The Texans will not have their right tackle for Sunday’s divisional round matchup with the Patriots.
Trent Brown is inactive with an ankle injury. While multiple reporters on the scene note Brown tried to test his ankle out pregame, he will not play against New England.
Brown did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday this week before he was limited on Friday.
With Brown out, Tytus Howard is expected to slide over from left guard to right tackle. Jarrett Patterson is expected to play left guard.
The Texans will be shorthanded offensively, as receiver Nico Collins is also out with a concussion suffered in Monday night’s win over the Steelers.
Receiver Braxon Berrios is active with Collins and receiver Justin Watson out.
For the Patriots, linebacker Harold Landry (knee) is active after he was questionable for the contest.
In all for Houston, Brown, Collins, Watson, running back Jawhar Jordan, quarterback Graham Mertz, and cornerback Alijah Huzzie are inactive.
New England’s inactives are quarterback Tommy DeVito, outside linebacker Bradyn Swinson, offensive tackle Marcus Bryant, guard Caedan Wallace, tight end CJ Dippre, cornerback Kobee Minor, and defensive tackle Eric Gregory.
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Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham can view it as a tall test, or a golden opportunity.
If Stidham manages to engineer a victory next weekend in the AFC Championship, he’ll become only the second quarterback in the modern era of football to get his first start of the season in the playoffs and win.
Stidham will get the start in place of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who suffered a broken ankle near the end of Saturday’s overtime win against the Bills.
Via Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com, six quarterbacks since 1950 have started a postseason game after not starting a single game in the regular season. Only Frank Reich won, replacing Jim Kelly for the epic 1992 wild-card game against the Oilers, in which the Bills erased a 35-3 third-quarter deficit for a 41-38 overtime win.
Reich got another win the next weekend, beating the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium in the divisional round, 24-3. (Kelly took over from there.)
Even though Reich hadn’t started a game during the 16-game 1992 season, he had thrown 47 passes in five appearances. Stidham didn’t throw a single pass during the 17-game 2025 regular season. Or during the 17-game 2024 regular season.
Stidham, via Kahler, will be only the second quarterback to get his first start of the season in the conference title game or later. In 1972, Roger Staubach made his first start of the year in place of Craig Morton in the NFC Championship; the Cowboys lost to Washington, 26-3.
Stidham last played in Weeks 17 and 18 of the 2023 season, after the Broncos benched Russell Wilson for financial reasons. Stidham also started two games at the end of the 2022 season, after the Raiders benched Derek Carr for financial reasons. Those are Stidham’s only four career starts.
In seven days, he’ll be facing either the team that drafted him in 2019 (the Patriots), or the Houston successors to the Oilers franchise that fell victim to Frank Reich, 33 years ago.
Saturday’s stunning AFC division-round game between the Bills and Broncos carried an even more stunning post-script.
Denver quarterback Bo Nix has a broken ankle, and he’s done for the year.
Enter Jarrett Stidham, a 29-year-old career backup who has four career starts in seven NFL seasons.
And if the Patriots beat the Texans to advance to the AFC Championship, Stidham will be facing the team that made him a fourth-round pick in 2019, Tom Brady’s final year in New England.
Stidham played sparingly during his three years with the Patriots. In 2020, Cam Newton started 15 games, with Brian Hoyer starting one. In 2021, Stidham missed much of the season after offseason back surgery, eventually landing at No. 3 on the depth chart, behind Mac Jones and Hoyer.
Stidham was traded to the Raiders in 2022. He started two late-season games after Derek Carr was benched for financial reasons. A year later, in his first year with the Broncos, Stidham started two late-season games after Russell Wilson was benched for financial reasons.
Next Sunday, Stidham will have the biggest start of his career, by far. And it could come against the team that drafted him and employed him for three seasons. Or, alternatively, he’ll be facing the best defense in the entire NFL.
Bo Nix didn’t miss a play during Saturday’s wild 33-30 overtime win over the Bills. The Broncos quarterback, though, will miss the AFC Championship Game.
Broncos coach Sean Payton announced that Nix fractured his right ankle, which will require surgery and will end his second season. Dr. Norman Waldrop will perform the surgery in Alabama.
Jarrett Stidham is the Broncos’ backup, with Sam Ehlinger behind him.
“It’s not good news,” Payton said. “On the second-to-last play in overtime, Bo fractured a bone in his right ankle. He’s scheduled to have surgery on Tuesday of this week, which will put him out for the rest of the season. [Stidham] is ready to go.”
Nix had a kneel down after a deep pass to Marvin Mims that drew a 30-yard interference penalty to set up the game-winning field goal.
Nix did not celebrate as if he had led his team to the AFC Championship Game afterward, and CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson tweeted after the game that “Nix got hurt at the end of the game. . . . Something to watch.”
Payton had already finished his postgame news conference but returned to share the bad news.
“It is what it is, and we felt it would be best to tell everyone now,” Payton said.
Nix went 26-of-46 for 279 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
During nearly two weeks of the 2026 coaching carousel, Bill Belichick’s name has not been mentioned once.
It now has been.
Belichick will be a guest analyst for the ACC Network coverage of the national championship game between Indiana and Miami, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Belichick’s first year as a college football coach at North Carolina did not go well. The Tar Heels went 4-8.
With eight (still nine, technically) current vacancies in the NFL, Belichick has been linked to none of them. And there’s been no indication that any team has been doing the kind of background work on Belichick that undoubtedly would consist of talking to folks at New England, where Belichick spent 24 years as a head coach before being fired in January 2024.
Many believe he’d love to resume his pursuit of Don Shula’s all-time wins record. In three hiring cycles, Belichick has gotten one interview, two years ago with the Falcons.
Belichick’s time in the NFL presumably has ended. The only question is whether his second year at North Carolina will go well enough to get him a third.
For now, the coach who generally has no use for the media will gladly collect a paycheck to talk about football in the media, as he did during his year out of the game — when he seemingly took any media job that came his way.
The Texans will not have their top wideout for Sunday’s game in New England, but the Patriots will have their top cornerback.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel said at his press conference that Christian Gonzalez was considered questionable to play as he worked his way back from a concussion, but the team’s final injury report shows that he has cleared the protocol and no longer has an injury designation. The Texans ruled wide receiver Nico Collins out with a concussion.
Edge rusher Harold Landry (knee) did not practice on Friday and is listed as questionable. Running back Terrell Jennings (concussion) is also carrying a questionable tag into the weekend.
Jennings and cornerback Alex Austin (wrist) remain on injured reserve. Austin has no injury designation and the Patriots have an open spot on their 53-man roster.
The Texans will be missing their top receiver when they try to upset the Patriots in New England on Sunday afternoon.
The team announced that Nico Collins has been ruled out on Friday. Collins suffered a concussion in the team’s 30-6 win over the Steelers on Monday night in the wild card round and he was not able to practice at all this week.
Collins had 71 catches for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season. Christian Kirk had a strong game against the Steelers and the Texans will need him to produce again this weekend.
Right tackle Trent Brown (ankle) returned to practice on Friday and is listed as questionable to play. Wide receiver Justin Watson has been ruled out with a concussion.
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez returned to full practice participation on Thursday, but he hasn’t been written into the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Texans just yet.
Gonzalez entered the concussion protocol after being injured in last Sunday’s win over the Chargers and head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters on Friday that Gonzalez will be listed as questionable for this weekend. The team could update Gonzalez’s status if he clears the protocol in the coming hours.
Vrabel also said that edge rusher Harold Landry (knee) and running back Terrell Jennings (concussion) will carry questionable designations into the game.
Jennings would need to be activated in order to play against Houston and the Patriots also have cornerback Alex Austin eligible to come off injured reserve.
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.
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.
