Texans coach Bill O’Brien said Wednesday that his defense is preparing to face everybody this Sunday when he was asked about Colts quarterback Andrew Luck practicing for the first time since suffering kidney and abdominal injuries in November.
Colts coach Chuck Pagano says there is one name that O’Brien can strike from the list. Pagano said that Luck did individual work only on Wednesday and that he doesn’t know when he’ll be evaluated to see if he’s ready to move to a fuller workload, but that it won’t happen before Sunday’s game against Houston.
“He’s not playing,” Pagano said, via Kevin Bowen of the team’s website.
That leaves the question of who will be playing. Matt Hasselbeck sat out the first practice of the week to rest his injured ribs, but Pagano said that the team is hopeful that he’ll be able to work on Thursday and expects him to make his fifth straight start. If he can’t, Charlie Whitehurst would get the nod against T.J. Yates, who O’Brien confirmed will be the team’s starter on Sunday during his Wednesday press conference.