The Houston Texans confirmed that Mario Williams will be placed on IR and will be out for the rest of the season. Williams injured his pectoral muscle, with many speculating that he suffered a tear. Williams has been a dominant pass rusher for the Texans throughout his career and this year he had five sacks. Williams played defensive end in the 4-3 alignment, but this season he made the move to outside linebacker in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense. The transition had been going well until the injury.

Coach Gary Kubiak reacted to the news on the team’s official website:

I feel so bad for Mario because man, he’s been such a heck of a player, and what we’re doing to me is really going to blossom his career from now on. I think he had really taken to the position he’s playing. He was improving every day in practice, improving in every game and really enjoying – I think I’ve never seen him so upbeat about what was going on – and to lose him on a freak play, it doesn’t look like much at all.

The Texans can’t seem to catch a break. The team was poised for a breakout season with the Colts floundering in Peyton Manning’s absence, and now they lose their best player on defense.