The Houston Texans signed veteran kicker Matthew Wright to the practice squad on Wednesday as insurance as starter K’ami Fairbairn is dealing with a lower-body injury, per multiple reports.
Fairbairn, 31, made five of six field-goal attempts to account for all of the Texans’ points in an 18-15 home loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. He has been with Houston since 2017 and this season has made 22 of 25 on field-goal attempts and all 12 extra-point attempts in eight games.
The well-traveled Wright appeared in one game each this season for the Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders for a combined 1-for-1 on field goals (a 46-yarder) and 1-for-1 on extra points.
Wright, 29, has played for seven teams since his NFL debut in 2020 and is a combined 56 of 64 (87.5%) on field-goal attempts with a career long of 59, and 43 of 45 (95.6%) on extra-point attempts.
In other moves, the Texans activated rookie cornerback Alijah Huzzie, 24, from the reserve/non-football injury list and placed rookie cornerback Jaylin Smith and fifth-year defensive end Darrell Taylor (ankle) on injured reserve. Huzzie was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament at the East-West Shrine Bowl all-star game before turning professional.
Houston picked Smith, who turned 22 on Wednesday, in the third round of the NFL Draft in April out of Southern California. He has six tackles and one fumble recovery in four games as a reserve. He was activated off injured reserve on Oct. 25 following a hamstring issue.
Taylor, 28, has three tackles in four games as a reserve this season, and career totals of 126 tackles, 24.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 43 quarterback hits in 69 regular-season games (13 starts) for the Seattle Seahawks (2021-23), Chicago Bears (2024) and Texans. Seattle picked him in the second round of the 2020 draft.
Houston (3-5), which hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3) on Sunday, released tight end Dalton Keene from the practice squad.
