The Chargers may be without one of their top running backs for a bit, but he shouldn’t miss too much time.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Kimani Vidal was diagnosed with a neck strain and is considered day-to-day.
Vidal had to exit Sunday’s eventual victory over the Cowboys early on in the contest.
In 12 games with 10 starts this season, Vidal leads the Chargers with 631 yards rushing. He’s rushed for three touchdowns and caught 15 passes for 138 yards with a TD.
Playing the Texans on Saturday, the Chargers’ first injury report of the week is due out on Tuesday.
The Chargers will not have one of their key defensive players for the last two weeks of the regular season.
The league announced on Monday that linebacker Denzel Perryman has been suspended for two games for repeated violations of player-safety rules.
The NFL’s announcement notes that Perryman was flagged for unnecessary roughness for delivering a forcible blow to the helmet of Cowboys receiver Ryan Flournoy while he was on the ground after making a catch during the second quarter of Sunday’s game. That action violated Rule 12, Section 2, Article 10(b), which prohibits “using any part of the helmet or facemask to butt or make forcible contact to an opponent’s head or neck area.”
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports Perryman will appeal the suspension, which would be heard and decided by Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster, or Jordy Nelson — the NFL and NFLPA’s jointly appointed hearing officers.
Notably, this is Perryman’s second two-game suspension for repeated violations of player-safety rules. The first came back in 2023 when he was playing for the Texans.
Currently, Perryman is eligible to return to Los Angeles’ active roster on Monday, Jan. 5, the day after the team’s currently scheduled regular-season finale against the Broncos.
The Texans were expected to beat the Raiders easily. Houston did win, but it wasn’t easy.
In a surprisingly competitive game, the Raiders took a second-half lead and the Texans needed to come back and then hold on in the fourth quarter to survive with a 23-21 win.
Texans quarterback CJ Stroud completed 23 of 35 passes for 187 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. Raiders quarterback Geno Smith completed 16 of 23 passes for 201 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.
The star of the game for the Raiders was rookie running back Ashton Jeanty, who had 24 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown, and added a 60-yard receiving touchdown. In an up-and-down rookie season, Jeanty showed everything the Raiders wanted to see from him today.
But it wasn’t enough, and the Texans won to improve to 10-5 and stay in contention for both the AFC South and a wild card berth. The loss drops the Raiders to 2-13 and keeps them in contention for the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty hasn’t made the kind of splash many expected him to make this season, but he came up with a big play in the third quarter in Houston.
Jeanty reeled in a pass from quarterback Geno Smith on the left sideline and sprinted for a 60-yard touchdown. The extra point gave the Raiders their first lead of the day and they are up 14-13 with 9:44 to play in the third.
It was Jeanty’s fifth receiving touchdown of the season and his ninth overall trip to the end zone.
The Texans had the ball first in the second half, but their offense continued to misfire on a three-and-out. It was their fourth punt of the game and they can’t afford many more if they’re going to avoid an upset that could damage their hopes of getting to the playoffs this season.
The Texans offense hasn’t done much through 30 minutes of play on Sunday, but the home team still has a lead on the Raiders at halftime.
Cornerback Derek Stingley returned a Geno Smith interception 31 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and the Texans tacked on a pair of field goals to extend their lead to 13-7 before the two teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
Smith, who missed last Sunday’s game with back and right shoulder injuries, rebounded from the pick-six to tie the game on a touchdown pass to tight end Brock Bowers, but the Raiders punted on their final two possessions of the first half. He finished the half 8-of-13 for 80 yards.
The Raiders had four punts overall in the first half and the Texans had three of their own, so it’s been tough sledding all around on offense. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is 10-of-20 for 82 yards and he’ll get a chance to start turning things around when the Texans field the opening kickoff of the second half.
