Houston Texans
Houston Texans running back D'Onta Foreman has recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered almost a year ago and could return to practice soon.
When Foreman returns to practice the team will have 21 days to take him off the physically unable to perform list and add him to the active roster.
He believes he could return to practice as early as this week.
"I'm just waiting for them to let me know, but I think it will be this week," he said. "I definitely think it will be this week. But ... I'm just ready to go out there. Whenever they put my helmet in my locker and tell me: 'Let's go.'"
Foreman, a third-round pick in 2017 from Texas, ran for 327 yards with two touchdowns and had 83 yards receiving before his injury on Nov. 19.
Coach Bill O'Brien didn't give an exact date for when he expects him to begin practicing, but said Monday that it would be "pretty soon." After that they'll evaluate him to see if he's in good enough shape to return to the active roster.
"I think that there's a lot of thought that goes into that for the player and for the team," O'Brien said.
"He has not played football in a long time. He's a very young player. He's got a lot of talent, everybody saw that last year, but let's see where he's at. Let's see where he's at before we start handing him the ball in big games."
Foreman, who won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top collegiate running back in 2016, said he's feeling great now, but that his rehabilitation process was trying.
"At first it was difficult," he said. "I just had a lot of up and down days not knowing if I would feel the same or how would I feel coming off of it. But ... I've been rehabbing for a long time (and) I'm just looking forward to getting back out there."
The Texans, who are coming off their bye, visit Washington on Sunday before hosting the Titans on Nov. 26.
———————
Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville cornerback Jalen Ramsey had plenty to say this summer.
Now that the temperatures are cooling, Ramsey seems to be toning down the rhetoric.
He may not have many more chances this season to get the league's attention. After a late fumble sealed the Jaguars' fifth straight loss, 29-26 at Indianapolis on Sunday, the Jaguars (3-6) find themselves sitting alone in the AFC South basement with their playoff hopes fading fast and the search for answers becoming increasingly more urgent.
Nobody sounds more frustrated than Ramsey.
"Things happen," he said. "You have to try to bounce back from it. But we dug ourselves too big of a hole today."
Ramsey didn't stick around long following the game — and he didn't say much.
But it doesn't require too much thought to understand why last year's AFC runner-ups have made a mess of this season.
Andrew Luck threw three touchdown passes and took the Colts (4-5) on four scoring marches before halftime to give Indy a 29-13 lead. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback produced only two first downs in the second half but still finished 21 of 29 with 285 yards and one interception — playing far better than Ramsey suggested when he said of Luck in August, "I don't really think he's that good."
What Luck did was expose the Jags' mismatches by repeatedly going to his tight ends. Eric Ebron , Jack Doyle and Mo Alie-Cox combined for eight catches, 133 yards and three TD receptions — all in the first two quarters.
And with Ramsey's tag-teaming cornerback A.J. Bouye out because of an injured calf, Luck didn't really have to throw at Ramsey much.
Perhaps the most remarkable difference between this game and last year's was that the Jags couldn't put much pressure on Luck. After recording 14 sacks against the Colts last year, Luck didn't go down a single time Sunday. He hasn't been sacked in four games, the longest stretch of his pro career.
"It's always tough on an offensive line when you get to third-and-long and you've got to hold the ball a little bit longer and give yourself a chance," Jaguars coach Doug Marrone said. "But when guys were open early on, they were wide open. It's tough to get to the quarterback. I think we might have hit him two or three times, but they were all on deeper third down plays."
———————
Tennessee Titans
Tom Brady added another big chunk of NFL history to his resume.
The Tennessee Titans made sure the Patriots quarterback didn't finish his 300th game by hitting him over and over again.
The Titans sacked Brady three times and hit him six more times as they beat New England 34-10 Sunday, snapping a seven-game skid against the Patriots in Mike Vrabel's first game as head coach against the team he helped win three Super Bowls.
It was the most sacks allowed in a game this season by the Patriots (7-3), and coach Bill Belichick pulled Brady for Brian Hoyer midway through the fourth quarter.
"You got to make Tom blink, and if you make him blink and have to go to a second read you got a chance," Vrabel said of his former teammate. "But if you let him rip it to the first guy he looks at, it's going to be a long day."
Asked if he thought Brady was effective, Belichick said to ask Brady.
"It was just a bad day for all of us," Brady said.
Only Brett Favre (326) has played in more games, both regular season and postseason, as a quarterback than Brady. The three-time NFL MVP also needed only three touchdown passes to tie Peyton Manning (579) for the NFL record for most TD passes all time for both the regular season and postseason.
Brady left having thrown for 254 yards and no TD passes. The Titans outgained the Patriots 385-284, holding New England to just 40 yards rushing. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard, who had 1½ sacks, said that allowed them to get after Brady.
"Coach Vrabel said make them pay for everything," Woodyard said. "Tackle him, hit him and make him feel it."
Marcus Mariota capped each of the first two drives with TD passes, and Derrick Henry ran for a pair of TDs. Ryan Succop also added two field goals as the Titans (5-4) scored a season high in points after jumping out to a 17-3 lead in the first quarter. They now have beaten both of last season's Super Bowl teams in Nashville.
The loss snaps a six-game winning streak going into New England's bye. The Patriots, who routed the Titans 35-14 in January, also lost to Tennessee for the first time since Dec. 16, 2002.
———————
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield is the trade name of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. Independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc.
