Houston Texans @ New England Patriots preview
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel expects his workforce’s divisional spherical playoff at residence to the Houston Texans to be “a hotly contested battle”, having arrange the sport by beating the Los Angeles Chargers 16-3 within the wild-card playoffs.
“I would like them to be as emotional as they will and discover some pleasure in taking part in, competing and working towards,” Vrabel mentioned of his gamers.
“Not [by] doing something – [but by] making nice selections after the whistle. It’s about doing it every snap after which coming again to the huddle.
“If I’ve to handle feelings, it’ll be to hopefully calm them down through the sport and go from there. However I would like all people to have their very own emotion and be prepared for the sport nonetheless they see match.”
CAP 🫡 pic.twitter.com/3XjmDp4pax
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 17, 2026
Linebacker Harold Landry III (knee) and cornerback Christian Gonzalez and operating again Terrell Jennings (each concussion) are questionable, whereas extensive receivers Nico Collins and Justin Watson are additionally out with concussion for the Texans, with sort out Trent Brown (ankle) questionable.
Led by CJ Stroud, the Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 within the wild-card spherical and now have the duty of stifling the quarterback’s counterpart, Drake Maye.
“We’ve a ton of respect for each of their operating backs,” mentioned head coach DeMeco Ryans. “The place [TreVeyon] Henderson units himself aside is the breakaway velocity, the house run velocity.
“You need to take heed to that. You need to do a fantastic job of tackling him. He’s a quick, explosive participant.
“After which Stevenson is simply an all-rounder who runs the ball. He has passing-game potential as properly. You may inform that they honestly belief him with the soccer.”
