their thing and we're just trying to figure it out.”