HOUSTON (AP) — behind them Seantrel Henderson Color Rush Jersey , winning four straight games capped by Sunday’s victory over the Jaguars to move into first place in the AFC South.But they won’t have much time to celebrate their recent success with the Dolphins coming to town on Thursday night.“We got a lot to prove,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “Anytime you win four games in a row you set a standard for yourself. I think it’s a standard that we’ll have to live up to, especially since it’s a short week.“Miami is a hot team, so we have big challenge coming Thursday. We have to get over this game. It was a big game and a big win, but we have to get over it quickly.”Coach Bill O’Brien knows that most people wrote his team off after its terrible start, but he insists he never doubted that he had a good team which could turn things around.“I knew that the team had the resolve to be able to really take the cliche of one day at a time, one play at a time, really take that to heart and make it work,” he said. “Those are clichés unless you actually make them work, and this is the type of team we have. We have a mentally tough team.”Quarterback Deshaun Watson agreed with his coach, but was quick to point out that they still have a lot of work to do.“We were down and out, and everybody was counting us out,” Watson said. “The thing is we have guys on this team who understand that early on it doesn’t matter. We just put our heads down and kept working and now we have to continue to do the same thing.”Houston’s first three wins in this streak were close games Corey Moore Color Rush Jersey , with two of them coming in overtime. But on Sunday against the Jaguars, the Texans jumped out to a 20-0 lead and came away with a 20-7 win on a day they forced three turnovers.Another key to Houston’s win over Jacksonville was success in the red zone. After struggling in the area all season, the Texans scored a touchdown on two of their three trips inside the 20-yard line on Sunday to roll to the easy win.Despite Watson’s solid play in the win on Sunday, the Texans faced more questions about his health after it was revealed that he made the 800-mile trip from Houston to Jacksonville by bus because they were worried about how air pressure from flying would affect his bruised lung and injured ribs.O’Brien wouldn’t provide any more details on Monday about why he took the bus, but said that he didn’t expect his travel to be impacted by his injury in the future.While Watson continues to grow into his position and hopefully become the franchise quarterback the Texans have long searched for, on Thursday they’ll face the player they once thought would fill that role in Brock Osweiler.Signed before this season to be Ryan Tannehill’s backup, Osweiler will start his third straight game on Thursday night with Tannehill still out with a shoulder injury.It will be an interesting matchup considering Osweiler’s history with the Texans. Houston signed him to a $72 million contract before the 2016 season, but he was benched before the year was over and shipped to Cleveland before the next season.Though he struggled during his time with the Texans, O’Brien has been impressed with his work in the past two weeks where he’s thrown for 619 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions.“They’re doing a great job with him,” O’Brien said. “Brock’s a very talented player and he’s a having a really good year right now for them. He’s doing a real good job.” HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans were on a plane returning from their loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday when they learned that Pittsburgh's loss to New Orleans had clinched their spot in the playoffs.And according to coach Bill O'Brien the team did nothing to celebrate the moment."We were all watching the film, and just trying to be as honest as I can with you, there's was no reaction," O'Brien said. Despite this Jordan Thomas Color Rush Jersey , O'Brien knows that advancing to the postseason after how his team opened the season is something to be proud of."From 0-3 to where we are now there's definitely a sense that there were some things accomplished," he said. "But there's a lot left out there. We didn't win (Sunday). We had a chance to really do something (Sunday) and we didn't get it done."A win against the Eagles would have given Houston (10-5) the AFC South title. After the 32-30 loss to Philadelphia on a last-second field goal, the Texans need a victory over Jacksonville to win their division, and a win and a loss or tie by New England to get a first-round bye.They'll try and do that with a team riddled with injuries. Running back Lamar Miller missed Sunday's game and remains a question mark for the Jacksonville game with an ankle injury. His absence led to another day of struggles in the running game. Alfred Blue and D'Onta Foreman, who made his 2018 debut after tearing an Achilles tendon in November 2017, combined to rush for just 13 yards."We just haven't gotten it done," O'Brien said. "I don't know what else to tell you. We just have to keep trying to get better."Star receiver DeAndre Hopkins played despite a gimpy ankle and O'Brien hopes he'll feel better by Sunday. But Houston will be without receiver Demaryius Thomas after he sustained what O'Brien indicated is a season-ending Achilles tendon injury against the Eagles.The injury to Thomas is a blow to an already thin group of receivers. Houston traded for the four-time Pro Bowler on Oct. 30 after receiver Will Fuller tore a knee ligament. O'Brien wouldn't provide details on Thomas' injury, but his comments indicated he wouldn't play again this season."Demaryius is a great player, excellent pro, but I feel good about the guys that we have and some of the moves that we may make to help that position," O'Brien said. "I think we can do some things to take up the slack there a little bit. It will be a loss because he was such a good pro and a mentor — all of those things — but we have to move forward."One player who could help fill in for Thomas is Keke Coutee. The rookie has played well when healthy, but has missed nine games, including the last four Stephen Anderson Color Rush Jersey , with hamstring problems. O'Brien didn't rule out that Coutee could return against the Jaguars."He's a really good player," he said. "We like him. We'll just have to see how it goes this week."On Sunday, the Texans got a big play from undrafted rookie receiver Vyncint Smith, who had just one reception this season entering the game. Deshaun Watson connected with Smith on a 35-yard touchdown pass that gave Houston the lead before Philadelphia's late field goal.The Texans like Smith's speed and O'Brien said he's improved a lot since the beginning of the season. He added that Smith and Watson have already developed a good rapport, despite his limited action."You don't make that throw unless you have faith in the guy to make that play," O'Brien said. "I know D4 (Watson) has faith in the guy to make plays, and that's big — the trust."Whoever the Texans have at receiver Sunday, the team remains confident in its passing game because of the continued development of Watson in his second year. Watson has eight touchdown passes with no interceptions in the last five games and has added three rushing touchdowns in that span.O'Brien loves the way Watson has played this season and the leadership role he's taken on this team."He makes a lot of great decisions. He's got good poise," O'Brien said. "He's obviously extremely talented. He made so many plays (Sunday) with his feet, he made plays from the pocket. He made plays outside the pocket. He ran. He did everything he could to help his team win."Some good news on the injury front for Houston is that cornerback/safety Kareem Jackson, who left early in Sunday's game with a knee injury, should be ready against Jacksonville.
