It's been so long that we've gotten a definitive update on the health status of Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon, let alone seen Mixon take a handoff, that it's actually possible the Pro Bowl running back has become an afterthought amongst fans in H-Town. But within the Texans organization, the absence of Mixon hasn't gone unnoticed.
Although the dropoff would appear to be minor if you look at Houston's rushing yards per game and yards per rush from last season (112.2 yards per game, 4.4 yards per rush) to this season (107.6 yards per game, 4.2 yards per rush), there's no question that the Texans would've preferred to have Mixon in the fold rather than having to rely on the combo of a wrong-side-of-30 Nick Chubb and a 4th-round rookie in Woody Marks.