Houston Texans sign wide receiver Bruce Ellington

Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Wide receiver Bruce Ellington has joined the Houston Texans.

Houston announced the signing on Friday. Ellington, 25, was a fourth round pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2014 NFL Draft. He had 215 yards and two touchdowns on 19 receptions in two seasons for the 49ers. Ellington was primarily used as a returner. In two seasons he returned 42 punts for an average of 7.7 yards. He also returned 50 kickoffs for an average of 25.6 yards per return.

The 5-foot-9, 197-pound receiver missed the 2016 season with a torn hamstring. The 49ers waived Ellington on Aug. 3.

"Yeah, you know the first day when we actually lost [WR] BJ [Johnson III], he went down, we still hadn't decided how long he was going to be out. But, we knew we were down a little bit there. And then the fact, you know Bruce had done a good job with us but we had a bunch of guys who were very similar in their skill set," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Aug. 3.

"Kind of the same type of players and we had to get some different skill sets in. I thought give Bruce a chance to go somewhere else. He handled everything great. He's been a great person here in the short time we've been with him. He came back and battled from some tough injuries and gave himself a chance to go for a week, but you know we're a little too loaded at that spot. So, we wanted to get some different guys in here with some different skill sets and mix up the group a little bit."

The New York Jets claimed Ellington off of waivers the next day but waived him with a failed physical. Houston currently has DeAndre Hopkins, Braxton Miller, Jaelen Strong, Dres Anderson, Chris Thompson, Devin Street, Wendall Williams, Justin Hardee, Deante Gray and Ellington on its depth chart as Will Fuller recovers from a broken collarbone. The Texans also signed wide receiver Marcus Leak on Aug. 5.