The Houston Texans have stumbled out of the gate to a 0-3 record for the second straight year and are now facing a must-win game essentially in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys. The Texans most recently lost on the road to the Indianapolis Colts, in a game in which starting wide receiver Nico Collins did not play due to injury.

Collins was thankfully back on the practice field on Thursday, and NFL on Prime insider James Palmer weighed in on what that means for Houston going forward.

“Positive sign for the Texans with Nico Collins on the field for the second straight day. Trending in the right direction for Sunday. Houston's had an issue creating separation without him. The team up I-45 is watching with a new CB in the building today,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The Texans have struggled to put points on the board in Collins' absence, with CJ Stroud's strong start to the season in Week 1 vs the Buffalo Bills coming back down to Earth over the last couple of games.

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Overall, Houston isn't in panic mode at the current juncture, as the team stumbled out to a similar 0-3 start last year before getting hot down the stretch of the season and ending up making the divisional round of the playoffs.

However, if the team fails to pick up a win on Sunday vs Dallas, things could truly start to get dire for the Texans.

In any case, Dallas and Houston are set to kick things off on Sunday at 1:00 pm ET, with the Texans having home-field advantage for the matchup.