INDIANAPOLIS – Practice is already over for the Colts preparing to take on the Houston Texans.
The Colts will have a final walk-through on Wednesday morning before the plane heads to Houston later tomorrow afternoon.
Here are a few headlines from Chuck Pagano and Andrew Luck talking to the media on Monday:
Chuck Pagano on dealing with J.J. Watt:
"We could have 12 offensive linemen in there and I'd be scared, if they let us play with that many."
Bowen's Analysis:* *It was a great line from Pagano in talking about the task of facing Watt. The Texans All-Pro defensive end is as tough a defender as there is in the NFL.
Watt leads the NFL with 16 quarterback hits in 2014 and when he's not getting to the quarterback, he's a presence in knocking down passes. Pagano calls Watt a "nightmare" and the Colts will have to account for No. 99 wherever the Texans choose to line him up on Thursday night.
Chuck Pagano on having try and slow down Arian Foster
"You've got to set edges on the defense. If you don't have an edge, you don't have a chance.
"You've got to build a flat wall up front and nobody can get cut off."
Bowen's Analysis: Foster, who received high praise for his patience from Pagano, has quietly placed himself No. 3 in the NFL in rushing yards this season, despite missing a game due to injury. Last week, Foster has 157 rushing yards and looked every bit like the workhorse that Colts fans have been used to seeing when the Texans appear on the schedule.
It will be interesting to watch Foster's workload this week considering his injury battles and the game falling on Thursday night. Just like he always has, Foster is threat in the receiving game, too. In a game earlier this season against the Bills, Foster had just six rushing yards on eight carries but contributed seven receptions for 55 yards.
Andrew Luck on bouncing back from interceptions:
"You realize that on the next play, you owe your teammates, you owe the team to move on."
Bowen's Analysis: We saw the resiliency of Luck once again on display against the Ravens. His red zone interception in the third quarter spurned a chance to potentially put the game away. Just like he always does, Luck bounced back with a couple of critical, clock-eating fourth quarter drives.
Red zone emphasis will be key again on Sunday. The Texans defense is third in the NFL in red zone conversions allowed. Perhaps the most eye-popping stat to me when talking about the Texans is that nine of their league leading 12 turnovers have come in the red zone. That is a major reason why they are fourth in the league in points allowed, despite being 26th in yards given up.
INJURY NOTES
Here is the injury report for Tuesday of Texans week:
-DNP- Darius Butler (ankle), Arthur Jones (ankle), Jack Mewhort (ankle), Hugh Thornton (back) and Reggie Wayne (rest)
-Butler and Thornton are the main concerns after both played last week. If Thornton can't go, the Colts will have more reshuffling along the offensive line.
-LIMITED-Jerrell Freeman (hamstring)
-Freeman played 83 percent of the defensive snaps on Sunday in his first game back since leaving the season opener with a hamstring injury.
-FULL-Bjoern Werner (ankle)
-Chuck Pagano said on Monday that Werner had a bit of a swollen ankle after Sunday but should be go for Thursday night.
