Still looking for their first win of the season, the Texans will face the division-rival Colts in Indianapolis this weekend.
Defensively, they may have gotten a leg up on their preparation from last week’s opponent.
That’s at least the implication from defensive end Will Anderson, who discussed facing Daniel Jones a week after facing Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow in his Wednesday press conference.
“He’s tough. He’s really tough,” Anderson said of Jones, via transcript from the team. “He kind of reminds me of Joe Burrow in a sense. If you disrespect the pocket, he’ll take off on you. He wants to stand in the pocket, and he wants to show that he’s a quarterback. I think he’s been doing a really good job of that.
“We have a ton of respect for him. It’s going to be a great challenge for us. Him and Joe Burrow really remind me a lot of each other. It’s going to be good for us.”
While Houston lost to Cincinnati 20-6, the Texans held Burrow to 20-of-31 passing for 207 yards with two touchdowns. The defense also sacked Burrow five times.
At a press conference before the Bengals practiced on Wednesday, head coach Zay Taylor said that he wasn’t sure how much quarterback Joe Burrow would be able to do at practice.
As it turns out, Taylor was either overly anxious about Burrow’s health or attempting some gamesmanship. Videos from the open portion of practice showed Burrow working without any limitations and the team did not list him on the injury report at all. That suggests he’s full speed ahead for this Sunday’s game against the Steelers.
Burrow was listed as questionable in Week 2 because of a back injury and could be heard telling teammates during the game that a hit from Texans defensive end Will Anderson popped his rib back into place.
Defensive tackles Jonathan Allen (knee) and B.J. Hill (Achilles) were both out of practice. Wide receiver Andrei Iosivas (thumb) also missed practice and he will miss at least four games after going on injured reserve.
With the Steelers facing the Bengals this weekend — and receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins — it would be helpful to have cornerback Joey Porter Jr. on the field.
Yet again, it appears he won’t be playing. And the situation seems to be settling into a week-to-week lather/rinse/repeat of limited practice time (if any) and no game appearances.
On Wednesday, coach Mike McCarthy wasn’t even asked about Porter during the midweek media availability. On one hand, it’s easy to justify the absence of a question by assuming that it would have promoted the same-old response about being optimistic he’ll play (or whatever). On the other hand, the questions badly need to change.
How frustrating is it that no progress is being made?
Is injured reserve being considered?
Do the Steelers believe Porter is actually injured, or do they suspect he is declining to play because he doesn’t have a contract?
No one wants to call this what it is. It’s a hold-in that has lingered into the season. Porter is doing what former Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons was ready to do in 2025. Once the Cowboys realized it was going to go that way, they quickly traded Parsons.
For the Steelers, there are only two ways out of this maze. Pay him, or trade him.
Playing hardball is possibly becoming harder to accomplish each week, since the Steelers are publishing injury reports that represent to the world that Porter is injured. (Today, the stated reason was “conditioning.”) If, at some point, the Steelers suddenly say “enough,” they may have to answer for weeks of possibly embellished injury reports.
Either way, it could get ugly if/when the Steelers decide to squeeze Porter to play. At some point, however, the situation becomes sufficiently obvious to be ridiculous.
It’s arguably already at that point.
And, again, there are only two good ways to fix it. Pay him, or trade him.
There is no change in cornerback Joey Porter Jr.'s practice participation level from last week, but his listing on the team’s injury report has changed.
Porter was a limited participant on Wednesday with conditioning given as the only reason for the limitations. Porter missed all of training camp and Week 1 with a back injury and that ailment returned to the injury report when Porter had to leave last Thursday’s practice early.
Wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) was also listed as limited. Neither Pittman nor Porter played in the team’s Week 2 loss to the Patriots.
Cornerback Jamel Dean (ankle), running back Rico Dowdle (toe), linebacker Cole Holcomb (personal), and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (rest) were out of practice. Running back Jaylen Warren (shoulder) joined Pittman and Porter in the limited category.
With Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart reportedly heading for season-ending knee surgery, the Giants have to make a decision about the quarterback position moving forward.
Option A: The Jameis Winston experience, and everything that goes along with it — good, bad, and/or highly entertaining.
Option B: Sign a free agent and see if he would be a better option to win games. At this point, however, most guys who are available would be unlikely to be able to start. Jimmy Garoppolo is the best option.
Option C: Make a trade.
There are some options. Here are some of the ones we noticed after perusing the various rosters and depth charts.
Derek Carr: He’s still on the Saints reserve-retired list. A trade would be required, if there’s mutual interest.
Anthony Richardson: If the Colts would be comfortable with Riley Leonard as the understudy to Daniel Jones, the Colts could finally get value for the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft.
Joe Flacco: John Harbaugh won a Super Bowl with Flacco in Baltimore. And Flacco has repeatedly shown he can still play.
Shedeur Sanders: If the Browns are willing to move on from Sanders, Harbaugh possibly would want Shedeur. The Ravens were going to draft him in 2025, but he didn’t want to back up Lamar Jackson.
Mason Rudolph: He has played a lot, and he may not have much of a future in Pittsburgh.
Sam Howell: He’s the backup to Dak Prescott, and he has plenty of starting experience; the Cowboys could elevate Joe Milton III to take Prescott’s place.
J.J. McCarthy: Jim Harbaugh loves him. John Harbaugh could be intrigued by him.
Gardner Minshew: If the Cardinals are content to have Carson Beck as the backup to Jacoby Brissett, why not? He has 47 career starts.
Mac Jones: He’s in the last year of his contract, and he played well last year in place of Brock Purdy.
The Giants also could pilfer a player from a practice squad. Possibilities (not many) include Will Levis (Jets), Josh Johnson (Bengals), Joe Milton III (Cowboys), and Max Brosmer (Vikings).
The Bengals will be without one of their key offensive players for some time.
Head coach Zac Taylor told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that receiver Andrei Iosivas suffered a torn ligament in his thumb and will be placed on injured reserve.
“Had surgery this morning,” Taylor said. “It’ll be a weeks issue — it’s not a season-long issue. But it will definitely be the IR window plus maybe a little bit more. But don’t have a timeline on that yet.”
In his fourth season, Iosivas started each of the first two games for Cincinnati, playing 57 percent of the club’s offensive snaps. He’s caught three passes for 19 yards so far this season.
In his 52 career games with 20 starts, Iosivas has 87 receptions for 1,049 yards with 12 touchdowns.
On Sunday, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow took five sacks and 10 total hits against the Texans.
One of them had chiropractic powers.
Microphones caught Burrow after the game thanking defensive end Will Anderson Jr. for popping Burrow’s rib back into place. It was regarded by most as an exaggeration.
A new clip posted on Twitter by the NFL has Burrow telling receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins during the game on the sideline that, indeed, a hit popped his rib back in place.
“Then afterward it felt better,” Burrow said.
Burrow had been listed on the injury report all week with a back injury, and the Bengals elevated veteran quarterback Josh Johnson from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. Burrow told Jay Glazer of Fox Sports that the situation was being “blown out of proportion.”
Apparently, the truth was that a rib had been knocked out of its location.
It remains to be seen whether he has any conditions for which Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt can treat him on Sunday, when the Bengals visit the Steelers.
The Bengals defense is not the same defense as last season.
The Texans were 0-for-4 in the red zone, with their only points coming on two field goals, and the Bengals won 20-6.
Cincinnati ran its record to 2-0 in 2026, only the third time in its history that it has started 2-0. Houston lost its first two games for a second consecutive season. The Texans rallied from an 0-3 start last season to make the playoffs.
The Bengals sacked C.J. Stroud four times, with Cedric Johnson getting two and Jonathan Allen and Shemar Stewart each getting one. The Texans were 5-of-17 on third down and 0-for-4 on fourth down, and they gained only 60 yards on 18 carries as prize offseason acquisition David Montgomery ran for 10 yards on six carries.
Stroud led the Texans in rushing 29 yards on three carries.
Stroud threw a career-high 55 passes, completing 30 for 353 yards without his three top receivers. Nico Collins was inactive; Jayden Higgins is on season-ending injured reserve; and Tank Dell is still working his way back from his 2024 leg injury.
The Bengals had only 267 yards and punted eight times, and Joe Burrow was sacked five times. But Burrow, who was limited in two practices last week with a back injury, threw touchdown passes of 32 and 18 yards to Ja’Marr Chase. Chase, who had only two catches for 12 yards in the season opener, caught seven passes for 75 yards. Tee Higgins made five receptions for 95 yards.
Chase Brown ran 20 times for 80 yards.
Ja’Marr Chase scored his second touchdown of the day, on an 18-yard pass from Joe Burrow.
The Bengals lead 17-3 with 3:03 remaining in the third quarter.
Chase, who had only two catches for 12 yards in the season opener, has six receptions for 70 yards. His first touchdown covered 32 yards as he made a poster catch around Texans cornerback Derek Stingley.
Chase caught two passes for 26 yards in Week 1 of 2025 before14 receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown the following week against the Jaguars.
Burrow, who was limited in two of the three practices last week with a back injury, is 17-of-25 for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Ja’Marr Chase has a habit of starting slowly in Week 1 and blowing up in Week 2. He had two catches for 12 yards last week in the season opener.
The Bengals receiver made one of the best catches you will ever see with 3:29 left until halftime Sunday. His 32-yard touchdown, despite tight coverage from Derek Stingley, brought back memories of Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham’s catch over Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr in 2014.
Chase has four catches for 48 yards, and the Bengals lead the Texans 7-3 at halftime in a defensive battle.
The Texans have outgained the Bengals 208 to 156, with three sacks of Joe Burrow. But Houston is 0-for-3 in the red zone, with drives ending at the Cincinnati 16, 18 and 19.
The Texans twice turned it over on downs, including once when holder Kai Kroeger dropped a snap on a chip-shot field goal from the 16-yard line. Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 37-yard field goal with 1:17 remaining in the half.
The Bengals were called for a false start on Dalton Risner on a 58-yard field goal that Evan McPherson made and decided to punt.
Burrow is 12-of-19 for 129 yards and a touchdown, and Tee Higgins has caught four for 72. Chase Brown has seven carries for 42 yards.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has completed 15 of 24 passes for 182 yards. Tight end Dalton Schultz has four catches for 68 yards. David Montgomery has only 10 yards on six carries.
