Texans tight end Dalton Schultz has been sidelined for two straight days with an ankle injury.

HOUSTON – Texans veteran tight end Dalton Schultz will not practice Thursday for the second straight day, raising questions about his availability for Sunday night’s game against the Chicago Bears.

Schultz caught all three passes thrown to him Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts for 16 yards in a 29-27 victory.

If Schultz is unavailable Sunday night against the Chicago Bears, the Texans will have tight ends Brevin Jordan and Cade Stover. Chris Myarick was signed to the Texans’ practice squad last week.

A fourth-round draft pick out of Ohio State, Stover did a good job as the lead blocker for running back Joe Mixon against the Colts.

“One thing about Cade is that since he came into our facility, he’s been very smart and attentive,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s been ready to do it. He doesn’t make mistakes, and that’s saying a lot for a rookie. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, he’s where he’s supposed to be and he loves to play football. So for him to come in at that fullback position, he’s been ready and he’s done a really good job.”

Schultz signed a three-year, $36 million contract this summer that includes $23.5 million fully guaranteed with a $7.5 million signing bonus, according to a league source.

Schultz has fully guaranteed base salaries of $5 million and $11 million in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

He is entitled to a non-guaranteed base salary of $11 million in 2026.

The deal was brokered by veteran agent Steve Caric of Wasserman.

The former Dallas Cowboys franchise player is getting an annual bonus of $29,412 per game on the active roster, for a total of $500,000 per season if he’s active in every game.

Schultz and the Texans wanted to continue working together and sources said the NFL Scouting Combine scenario was expected.

“Schultz will be back with the Texans,” a league source predicted.

Now the Texans have a proven receiving option again for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year quarterback C.J. Stroud after building chemistry last season.

“Go back,” Schultz later wrote on social media.

The Texans did not use the franchise tag system during general manager Nick Caserio’s tenure and avoided having to do so with this deal.

Schultz, 27, is a reliable target for Stroud. He caught 59 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns on 88 targets last season after signing a one-year deal with the Texans from the Dallas Cowboys last year.

Schultz caught 10 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Over his career, he has 270 catches for 2,757 yards and 22 touchdowns.

“Yeah, Dalton did a really good job for us in the passing game on those two-minute drives where we were able to win some games,” Ryans said. “Dalton really showed up, in situational football, on third down, he showed up making some big catches for us.”

The Cowboys previously retained Schultz with the franchise tag through 2022 before allowing him to test the free-agent market last year.

The Texans signed Schultz to a one-year, $6.25 million contract last offseason. And they gave him an average of $12 million per year, a significant raise.

Texans safety MJ Stewart remains sidelined with a knee and quadriceps injury and is expected to miss the game against the Bears.

Aaron Wilson is a Texas and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com