The Houston Texans placed starting G Chester Pitts on IR and signed free-agent S Bernard Pollard, the team announced Thursday.

Pitts (6-4, 308) injured his right knee in the Texans’ 34-31 win at Tennessee last Sunday (9/20) and underwent season-ending surgery earlier this week. The injury will snap Pitts’ streak of 114 consecutive starts. He is the only Texan to start every game in team history. Pitts and K Kris Brown are the last remaining members of the 2002 team and are the only players who have appeared in every game.

The 30-year-old Pitts is one of just six offensive linemen to have started every game since 2002, joining New York Jets G Alan Faneca, Detroit LT Jeff Backus, Atlanta C Todd McClure, and Denver C Kasey Wiegmann. Pitts played primarily at left tackle from 2002-05 before moving to left guard full-time in 2006.

Pitts was a second-round selection (50th overall) by the Texans in 2002 out of San Diego State, where he walked on to the football team despite not playing football in high school. Pitts started at left tackle his final two seasons for the Aztecs and earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference and third-team All-America honors as a senior in 2001.

Backup G Kasey Studdard will replace Pitts. The loss of the durable Pitts is big considering he's recognized as their best offensive lineman.

Pollard (6-1, 224) spent his first three NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs after being selected in the second round (54th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played in all 48 games with 31 starts during his first three seasons and has recorded 188 career tackles, including 152 solos, with one sack, three interceptions, nine passes defensed, five forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. Pollard has also been a standout special teams player with three career blocked punts to his name, one of which he recovered for a touchdown and another which resulted in a safety.

The former Purdue standout led the Chiefs with a career-high 98 tackles last year, including 84 solos, one tackle for loss, an interception, four passes defensed, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He was released by the Chiefs in the final round of roster cuts during training camp this summer.

Pollard will not only give the Chiefs solid depth at safety, but he should eventually challenge for a starting job at a position which has been a major problem for the Texans for several years.

For more on the Texans, check out Battle Red Nation.

To get caught up on all the latest breaking news around the NFL along with insider analysis, sign up for Adam Caplan's Twitter Updates.