The Texans ruled out cornerback Kamari Lassiter (knee/ankle) for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Colts.
The Texans need a win and a Jaguars’ loss to the Titans to clinch the AFC South title.
Lassiter has played through an ankle issue but injured his knee in last week’s win over the Chargers. He still played 56 of 63 defensive snaps.
The Pro Bowl alternate has four interceptions, 17 pass breakups and 91 tackles.
The Texans also ruled out linebacker Jamal Hill (calf).
They list offensive tackle Trent Brown (ankle/knee), cornerback Ajani Carter (hamstring) and defensive end Darrell Taylor (ankle) as questionable.
Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (knee/shoulder), defensive end Denico Autry (knee) and cornerback Derek Stingley (oblique) have no injury designation.
As it turns out, the Colts will not have one of their top defensive players when they play their season finale on Sunday.
Indianapolis has ruled out cornerback Sauce Gardner for Week 18, head coach Shane Steichen told reporters on Friday.
Gardner returned to play Indianapolis’ loss to Jacksonville in Week 17, and was on the field for 51 percent of the defensive snaps. After experiencing some tightness in the calf, Gardner was held out for the rest of the contest. He had previously been out since suffering his calf injury in the Nov. 30 loss to the Texans.
The Colts traded for Gardner on Nov. 4. He started four games for the club this season, recording 16 total tackles with three passes defensed.
Additionally, Indianapolis has ruled out tight end Will Mallory (lung) for Week 18.
Center Tanor Bortolini has cleared concussion protocol.
The Giants fired Brian Daboll on Nov. 10 after the club started 2-8, leaving Daboll with a 20-40-1 record.
Now as the 2025 regular season comes to its conclusion, New York’s coaching search is starting to take shape with the club casting a wide net.
Jordan Raanan of ESPN reports the Giants’ list of candidates includes former Packers and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, former Raiders head coach and former Giants player Antonio Pierce, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula.
While owners John Mara and Steve Tisch will make the final decision on the next coach, the search is being led by General Manager Joe Schoen.
Schoen’s presence is not expected to hamper candidates’ interest in the job, Raanan notes.
Raanan also lists interim head coach Mike Kafka, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Vikings QBs coach Josh McCown, and Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski as potential candidates for the job.
As for current head coaches, Raanan lists the entire slate in the AFC North — Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor — as candidates, with Stefanski as “a name to watch” who could attract “serious interest” should he be fired.
The Giants can interview candidates who are not currently with teams now, including McCarthy and Pierce.
Philip Rivers came out of retirement to quarterback the Colts this season, but he says there’s no chance of that happening again.
Rivers says he is definitely done playing and will be coaching his sons’ high school team in 2026.
“I’ve got a son that will be a senior,” Rivers told Kay Adams. “It’ll be his senior year and I’m looking forward to it. My second son will be a ninth grader so they’ll be on the same team together, so it’ll be fun to get back.”
Rivers said the unique circumstances surrounding Colts coach Shane Steichen calling him for a late-season run will never be repeated.
“There’s no chance,” Rivers said. “It was a place I’d been, a team I was familiar with, the offense was exactly the same, a coach I knew, it was all those things, our football season was over, all those things made it the perfect storm.”
Rivers insists he’ll be coaching, not playing, going forward.
“I’m back to the sideline,” Rivers said. “This was a fun three-week blur that nobody saw coming, including myself. And that’ll be it.”
Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson will not be activated from injured reserve for the team’s Week 18 game, which means his third NFL season will end with him on injured reserve due to an orbital fracture he suffered in October.
Richardson had appeared in two games as a reserve before that injury, but neither the missed time nor losing a preseason competition with Daniel Jones for the starting job has dimmed Richardson’s confidence in his capabilities.
“Oh, yeah,” Richardson said, via Stephen Holder of ESPN.com. “No doubt. If I’ve still got a chance to play football, then it’s all out there.”
It’s fair to wonder if that future will be in Indianapolis. If the Colts re-sign Jones this offseason, they’ll likely plan for him to start once he’s cleared to return from a torn Achilles and Richardson will be in the last year of his contract with a team that has clearly moved in a different direction. A trade could be a possibility, but he also missed most of his rookie season with a shoulder injury and his limited on-field work has not done much to make him look like the franchise quarterback the Colts hoped to get at the top of the 2023 draft.
