Adam Caplan with Fox Sports reports the Houston Texans will be without left tackle Duane Brown following a four-game suspension mandated by the NFL for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing substances.The suspension was announced on Tuesday as the Texans were absorbing the glories of one of the best starts to the 2010 NFL season, putting the Arian Foster wood to the Indianapolis Colts and pulling an overtime win off the arm of Matt Schaub in Washington last week. Both of those games were supported by one of the best offensive-line efforts we've seen through two weeks.However, Brown struggled a bit last week as the 'Skins were bringing the rush from all sides, giving up nine quarterback hits for five sacks as a unit (I would put two of those sacks on Brown). We remember Brown was hampered all through the latter part of the 2009 season by a nagging knee strain, and now he comes off the disappointing performance with positive conclusions and we get the news that he's failed the urine drop (I would guess he's trying to keep the knee in check, but that's pure speculation) and will be spending four weeks (a) letting his knee get healthy, and (b) letting Rashad Butler audition for his job.Butler, drafted in the third round in 2006 by the Carolina Panthers, has struggled to crack a starting lineup through five years in preparation for this opportunity. He has yet to register an official start with the league but he has appeared in 24 total games, including several in relief of Brown while hampered with the knee last season. Most of his time has come on special teams, and while he has done well, there's a reason he wasn't given the job coming out of training camp.Now he's getting DeMarcus Ware, Richard Seymour, Justin Tuck, and Tamba Hali as his official audition tape moving forward… and that's why we have labeled this situation as bad.Having a veteran backup is clearly of benefit for the Texans (depth we used to praise this line during our regular season evaluations) and Butler seems excited about the opportunity. However, Brown is a significant upgrade (thus earning the right to keep his job and paycheck despite the injury woes) and there is an undeniable need for worry as the Texans turn to the secondary option covering Schaub's blind side. Dallas comes in ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing defense (3.0 yards per carry, 63.5 rushing yards per game) and thus it's hard to imagine Foster can serve as the point of emphasis. If the Texans want to keep winning, they need leadership and performance from Schaub.With Butler now facing four of the premier pass rushers in professional football in support of that effort, we cannot deny the emotion of concern that follows.
