Texans' Whitney Mercilus: Out for year with torn pectoral

Mercilus suffered a torn pectoral muscle in Sunday's loss to the Chiefs and will require season-ending surgery, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports.

This was a worst-case scenario for the Texans, who will now be without their top two pass rushers after perennial All-Pro J.J. Watt fractured his tibia earlier in the contest and will also require season-ending surgery. The Texans will now be forced to lean more heavily on Jadeveon Clowney to supply the heat on opposing quarterbacks with Mercilus, who had accumulated 19.5 sacks the last two seasons, and Watt out of commission. Ufomba Kamalu will be first in line to replace Mercilus in the starting lineup at outside linebacker, but he'll need to prove himself a capable producer before popping up on the IDP radar.