Tuesdays are an off day for players in the NFL.
But most, if not all the Texans are using a good chunk of their break to get set for the Sunday matchup with the Colts.
Houston fell to the Patriots two nights ago at NRG Stadium, and the 27-6 loss dropped their record to 6-7. Indianapolis has the same mark through 13 games, and will host the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium in five days.
"We're turning the page," head coach Bill O'Brien said on Monday. "We're on to the Colts. It's a big game for obviously both teams."
The players return to work tomorrow and will practice at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
"We will get to the drawing board on Wednesday, prepare for Indy," linebacker Whitney Mercilus said. "That's the thing, we have to go up there and just win this thing out. That's it. That's the mentality we have right now, just give us a shot at getting to the playoffs."
While the players officially get going on their prep-work for the Colts tomorrow, O'Brien and company began that process in the hours after they fell to the Pats.
"We've already started working on these guys, and our players are very focused on the Indianapolis Colts," O'Brien said.
With quarterback Brian Hoyer in the concussion protocol, T.J. Yates will likely start his second game of 2015. He relieved Hoyer in Cincinnati during the Monday night win over the Bengals, and then started the following week in a victory at home over the Jets. Like O'Brien and the assistants, Yates said on Monday that he was getting ready for Indianapolis.
"I flew through the game we played against them earlier in the year, when I wasn't here, just checking
out their defensive personnel," Yates said. "Just kind of seeing what their front is and what kind of coverages they play."
Yates started at Indianapolis during his rookie season, in a Week 16 loss to the Colts. The Texans led for all but the final 19 seconds in that 19-16 defeat, and the fifth-year signal-caller said the Indianapolis crowd is impressive.
"It can get pretty loud, especially on third downs," Yates said. "They definitely have a good home crowd and good atmosphere. When they are on offense, they are pretty much silent, so they have a good home crowd and it is going to be a good task for us."
The Colts defense has allowed an average of 27.4 points per game this season, which is 29th in the NFL. They're also 29th in the NFL in yards allowed per game, at 397.6.
Check out some of the best pregame shots from Sunday night's game against the Patriots.
