Brian Hoyer practices with Texans, will he play on Sunday?
By John Buhler
Brian Hoyer has practiced the last two days with the Houston Texans after sustaining a concussion two weeks ago. Will he play on Sunday versus Tennessee?
Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Houston Texans starting quarterback Brian Hoyer has practiced the last two days for the Texans after sustaining a concussion in Week 14’s loss to the New England Patriots, 27-6.
Though Hoyer appears to feel better and should play soon, Wilson believes that he may miss Week 16’s action against the AFC South rival Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon in Nashville. Houston will likely again go with former Cleveland Brown and Dallas Cowboy Brandon Weeden under center in the Texans’ road game versus the Titans.
At 7-7, the Texans are in first place in the AFC South and have two more division games to win the South outright for the third time in franchise history. After traveling to Nashville on Sunday, the Texans will host the Jacksonville Jaguars on January 3rd in the Week 17 finale.
Houston should be able to win at least one of these final two games to finish at or above .500 to win the AFC South. The Titans and Jaguars have a combined eight wins this season and neither franchise has won the South since 2002’s realignment. The Indianapolis Colts who usually dominate the AFC South are 6-8 and are dealing with two injured quarterbacks in Andrew Luck and Matt Hasselbeck.
The Texans have a strong enough defense and enough playmakers on offense to sustain success while Hoyer gets fully healthy for either Week 17 against Jacksonville or the home game in the AFC Wild Card Round against any number of contending teams.
Having Hoyer under center gives the Texans the best chance to win, but the team should not rush him back too soon. Either Weeden or newly acquired third-stringer B.J. Daniels should be able to game manage enough to beat the 3-12 Titans on Sunday. Houston needs to play hard, but have enough foresight to have themselves as healthy as they can be come playoff time.