Houston Texans

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow called it “ridiculous” to think he might miss Sunday’s game in Houston because of back tightness and he is active for the Week 2 matchup with the Texans.

Burrow’s health became a talking point this week when he was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but he returned to full practice on Friday. The Bengals still listed him as questionable for the team’s first road game of the season.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Burrow felt normal while going through Friday’s practice, but was very sore earlier in the week. The Texans pass rush could exacerbate that soreness if they’re able to get to Burrow early in Sunday’s game.

Bengals at Texans

Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OL Connor Lew, DL BJ Hill, DL Landon Robinson, QB Josh Johnson, OL Myles Hinton

Texans: TE Brevin Jordan, WR Nico Collins, LB Jake Hummel, CB Collin Wright, G Ed Ingram, OT Nate Thomas, DE Jadeveon Clowney

Panthers at Falcons

Panthers: LB Pat Jones, TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, QB Haynes King, CB Chau Smith-Wade, LB Tyrel Dodson, OT Albert Reese, DT Bobby Brown

Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcolm DeWalt, OL Ethan Onianwa

Saints at Ravens

Saints: RB Kendre Miler, QB Zach Wilson, DB Decamerion Richardson, LB Isaiah Stalbird, DL Christen Miller, OL Mason Murphy, DL John Ridgeway

Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Zay Flowers, G Andrew Vorhees, OT Gerad Lichtenhan, LB Teddye Buchanan, DL Nnamdi Madubuike

Vikings at Bears

Vikings: QB Kyler Murray, WR Jauan Jennings, DB Zemaiah Vaughn, DB Jakobe Thomas, OL Nick Samac, OL Caleb Tiernan, DL Elijah Williams

Bears: QB Case Keenum, DE Jamree Kromah, DT Jayden Loving, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden

Steelers at Patriots

Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., WR Michael Pittman Jr., QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, G Gennings Dunker, DT Kevin Jobity, DT Gabriel Rubio

Patriots: CB Carlton Davis, OT Dametrious Crownover, OT Walter Rouse, TE Tanner Arkin, DL Leonard Taylor, QB Behren Morton

Packers at Jets

Packers: CB Benjamin St-Juste, OL John Williams, OL Travis Glover, DT Warren Brinson, DT Javon Hargrave

Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, K Blake Grupe, RB Kene Nwangwu, LB Joseph Ossai, LB Trevin Wallace

Browns at Buccaneers

Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins

Buccaneers: CB Ayden Garnes, CB Jacob Parrish, G Luke Haggard, G Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart, DL Elijah Simmons

Eagles at Titans

Eagles: QB Tanner McKee, QB Cole Payton, WR Elijah Moore, LB Jonathan Greenard, G Micah Morris

Titans: CB Cor’Dale Flott, LB James Williams, OL Atonio Mafi, OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DT Jackie Marshall

Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart will make his season debut on Sunday.

Stewart, the 17th overall pick in the 2025 draft, missed the first game with a hyperextended left knee.

He left the team’s first training camp practice with his injury.

“Obviously, the talent we drafted in the first round, that’s why he’s here,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said, via Ben Baby of ESPN. “And so I’m just excited to get him back in the fold and get him some reps.”

Stewart’s rookie season was marred by missed time, because of a contract dispute, as well as injuries. He had a lingering ankle injury early in the season and a torn posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in Week 9.

He appeared in eight games with six tackles and a sack.

The NFL fined Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair $11,941 for writing the name “Hind Rajab” on his eye-black strips during a Week 1 game against the Bills. On Friday, Al-Shaair explained his decision to publicize the name of the five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed, along with six family members, by Israeli forces in 2024.

“I think everybody knows what it’s about,” Al-Shaair said, via D.J. Bien-Aime of ESPN. “I think that was the point. Because before that, probably most of you guys might not even know who she was. That’s kind of the point.

“There a lot that goes on in the world, not just overseas, right here in our own country. . . . This past Tuesday, a friend of mine, literally just sitting there crying in front of me on the phone, come to find out her cousin, who’s been here since he was five years old, got detained on the way to a concert and is being deported. Mind you, he has no family, no nothing over there. And that was my first interaction, my first experience, with somebody that I personally know. . . .

“There’s a lot of issues that I speak on, that’s really just to shed a light, because a lot of people don’t care nothing about it. . . . We’re blessed to be able to have the comforts of, you know, living in the United States and not having to worry about certain things, but there’s issues here and all over the world that, you know, when you talk about even what happened with Hind Rajab and her family, those are taxpaying dollars that we’re — as Americans — are paying, that are being used to bomb innocent men, women, and children. So that’s really what that was about.”

Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving offered to pay the fine. Al-Shaair said that he and Irving “align on the cause, which is humanity; we both care about humanity.”

“Regardless of skin color, race, anything like that,” Al-Shaair said. “That’s what I think, more than anything, when it comes to me and him, that we align on, and just not being afraid to do that. . . . We don’t have to have all the answers to everything to know that an innocent man, an innocent woman, an innocent child losing their life is not right. Like, I don’t need anybody to gaslight me into saying that, ‘Well, you gotta ask. . . .’ I just know that’s not right, whether they’re here in America or somewhere halfway across the world.”

It remains to be seen whether Al-Shaair will have a similar message during Sunday’s game against the Bengals, and whether the league will threaten to keep him from playing if he does.

If the Texans are going to beat the Bengals on Sunday, they’ll have to do it without a few key players.

Houston has ruled out receiver Nico Collins, starting guard Ed Ingram, edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, and linebacker Jake Hummel for Week 2.

Collins suffered a hamstring injury during practice on Wednesday and did not participate on Thursday or Friday.

Collins — Houston’s top receiver — caught seven passes for 75 yards with a touchdown in last week’s loss to the Bills.

Ingram was limited with a groin injury on Thursday before he did not participate on Friday.

Clowney (knee) and Hummel (groin) also did not practice on Friday.

Offensive tackle Trent Brown (hand/wrist) and linebacker Wade Woodaz (thumb) were both full participants on Friday. Neither Brown nor Woodaz has a game status, with both expected to play.

Houston will be at home on Sunday to face Cincinnati at Reliant Stadium at 1 p.m. ET.

Joe Burrow said it was “ridiculous” to think he’d miss Sunday’s game against the Texans after dealing with back tightness this week, but the team has left some wiggle room with their final injury report of the week.

The quarterback is listed as questionable for the game in Houston. Burrow moved up to full practice participation on Friday and head coach Zac Taylor said he “feels good,” but official word on his status is going to have to wait until closer to Sunday afternoon’s kickoff.

Defensive tackle B.J. Hill is also listed as questionable. He’s dealing with an Achilles injury.

Defensive end Shemar Stewart is off the injury report after missing Week 1 with a knee injury and is set for his 2026 debut.

It looks like Joe Burrow is all set to start Sunday’s game against the Texans.

Via Paul Dehner Jr. of TheAthletic.com, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor told reporters that Burrow was a full participant in Friday’s practice.

“He feels good,” Taylor said.

Burrow has been dealing with a back issue this week, but said on Wednesday that it would be “ridiculous” to miss the Week 2 matchup against Houston. He was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

Burrow finished last week’s win over Tampa Bay 25-of-35 passing for 254 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 20 yards on five attempts.

Cincinnati’s final injury report of the week with game statuses will be released later on Friday.

It looks like Nico Collins is trending toward not playing in Sunday’s matchup against the Bengals.

According to multiple reporters on the scene, Collins is not practicing on Friday after he suffered a hamstring injury during Wednesday’s practice.

Collins was officially limited on Wednesday and didn’t practice on Thursday.

Collins caught seven passes for 75 yards with a touchdown in last week’s loss to Buffalo.

Houston’s final injury report with game statuses is due out later on Friday.

The Brian Flores litigation has uncovered a potentially significant document through a subpoena issued to the Korn Ferry search firm. And Korn Ferry is trying to keep the document out of public view.

The document has been designated as confidential under a general protective order that allows the parties to claim that certain materials should not be disclosed. Flores’s lawyers have challenged the effort to keep it secret.

Via Daniel Kaplan, Korn Ferry filed paperwork on Thursday in support of the effort to keep the document under seal. Korn Ferry argues, among other things, that “whether the limited information from Exhibit A that Korn Ferry requests remain sealed is purportedly `discriminatory’ or `retaliatory,’ such that it supports and is relevant to Plaintiff’s claims in the Supplemental Complaint, has no bearing on whether Korn Ferry is legally entitled to have Exhibit A remain under seal.”

This statement suggests, as Kaplan notes, that Flores’s lawyers have argued that the document helps prove that he was the victim of discrimination and/or retaliation.

The document in question, which one source called “insane,” was generated by Korn Ferry in connection with a coaching search conducted by the Raiders. The precise Raiders coaching search isn’t specified; the Raiders have hired new coaches in 2026, 2025, 2024, 2022, and 2018.

If the document shows potential retaliation, it means that it came from a coaching search after the filing of Flores’s lawsuit, on February 1, 2022. Because the Raiders hired Josh McDaniels on January 31, 2022, it would limit the potential application of the document to the search that resulted in the hiring of Antonio Pierce in 2024, Pete Carroll in 2025, or Klint Kubiak in 2026.

Two of those searches happened after Tom Brady — who played for the Patriots when Flores served on the coaching staff there — became a minority owner of the team.

Regardless of whether the document comes to light in the short term, it’ll definitely be disclosed and discussed if/when the case goes to trial. If the document is truly bad for the NFL and the various teams that have been sued, it could result in the case being settled before the document ever comes to light.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s practice status didn’t change on Thursday.

Burrow remained a limited participant as the team heads into Sunday’s game against the Texans. Burrow is dealing with back tightness, but said on Wednesday that it was “ridiculous” to think that it could cause him to sit out in Houston.

Defensive end Shemar Stewart (knee) was listed as a full participant for the second straight day. Stewart did not play in last Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers.

Defensive tackle B.J. Hill (rest, Achilles) was limited while running back Samaje Perine (knee) and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (rest) did not practice. Perine was a new addition to the injury report on Thursday.

For the most part, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud performed better in Week 1 than he had late in the 2025 season. Concerns remain.

Texans legend Andre Johnson has one concern in particular — Stroud’s body language.

Via D.J. Bien-Aime of ESPN, Johnson recently criticized Stroud’s in-game demeanor.

“With him, and this is just me personally, what I dislike about C.J. is his body language,” Johnson said on the LGND Talk podcast. “His body language is bad. . . .

“I think, as a former player, your quarterback having that type of body language is bad. Because other guys look at you as the quarterback. So, when they see you feeling a certain way, it kind of trickles through the team.”

Stroud addressed the issue during his Wednesday press conference.

“I really don’t have a comment for it,” Stroud said, via a transcript provided by the Texans. “I respect Dre as a person, I appreciate his critiques. But I’m focused on this week, going 1-0 against the Bengals. I respect Dre, and if that conversation needs to be had, it’ll be had.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans avoided the issue.

“I don’t know what comments you’re talking about,” Ryans said. “I’ve been studying Cincinnati and going to sleep. Talk to Andre about it.”

Stroud’s current teammate, Will Anderson, is aware — and was willing to address it.

“C.J., to me, he’s a leader,” Anderson said. “He wears that ‘C’ proudly on his shirt for a reason. For us, as a player and as his teammate, we voted him as a captain. For us, we understand what it takes to be a captain and he represents and embodies everything it takes to be a captain on this team and that’s why we voted him as a captain.

“I think C.J.'s been doing a phenomenal job since his rookie year to now with great body language, getting the guys going, leading that group of guys over there and having enthusiasm and having fun on the sideline. If something doesn’t go right, I think he does a good job of bringing everybody back together and centering everybody. We can’t really focus on that. Cincinnati’s up right now. C.J.'s in a good place. The offense is rolling. That’s a positive for us. He’s going to continue to keep doing great things and we’re going to continue to keep this thing rolling.”

Quarterback body language can have a real impact. In moments of adversity, players follow the lead of their leaders. The quarterback is the most conspicuous of them all.

The biggest potential problem is that “not my day” vibe, which plenty of quarterbacks have given off over the years when, you know, it wasn’t their day. That’s not to say Stroud has exhibited that or other problematic gestures and/or facial expressions, but Johnson saw something to get him to say what he said.