Ed Reed practiced again with his teammates on Thursday, but head coach Gary Kubiak said whether or not the veteran plays on Monday is still up in the air.
"He's come a long way," Kubiak said. "There's some progress that would have to be made to get him ready to go on Monday, but boy has he made a lot of progress."
The Texans practiced outside at the Houston Methodist Training Center, and will do so again on Friday and Saturday before leaving for San Diego. Reed is returning from a hip injury he suffered this spring. Kubiak said Reed will also do something on Friday the free safety hasn't done since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy with the Ravens last February.
"We'll put him in his pads tomorrow and see how he responds to that," Kubiak said. "But there has been great progress."
Reed, according to Kubiak, "participated on a limited basis in practice" Thursday. But just because Reed was limited, doesn't mean he won't suit up against the Chargers in Week 1.
"I don't want to say it can't happen because there's been such good progress, so we'll see day-to-day right now," Kubiak said. "Hopefully, we'll do a little more tomorrow."
If Reed were active for the Monday-nighter, Kubiak said his snaps would be limited. Nevertheless, the head coach liked what he's seen from the 2004 AP Defensive Player of the Year.
"It's just been encouraging from what we've seen to where we were when he came back after
the shots," Kubiak said. "Watching him moving around Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off and today, is very encouraging." Shiloh Keo has started in place of Reed, with Danieal Manning at the strong safety spot. Because of Reed's absence, Kubiak said Keo flourished.
"He's just a much improved player," Kubiak said. "He knew from camp he was operating as a starter and did that through OTAs and through camp, and just responded, got better." ***Twitter.com/DoughertyDrew***
