Justin Britt will miss Sunday’s game due to personal reasons. The Texans center will be away from the team through the weekend, according to Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston.com. Britt was absent from practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
The veteran offensive lineman is “working through personal issues related to football as he contemplates his options,” per Wilson. Coach Lovie Smith refused to elaborate on the absence, but Wilson notes that Britt previously expressed disappointment in his own performance during Week 1. He got into 100 percent of his team’s snaps against the Colts, committing one false start penalty. He finished Week 1 with PFF’s second-lowest grade among centers, although he did score positively for his pass-blocking. At 31 years old and with more than 100 career games (including playoffs) under his belt, it’s not too hard to read between the lines of this report and infer that Britt may be contemplating his playing future.
After spending the first six seasons of his career with the Seahawks, Britt joined the Texans last offseason. He started each of his 11 games during his first season in Houston, missing a handful of contests thanks to a knee injury.
With Britt out of the lineup, Scott Quessenberry will step into the starting lineup against the Broncos. The team also has Jimmy Morrissey on the practice squad, and guard Justin McCray has past experience playing center.
“It’s just the next-man-up mentality,” Quessenberry said (per Wilson). “Always prepare like you’re the starter and like you’re going to play every snap of the game. Be ready for the unexpected. Just going to go out there and play hard-nosed football and try to finish every play and play hard and play to the whistle and give everything I’ve got for the four other guys out there. It feels good. I’ve played in this league before and this won’t be the last time I play in this league.”