Over the last three weeks, the Houston Texans have gotten their season back on track, getting both to and above .500 for the first time all year thanks to three consecutive wins. As if winning three straight games in the NFL isn't difficult enough, the Texans have had to do so without both starting quarterback CJ Stroud and safety Jalen Pitre.
CJ Stroud and Jalen Pitre had both been sideline after suffering concussions in a last-second loss to the Denver Broncos back in Week 9. Fortunately, as the Texans enter the stretch run of the season, they'll be doing so with both Stroud and Pitre back in the lineup today against the Indianapolis Colts. In fact, you could make the case that this is actually the healthiest that Houston has been all season long. For the record, here are the Texans inactives ahead of today's game.
Braxton Berrios
Graham Mertz
Jamal Hill
Jarrett Kingston
Laken Tomlinson
And while the inactives for the Indianapolis Colts don't necessarily deliver any surprises, the Colts offense is dealing with two pretty noteworthy injuries/illnesses. 'What's the deal with Daniel Jones' fibula?' has been asked more times over the last three days than 'What's your favorite Thanksgiving pie?' Jones is suiting up for Indianapolis, but he's not going to be 100% and with the Texans pass rush operating at peak level this season, Indiana Jones could be in for a long afternoon.
A surprise addition to this conversation has been Tyler Warren, the Colts' spectacular rookie tight end who popped up on the injury report on Saturday and was considered questionable coming into Sunday morning due to flu-like symptoms. Sounds to me like someone ate too many leftover turkey sandwiches on Friday. Indianapolis' Sunday morning injury report did confirm though that Warren will give it a go against the Texans.
If the Colts win on Sunday, they'll move one step closer to clinching an AFC South title for the first time since 2014. If Houston goes into Indy and upsets the Colts, the Texans will be just one game back in the division standings with a meeting with the Colts in H-Town coming up in the final week of the season.