HOUSTON -- Left tackle Duane Brown's injury brought into focus the Houston Texans' need for depth on the offensive line, even if, as coach Bill O'Brien said last week, Brown isn't in danger of missing the regular season.

Enter Chris Clark, the tackle who wound up on the wrong end of a one-on-one pass-rushing drill with J.J. Watt last summer. Bygones often become bygones with things like that, and in short order once two former adversaries become teammates. After all, former Texans quarterback Matt Schaub didn't feel any ill will toward 2013 teammate Joe Mays, the linebacker who once took off a small piece of his ear.

The Texans traded for Chris Clark on Monday and see him as a swing tackle who can play a little bit of guard.

"I see him as a guy that is a smart guy, veteran player," O'Brien said. "He was a guy that was undrafted coming out of Southern Miss. He's from New Orleans, so he's familiar with this area. He's got some relatives that live here. He's a guy that I think will bring some toughness, bring some experience to the position."

Clark will play Thursday when the Texans travel to Dallas. He joins Jeff Adams, starter Derek Newton, Matt Feiler, Brown and undrafted rookies Joseph Treadwell and Kendall Lamm as tackles currently on the Texans' roster. Adams has played a lot of guard this preseason. Lamm started at left tackle in Brown's place this weekend in New Orleans.

"We made the trade with the belief that it would help our depth there," O'Brien said. "I still think it's a work in progress. I think that some of the guys that played in the game yesterday played well. I'll talk about a few guys. Kendall Lamm played at left tackle. For a guy that hasn't been here very long, to start the game, I thought he did a decent job. Certainly there are some plays that he wishes he could have back, but he did a decent job overall. I thought Greg Mancz did a good job. I thought that guys like [Chad] Slade and I've talked about [James] 'Brick' Ferentz, those guys went in there and did a decent job. Overall, the depth is getting better, but it's always a work in progress."