Stingley Jr. to miss his fourth straight game?

Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith did not seem optimistic about the rookie’s potential return in Dallas.

Smith met with the media Wednesday, and among the many topics he discussed was the status of the team’s third overall pick, Derek Stingley Jr.

Stingley has missed three consecutive games with a hamstring injury suffered in practice.

Previously the head coach had referred to Stingley’s injury as “mild,” but seemed to backtrack on that Wednesday:

“I wouldn’t say it was a more significant injury than anticipated. Whenever there’s a hamstring, if a guy legitimately pulls a hamstring, it’s going to take a while. Mild, really pull it; whenever you pull a hamstring, I know from experience it takes a while, and especially for a young player that pulled it for the first time in his life. Have to be patient with him; we have to be. Eventually, he’ll be back out there. Again, few weeks ago, he was up in the press box. We didn’t have him on the sideline because we didn’t know if he could get out of the way. This week, he’s down on the sideline. He’s making progress. I will say that.”

It certainly does not sound promising if Stingley is now a candidate to be on the sideline because he will be able to move out of the way of a potential hazard on the sideline. The fact he was not deemed well enough to do that last week is certainly an indication of very slow progress.

While the situation bears watching for changes, Smith’s comments seem to indicate Stingley will be out his fourth straight game this Sunday in Dallas.