Is Domanick Davis going to Make the Texans 53 Man Roster?

According to Gary Kubiak on the Monday 5:00 Coach's Show (live shows found here) and Kubiak's Monday press conference, Domanick Davis may end up not being on the 53 man roster for the Texans. This is what he said at the presser:

"I don't know. That is going to be a big call this week. It'll be interesting to see how he comes back. I know he ran well while we were gone. That was encouraging. We'll see what happens this week. We'll probably have a sit-down Thursday before the game with himself, possibly his agent, the doctors, and everyone to just have a big meeting about where we are at. You won't see him playing this week. For him to miss all this time, it's not like all of a sudden he's going to jump up there and play. It'll be a tough decision for the final 53 for us as a team, and we'll make that decision in the best interest of Domanick. I could probably have a better answer for you this time next week."

The Texans will be doing their final roster cut downs on Friday, a day before the deadline.

As I discussed before, and what most fantasy sites have not been following closely, is that Domanick Davis' knee has been a concern for the team, even before the draft. He had arthroscopic surgery before the season, practiced the first day of camp, but had immediate swelling in his knee. He obtained an outside MRI that gave him the good news that there was nothing he had that required another surgery, but that he had a "knee bone bruise" and that his knee may never end up feeling the same as it did prior to the surgery.

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on the web, but apparently an MRI showing a bone bruise is something that can be very serious, is difficult to treat and predict healing and may lead to posttraumatic arthritis. It's handy for a running back to have his knees.

Edit: After I posted this, the Houston Chronicle's John McClain wrote this good article that I thought should be added here. He explains:

Davis can't be placed on the physically unable to perform list because he passed the team's physical before training camp.

The gossip as stated by John McClain on his radio show a couple of weeks ago is that the Texans believe that Davis' knee will never feel right again, and that his issues at this point are more mental than physical. That Davis is just going to have to get used to the fact that his knee will never feel the same when he runs. It is possible that the Texans feel this way, though just my non-doctorly review of the medical literature suggests how difficult it can be coming back from a bone bruise that shows up on an MRI.

It might also be that this latest comment at the press conference is more of a nature of lighting a fire under Davis to get him to practice. The Texans throughout camp have been very harsh in their assessments of players who haven't performed up to expectations, such as Travis Johnson during the OTAs. Personally, I don't think this is the case with Davis, given these further comments by Kubiak:

"I'm very concerned. There is not much we can do about it, but I am very concerned about that situation. I'm more concerned about him, to be honest with you. Selfishly I could sit here and understand our problems at running back and playing with those young kids, but I see a guy that has done everything the doctors have asked him to do. There's a guy that walked out there the first day of training camp and was feeling great, excited about the season, excited about what we're doing. I watched him work for two days and then watched the knee respond the way it did. I know it's been very frustrating for him. All we can do is be there for him. We're concerned about him right now and doing what is right for him."

Also according to the press conference, Kubiak says that Wali Lundy and Vernand Morency will be a part of the team and that the Texans will continue to evaluate running backs that may be available after Tuesday's cuts.

The AP article on the Davis roster situation further suggests that:

If Davis does not return this season, it will lead to more questions about whether the Texans made the right decision by passing on Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush to pick defensive end Mario Williams first in the draft.

Some might see it that way, but I don't. My contrarian view is found here where I make the point that Davis' knee situation illustrates how in a salary capped league, you might not want to spend first pick money on the position that takes the most beating on the field. In addition, at least at Week 3 of the preseason, Kubiak is trying to show that he can make his style offense work with his type of running backs. The 6th round rookie Lundy is ranked 6th in the league for rushing yards, and 3rd round second year player Morency is ranked 9th. Bush is currently 29th. I'm not contending that Lundy and Morency are better players than Bush, but that maybe they are just a better fit for more of a system-oriented offense.