Derek

Stingley

Stingley will be available for the Texans’ game against the Chargers on Saturday. The Texans (10-5) are in the playoff hunt, while the Chargers (11-4) have already secured a spot, though like the Texans, they sit in second place in their division. The Texans’ perimeter cornerback ties for eighth at the position in pass breakups (nine) and ties for third in interceptions (four).

Stingley has been playing through the oblique issue for a while. He was listed as questionable for Week 16, but, per usual, was on the field come Sunday. He was held out of yesterday’s practice, though that’s just load management at this point. Kamari Lassiter was also out of practice on Tuesday. Like Stingley, he returned today and should be good to go for Week 17.

He got in a limited session to get on to the questionable line after missing Wednesday and Thursday practice. Azeez Al-Shaair was limited on Thursday, but did not participate in Wednesday or Friday practice for the Texans. Both players should be considered true question marks for Week 16’s action against the Raiders.

The Texans face the lowly Raiders this week, so the defense should be okay if Stingley is unable to play. Houston (9-5) currently sits in second in the AFC South and seventh in the AFC playoff picture. Getting him back in time for the team’s Week 17 game against the Chargers would be helpful.

Though he has played in every game this season, Stingley dealt with the oblique issue early on and now misses the first practice of Week 16 because of it. The 24-year-old has played through it before and certainly can again with some practice time later this week. Fellow CB Kamari Lassiter (foot) also missed practice, though he played through the injury in Week 15. Stingley and Lassiter still have a good chance of playing Week 16 against the Raiders, though practice reports later in the week will provide a clearer picture.

Stingley will reportedly be playing through his oblique injury, so there is a chance he’ll leave mid-game. This leaves the Texans with six healthy scratches for Week 4: WR Braxton Berrios, QB Graham Mertz, RB Dameon Pierce, CB Zion Childress, DE Darrell Taylor, and T Cam Robinson.

Per Rapoport, Stingley is “pushing to play.” He will go through warmups before the team makes a final decision on his status, but it sounds like he is at least on the right side of questionable. Stingley will be tasked with covering Calvin Ridley for much of today’s game. Already struggling to put together usable box scores, Ridley will fall into the WR3 ranks for Week 4.

We were expecting a rule out and Houston media talked to Tremon Smith yesterday so this is a surprising turnaround. Stingley practiced on Friday in a limited capacity for the first time this week. It’s possible this is just a decoy move, but if Stingley does play it will lessen the desire to want to use Elic Ayomanor as a WR4/FLEX option.

The Texans are reportedly preparing for Tremon Smith to start outside, which is good news for Titans deep-league plays like Calvin Ridley and Elic Ayomanor. The Texans defense played decently without Stingley against the Jaguars last week, but it only takes one big play allowed by Smith to build a good fantasy day.

Stingley left Week 3 with the injury and was quickly ruled out. Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans called him day-to-day on Monday. A DNP to open the week is an ominous sign for the shutdown corner. The Texans have been leaning on their stout defense to start the season while their offense attempts to get on track. Losing Stingley would be a notable blow to their secondary. Stingley has three pass breakups and eight tackles this year.