The Houston Texans didn’t practice Wednesday, but they released an estimation of participation if there had been practice. As such, quarterback Deshaun Watson was listed as “limited” with a back issue.
The third-year quarterback appeared to suffer a lower body injury of sorts in Week 16’s 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Coach Bill O’Brien was mum Thursday as to Watson’s availability for Sunday against the Tennessee Titans, giving the status quo answer of wanting the Texans to play to win Sunday.
“We are going to do everything we can to win the football game,” O’Brien said on Thursday in response to if he will rest Watson.
Houston’s bout with the Titans could be meaningless on Sunday. If the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Los Angeles Chargers in the game before, the Texans would be locked in at the fourth seed heading into their 3:25 pm CT kickoff.
O’Brien has indicated that even if they stay at the fourth seed, the Texans will play to win, as he said so for Watson. Whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen as the club worked out rookie quarterback Nick Fitzgerald earlier in the week. If Houston adds a third quarterback to the roster, it could point to backup quarterback A.J. McCarron seeing the majority or all of the snaps against Tennessee.
