Houston Texans @ New England Patriots preview
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel expects his staff’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’ll and discover some pleasure in enjoying, competing and working towards,” Vrabel stated 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 throughout the recreation and go from there. However I would like everyone 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 huge 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,” stated head coach DeMeco Ryans. “The place [TreVeyon] Henderson units himself aside is the breakaway velocity, the house run velocity.
“It’s a must to take heed to that. It’s a must to do an important 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 skill as effectively. You possibly can inform that they really belief him with the soccer.”
