HOUSTON – After placing the NFL’s receiving leader through the first five weeks on injured reserve Wednesday, the Houston Texans are left with a void to fill.

Nico Collins, who had 567 receiving yards and three touchdowns, suffered a hamstring injury during Houston’s 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 and will miss at least the next four games.

Quarterback C.J. Stroud and coach DeMeco Ryans believe they’re losing the “best receiver in the NFL,” so they say they won’t rely on just one player to replace Collins’ production as they travel to the New England Patriots (1- 4 ) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS).

“Yes, for us, after the loss of Nico, everyone has to get to work, and so we need everyone,” said Ryans. “Everyone has to step up and play their own role, so we’ll see who that will be for us on Sunday. We don’t know right now, today, who’s going to make those plays, you never know, and that’s what’s exciting about our game. Every Sunday there are different guys who are playmakers, who go the extra mile and make plays.”

Through Week 5, Stroud ranked third in passing yards (1,385) and will rely more on wideouts Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell with Collins out. One of the reasons the Texans traded a 2025 second-round pick for Diggs this offseason was to raise the ceiling of the offense. But his presence still gives them a dynamic player if Dell or Collins miss time again — with Dell missing nine games (including playoffs) as a rookie last season and Collins missing 12 in his first three.

When Dell and Collins were both available last season, the Texans averaged 364 yards and 23.1 points per game while converting 44% of their third downs.

On the other hand, Diggs hasn’t missed a game due to injury since 2018 and will move into the No. 1 receiver role in the meantime. He ranked seventh in receptions (31, just one behind Collins) entering Week 6 and is not far behind Collins in several other statistical categories.

“I think (Diggs) is great,” Stroud said. “I definitely think he is already a leader, but you can see in practice that he now knows his responsibility now that Nico is out. That actually applies to everyone, everyone has to go a step further, including myself, to catch up. Nico doesn’t play.

“We definitely have to hold each other accountable and just be better at that. He will certainly be at the forefront of that.”

Dell was the odd man out with the addition of Diggs – 137 receiving yards. But he’s eager to have a breakout game after paced for 1,205 yards as a rookie before a broken leg ended his season.

“We are ready to catch up with Nico,” Dell said. “We’ve got dogs in this receiving room. Start with (John) Metchie, (Xavier) Hutchison, myself, Steven (Sims); I feel like we’ll do well. Nico is a big, big factor in our offense – we We all know that, but we still have other players who can get downfield, widen the field, win on deep routes and underneath, and do some of the similar things that Nico does.”

It’s worth noting that Stroud’s numbers have been drastically different this season, both with Collins on and off the field.

When targeting Collins, Stroud had a passer rating of 133. When Collins is on the field, even when not being targeted, Stroud has a passer rating of 107, while completing 70% of his throws with a 7- 2 touchdown-to-interception ratio on 132 pass attempts.

In contrast, on Stroud’s 45 pass attempts when Collins is not on the field, he has zero touchdowns, an interception and a passer rating of 72 while completing 64% of his passes.

With Collins out, Stroud said he needs “efficiency” and “execution.”

“I think those are the two main things I think about: being efficient, not pushing the field, taking what the defense gives me, but also executing when the play is there and making it happen,” Stroud said. “Just a little bit of everything. I feel like I’m doing that anyway, but just the mentality and intention needs to be ramped up even more now.”

The Texans had been without Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon for the past three weeks with an ankle injury, but he returned to practice Thursday, and his backup, Dameon Pierce, returned to practice Wednesday after missing the last four had missed matches (hamstring).

By getting the running game back on track, Houston can make up for the loss of Collins and avoid having to rely heavily on the passing game, but Collins will be out for at least four games and the pass defenses they will face – Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets are not the strongest. Only the Jets (136 yards per game) have a pass defense that ranks in the top five in yards allowed per game in Week 6. The Colts (262.2) ranked 29th through the first five weeks, the Packers (231.2) 6) at 23rd and the Patriots (239.0) were 25th.

The Texans (4-1) get a break in terms of schedule, but know they still have to perform to maintain their early momentum

“Everyone has to do their job,” Diggs said. “You don’t have to do anything special than you already did.”