Watt, Hopkins limited in Thursday Houston Texans practice

Oct 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Cooper (31) breaks up a pass intended for Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (10) during the second half at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 17-16. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

There was a bit of good news for the Houston Texans Thursday, where J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins, along with Ben Tate were limited in practice.

Being limited in practice is a lot better than the news Wednesday where Hopkins and Watt had missed all of practice with their respective injuries. Watt is battling a back injury, while Hopkins has an illness.

It still seems like these two will be in the lineup this weekend, so I’m not as worried as I once was. These two players, along with Tate who has varying injuries (including his cracked ribs) are playmakers for the Texans. They are needed this Sunday, even against the one-win Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Texans have more talented players than Jacksonville, and their 2-8 record doesn’t really show how talented the Texans players are individually. With the said, meshed as a team this year that talent has been laughable to say the least.

To be quite honest, the Texans have no business losing this game, no matter what their losing streak is. They MUST play better than last week though, or it could be an even more embarrassing loss than the one last week to the Oakland Raiders.

Four Texans who didn’t practice Thursday were Kareem Jackson, Elbert Mack, Darryl Sharpton and Jawanza Starling.

I would really like to see Jackson (CB) and Sharpton (LB) back int he lineup at least this week, but it is a wait-and-see process. I write that because the Texans can use every player possible to get a win before Thanksgiving, which would snap a current losing streak of eight games.

Also it is good to see rookie tight end Ryan Griffin is back to full practice following recovering from concussion systems.

In Jacksonville, Cecil Shorts was limited in practice Thursday with a groin injury, as if he’s in the lineup this week, that is a must watch player for the Texans.

Missing the Jacksonville practice were Mike Brown (WR), Stephen Burton (WR), Geno Hayes (LB) and Roy Miller (DT).

Click here for the full injury report.