Houston Texans left tackle Charles Spencer had surgery Monday to repair a broken leg after injuring it the previous day against Indianapolis and will miss the rest of the season.
The loss is a major blow to a unit that made progress in efforts to protect David Carr, who has been sacked more than 200 times in the last four seasons.
Coach Gary Kubiak said the surgery went well, but a timetable for his return won't be known for some time because of the severity of the injury to his tibia.
``I don't think we'll probably know a whole lot about his recovery for another couple of months,'' Kubiak said. ``They'll probably go in and do some more scopes and stuff on it. It's a very, very severe injury. We just hope things work out well.''
Spencer, a 6-foot-4, 352-pound third-round draft pick, was injured while blocking midway through the third quarter of Houston's 43-24 loss to the Colts. The University of Pittsburgh standout nabbed the starting job over veteran Seth Wand.
Houston will now look to Ephraim Salaam to protect David Carr's blind side. Salaam was signed as a free agent in the off-season after spending the last two years in Jacksonville. The nine-year veteran, who spent 2002-03 in Denver with Kubiak, has started at both right and left tackle, but said he prefers the left tackle position.
The Texans had high hopes for Spencer and Kubiak encouraged Salaam to aid in the young player's development.
``I wanted him to help Charles become a pro and teach Charles whenever we as coaches were not there for him,'' Kubiak said. ``He has been doing that for us and he's done a good job. Now with the situation that we have, we couldn't have a better guy to go out there and play.''
Salaam has played in 111 games and started 99.
``He's played a ton in this league,'' Kubiak said. ``He played a great deal last year and I expect him to step up and play well.''
Salaam said he was going to visit Spencer at the hospital as he finished his meetings and left the stadium on Monday.
``My heart goes out to him,'' Salaam said. ``He's a good kid and I really enjoyed helping him in camp. He wanted to get better and I respect that as a player.''
The Texans were dealt another setback on Sunday when centre Mike Flanagan hurt his left foot. He's listed as day to day, but could miss next Sunday's game against Washington.
If he doesn't play, the Texans will have to decide whether to move Steve McKinney from guard to centre or play backup Drew Hodgdon. Hodgdon has been inactive for the first two games.
