Hang in there, Texans fans—Joe Mixon's return is going to take a little bit longer than we thought.

On Monday, the team announced its plans to move the running back from the active/non-football injury list to the reserve/non-football injury list at Tuesday's roster cutdown deadline. As a result, Mixon will definitely miss at least the first four games of the season. The Oct. 5 contest vs. the Ravens is therefore the first game in which he'd be eligible to play, should his recovery proceed accordingly.

Earlier Monday, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans was tight-lipped regarding Mixon's status ahead of the cutdown.

“We’ll give an update when the time comes,” Ryans said. “We’re still working through some things collectively with myself and [general manager] Nick [Caserio]. Still working through it, and still a lot of decisions to be made here."

Mixon has been out with a foot injury he suffered while away from the team. He was placed on the non-football injury list at the start of training camp and has not participated in any preseason games.

Veteran running back Nick Chubb, whom the team signed in June, will handle the bulk of the workload in Mixon's absence. Last season, Mixon rushed for 1,016 yards and 11 touchdowns.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Texans Confirm Joe Mixon's Week 1 Status With Significant Injury Update.