Rookie K Randy Bullock will be placed on injured reserve with a groin injury, coach Gary Kubiak said Sunday.

”He has torn a muscle somewhere in the groin area,” Kubiak said. “I don’t know all the specifics. Obviously, it’s going to be a long process back, so it’s been a disappointing last half hour for me and for us to find this out. It had been bothering him for a couple of weeks and he continued to kick through it. He’s very tough and he kicked very well [Saturday] night.”

The Texans selected Bullock in the fifth round of this year’s draft. He won the Lou Groza Award last year at Texas A&M, which is given to the top kicker in college football. Bullock was battling veteran Shayne Graham for the kicking duties throughout training camp.

“He’s going to kick in this league,” Kubiak said of Bullock. “He’s going to kick a long time. He’s going to go on IR this year and, thankfully, we’ve got Shayne, who has done a hell of a job, too. He was pushing him neck-and-neck to kick for us. It’s a tough deal.”

Graham has made all five of his field goal attempts this preseason, including a 53-yarder Saturday at New Orleans.

“He’s kicked really well for us,” Kubiak said. “He’s done it in practice also. So, he’s been very consistent with what he’s doing. I’ve been impressed with his kickoffs. They’ve been pretty much three to five yards deep consistently for us.”

Quick Hits

  • Kubiak gave an update on WR Andre Johnson and C Chris Myers. Both left the game early Saturday. Johnson fell on the ball and had the wind knocked out of him, and Myers wasn’t feeling well before the game. “Well, they’re both fine,” Kubiak said. “Andre, all the tests we did on him came out fine. Of course we come back home every time we’re on a road trip and continue to do our due diligence on him. That’s what’s going on with both of them today, but we expect them both to be fine.”
  • Derek Newton started at right tackle Saturday, but Kubiak has split first-team reps between Newton and Rashad Butler. “They’re a little bit different type players,” Kubiak said. “Newton’s a big, powerful guy. He’s very athletic, too, but he’s a big powerful guy. He’s younger than Butler. He’s probably making a few more mistakes than Butler, when it’s all said and done. Butler’s played a lot more football than Newton has, he’s been in this league a lot longer, went against some good players. Butler is athletic and can also swing from side to side and handles those types of things pretty good.”

Follow Texans blogger Sean Bielawski on Twitter, @CBSSportsNFLHOU.