The toe injury that landed Texans wide receiver Jaylin Noel on injured reserve is likely to end his season.

The Texans expect Noel to have surgery on his toe and miss the rest of the season, according to the Houston Chronicle.

A 2025 third-round pick, Noel was off to an excellent start in his second NFL season. He leads the NFL with an average of 14.4 yards per target, leads the Texans with 331 receiving yards, and is the Texans’ primary punt and kickoff returner. He’ll be hard to replace.

Helping to replace Noel will be that wide receiver Tank Dell finally returned last week from the knee injury that cost him more than a year, and that wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was added in a trade with the Cardinals.

But even with potential replacements available, losing Noel hurts, on a Texans team that is running out of time to turn its season around.