The Houston Texans suffered another blow to its struggling offense with the loss of tight end Owen Daniels. Trouble for quarterback Matt Schaub, meanwhile, now seems to follow him off the field - conflicting reports claim angry fans heckled Schaub at his home.
Daniels suffered a non-displaced fibula fracture on Sunday during the Texans' blowout loss to San Francisco. Houston will put Daniels on injured reserve with the designation to return, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. The designation means Daniels would miss at least eight weeks.
The loss of the 30-year-old veteran is a tremendous blow to Houston's offense, which is ranked 26th in the league with 18.6 points per game.
Schaub, who will now have to survive without his consistent tight end, is in the middle of a poor season, and it wouldn't be a surprise if he's eventually benched. His troubles on the field now appear to be following him home.
CBS Houston reported on Tuesday that police were contacted by the NFL after two fans arrived at Schaub's residence on Monday and heckled him over his miserable play. A source told CBS Houston that a fan "went to (Schaub's) house and told him off" while another took pictures.
The fans left on their own. It's believed Schaub and the Texans then contacted NFL security, which in turn contacted the Houston Police Department about the incident.
On Wednesday, the police department refuted CBS's report.
"Contrary to some reports, there was not a group of 'angry fans' outside the Schaub residence on Monday," the Houston Police Department tweeted. "A family member reported seeing a suspicious male in the driveway of the residence taking pictures. Police were not called to the home."
NFL vice president of security Jeff Miller described the incident to NFL.com on Wednesday and confirmed the league is investigating it.
"This is a little unusual in that we don't normally have fans acting in this way, going to a player's residence, that sort of thing," Miller said. "In this case, Monday afternoon a vehicle pulled into his driveway and an unidentified individual yelled obscenities. The police department is involved. We've been in contact with them, as we normally would for anything like this. And because it is a team issue, they have a security director. We work with them.
"In this case, they'll be working closely with the police department. But it's going to be investigated and handled seriously by the Houston Police Department."
The Texans host the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, Oct. 13.
