The Houston Texans\u2019 final status report for their January 4 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts reads less like a list of casualties and more like a carefully crafted blueprint for a Super Bowl run.<\/p>\n
By ruling out star cornerback Kamari Lassiter and making sure heavy hitters like Derek Stingley Jr. and Azeez Al-Shaair are cleared of all designations, DeMeco Ryans isn’t just managing a roster\u2014he\u2019s managing expectations. Besides Lassiter, the final injury report is bare, and that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n
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Kamari Lassiter | CB | Ankle \/ Knee | OUT<\/p>\n
Jamal Hill | LB | Calf | OUT<\/p>\n
Trent Brown | OT | Ankle \/ Knee | Questionable<\/p>\n
Ajani Carter | CB | Hamstring | Questionable<\/p>\n
Darrell Taylor | DE | Ankle | Questionable<\/p>\n
The headline of the week is undoubtedly Kamari Lassiter. After gritting through a knee injury in the win over the Chargers, the Pro Bowl alternate reportedly told coaches there was “no way” he was coming out. That\u2019s the H-Town heart fans love, but the decision to sit him this Sunday is the smartest move the front office has made all December.<\/p>\n
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With 4 interceptions and 91 tackles on the year, Lassiter is a valuable piece of this secondary. Risking a “lingering” ankle and knee issue against a Colts team starting rookie Riley Leonard would be malpractice. The Texans have already clinched a playoff berth, Sunday is about seeding, but next week is about survival. Resting Lassiter now ensures he\u2019s at 100% when the lights get brighter.<\/p>\n
While the secondary gets a breather, the offensive line is finally solidifying at the perfect time. Seeing rookie Aireontae Ersery (thumb) and veteran Trent Brown (ankle\/knee) participate in practice is the best news C.J. Stroud could ask for.<\/p>\n
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Ersery playing through a fractured thumb with a protective club is the kind of “football weather” toughness this team needs. If the Texans can keep Stroud upright against an Indy front that will be playing for pride, they don’t just win this game, they enter the Wild Card round with the most dangerous offense in the AFC.<\/p>\n
Houston is getting “healthy” in the ways that matter. Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz are cleared and rested, and the defensive stars are off the report entirely.<\/p>\n
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This injury report confirms that the Texans are no longer a team just happy to be in the hunt. They are a team that believes they can win it all, and they\u2019re making the “boring” veteran decisions to make sure they have the ammo to do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Texans\u2019 final status report for their January 4 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts reads less like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[286,1028,241,1718,7464,7,221,253,2368,392,17416,3672,15928,6,533,94577,747,222,1830],"class_list":["post-650677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-texans","tag-aireontae-ersery","tag-c-j-stroud","tag-chargers","tag-dalton-schultz","tag-darrell-taylor","tag-football","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans","tag-houstontexans","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-injury-report","tag-knee-injury","tag-lassiter","tag-nfl","tag-nico-collins","tag-resting-lassiter","tag-riley-leonard","tag-texans","tag-trent-brown"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115831226071797458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}