The chances of cornerback Christian Gonzalez playing against the Texans on Sunday are looking better.
Gonzalez moved from limited to full practice participation at Thursday’s practice. That suggests he’s moving closer to clearing concussion protocol in time to be in the lineup for the divisional round.
Right tackle Morgan Moses (knee) and offensive lineman Thayer Munford (knee) returned to practice on a limited basis. Linebackers Anfernee Jennings (knee) and Harold Landry (knee) remained in the limited category.
Cornerback Alex Austin (wrist), tight end Hunter Henry (knee), running back Terrell Jennings (concussion), and defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga (foot) were the team’s full participants.
The Patriots will issue their final injury report for their matchup with Houston on Friday.
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Wide receiver Nico Collins wasn’t the only offensive starter out of Texans practice on Thursday.
Right tackle Trent Brown also missed practice for the second straight day. Brown, who played every snap in the team’s win over the Steelers, has been sidelined by an ankle injury.
Defensive lineman Denico Autry (knee) and wide receiver Justin Watson (concussion) were also out of practice. They did not practice on Wednesday either.
Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), cornerback Kamari Lassiter (ankle, knee), defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (elbow), offensive lineman Tytus Howard (ankle), offensive guard Ed Ingram (shoulder) and running back Jawhar Jordan (ankle) remained limited participants. Safety Jaylen Reed (knee), long snapper Austin Brinkman (knee), and left tackle Aireontae Ersery (thumb) were full participants.
It’s looking like the Texans are going to have to go without wide receiver Nico Collins against the Patriots on Sunday.
Reporters at the open portion of Thursday’s practice noted that Collins was not on the field with the rest of the team. Collins suffered a concussion in the wild card win over the Steelers and did not take part in Wednesday’s practice either.
Given the need to pass through several stages of increased work in order to pass the concussion protocol, it seems unlikely that Collins will have enough time to be cleared for this weekend.
Christian Kirk stepped up with a big game against the Steelers and he is joined at wideout by Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Xavier Hutchinson, Justin Watson, Braxton Berrios.
Six down, seven to go.
The postseason is nearly halfway over, after the wild-card round. Simms went 4-2 straight up and 3-3 against the spread; I was 3-3 and 2-4, respectively.
Simms has clinched the straight-up title for the year, at 185-92-1. I’m 177-100-1. Against the spread, I’m clinging to a two-game lead, 141-133-4 and he’s 139-135-4.
This week, we have two disagreements against the spread, and two straight up.
For all division-round picks, you know what to do.
Bills at Broncos (-1.5)
Josh Allen knows the clock is ticking louder and louder on his chances to get to a Super Bowl. This may be his best chance yet to make it, especially without Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow in the playoff field. While the future is extremely bright for the Broncos, this year could end up being another stepping stone toward the ultimate prize.
Florio’s pick: Bills 24, Broncos 21.
Simms’s pick: Bills 24, 21.
49ers at Seahawks (-7)
Sam Darnold gets another chance to make a big play in a big spot, and to avoid making a bad play in a bad spot. And Kyle Shanahan gets another chance to cook up a game plan that will yield more than three points. All the pressure is on Seattle; none of the pressure is on the 49ers. In this round, sometimes that can make all the difference.
Simms, obviously, disagrees. He thinks Darnold will get it done, and that the Seattle defense will once again hold the San Francisco offense in check.
Florio’s pick: 49ers 27, Seahawks 24.
Simms’s pick: Seahawks 27, 49ers 17.
Texans at Patriots (-3)
The Texans’ defense is on par with other great units that carried the franchise to a Super Bowl win. This week, they likely won’t have to overcome a surprisingly poor performance from quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Florio’s pick: Texans 16, Patriots 13.
Simms’s pick: Texans 20, Patriots 17.
Rams (-3.5) at Bears
Who will step up in the fourth quarter, and who will step off? The Bears thrive when they’re firmly behind the 8 ball. And number 18 has shown that, in those moments, he can rise to a higher level.
Simms sees the Rams as being good enough on both sides of the ball to pull away.
Florio’s pick: Bears 30, Rams 27.
Simms’s pick: Rams 38, Bears 27.
The NFL previously applied the term “super” to the wild-card round of the playoffs. This year, the ratings were.
Via Sports Business Journal, the six games televised by Fox (which had two), CBS, Prime Video, NBC and ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 attracted an average of 31.9 million viewers.
That’s a 13-percent increase from last year, and the best since the NFL expanded the playoffs from six teams to seven in 2020, which grew the wild-card round from four games to six.
The total average is the best since the four-game format attracted an average of 32.6 million in 2016 for these games: Raiders-Texans, Lions-Seahawks, Dolphins-Steelers, and Packers-Giants. The smallest victory margin that year was 13 points, with an average score of 30-11.
This year, four of the games went down to the wire. Two of the games were lopsided.
Patriots left tackle Will Campbell did not have the cleanest playoff debut.
Campbell allowed several pressures during New England’s win over the Chargers, including one that Odafe Oweh turned into a strip-sack of quarterback Drake Maye. That sparked some online criticism of his play, but Campbell said he’s not interested in what anybody else has to say because he holds himself to “the highest expectation of anybody.”
Campbell also said that he’s not spending any time lamenting mistakes from last week as he prepares to face Texans edge rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter this Sunday.
“It’s my job. It’s what they pay me to do.” Campbell said, via Chris Mason of MassLive.com. “I can look at it and be like, ‘Yeah, I wish I had two plays back last week,’ but that’s wasting energy towards this week. Somebody told me that and it’s very true. I can’t be worrying about last week, because quite frankly, the second after it happened, it doesn’t mean [expletive] anymore. There’s not anything I can do about it, the people in the stands can do about it, you just have to move on and keep playing. You let can’t one play turn into 10.”
The Patriots didn’t move out to a two-score lead over the Chargers until the fourth quarter of their 16-3 win over the Chargers. The Texans had a similar experience against the Steelers before their defense broke the game open and the Patriots’ ability to protect Maye will be vital to their chances of prevailing again this time around.
After the 2024 season, Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired coach Jerod Mayo, after only one year on the job. Given the success of the team with Mike Vrabel in charge, Kraft’s decision has been vindicated.
Still, it wasn’t easy. Appearing on The Quick Snap podcast with David Andrew and Brian Hoyer, Kraft explained the dilemma he confronted.
“I’m very fond of Jerod, and I would say that was one of the one or two hardest decisions [I’ve had to make], because to fire a guy after one year -- and by the way, it was very expensive, because there [was] not only his contract, but 25 other coaches,” Kraft said. “It’s the worst financial implications since we’ve owned the team.”
Kraft realized that he had no choice but to make a change.
“I’m a fan first, and I thought, ‘I can’t -- this just isn’t the right situation,’ and that’s on me,” Kraft said. “Jerod’s a great guy, but I just didn’t want to go through a continuation of what happened. And I really believed that hiring Mike gave us a chance, quickly, to put the team where it was to go from 4-13 to now 15-3.”
Kraft was influenced by the fact that it’s about more than the balance sheet.
“The one thing that I and my family understand is that we own this team, but it’s not like a traditional business,” Kraft said. “I look at our family as custodians of a public asset.”
Not enough owners view it that way. It’s a profit center, in their estimation. And Kraft’s interpretation of his obligation surely has something to do with the success of the franchise during his time as owner.
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez had limited work Wednesday as he seeks to return from a concussion that saw him exit Sunday night’s win over the Chargers.
That is a step in the right direction toward Gonzalez being cleared to play Sunday against the Texans.
Gonzalez recorded 10 passes defensed in his 14 regular-season games this season and had two more in the wild card game.
Patriots tight end Hunter Henry (knee) also was limited.
Linebacker Anfernee (knee), running back Terrell Jennings (concussion), linebacker Harold Landry (knee) and defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga (foot) also were limited.
The team practiced without offensive tackle Morgan Moses (knee) and offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr. (knee).
Cornerback Alex Austin (wrist) was a full participant.
Austin and Jennings are in their 21-day return-to-practice windows.
The Texans, who are on a short week after playing Monday night, likely won’t have wide receiver Nico Collins against the Patriots.
Collins was diagnosed with a concussion during the win over the Steelers and needed a cart to get to the training room from the sideline.
Wide receiver Justin Watson was also out of Wednesday’s practice with a concussion.
Defensive end Denico Autry (knee) and offensive tackle Trent Brown (ankle) were the other two Texans who didn’t practice.
Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), cornerback Kamari Lassiter (ankle/knee), defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (elbow), offensive lineman Tytus Howard (ankle), offensive guard Ed Ingram (shoulder) and running back Jawhar Jordan (ankle) were limited participants.
Jordan was inactive on Monday with his injury.
Cornerback Derek Stingley is no longer on the injury report.
There is some positive news on the injury front as the Patriots begin their practice week for Sunday’s divisional round matchup with the Texans.
Head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that cornerback Christian Gonzalez (concussion) will be on the field in some capacity for the day’s session.
“I do anticipate him being out there,” Vrabel said, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald.
Gonzalez had to exit Sunday night’s victory over the Chargers.
One of the team’s top defensive players, Gonzalez recorded 10 passes defensed in his 14 regular-season games this year. He had two more in Sunday’s postseason win.
New England’s first injury report of the week is due out later on Wednesday.
