Notes from the Texans' practice and locker room on Friday at Reliant Stadium:
Schaub good to go
Quarterback Matt Schaub was a full participant in practice on Friday. He was limited by a sore chest and hip earlier in the week after being sacked seven times in the last two games.
"He's fine," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "He did a little bit Wednesday, pretty close to everything yesterday and took it all today. So there's nothing different about his week. He's alright."
Specialist decision
Kubiak still has not decided if the Texans will use wide receiver Trindon Holliday to return kicks on Sunday. Holliday was signed last week to spell safety Danieal Manning on kickoffs and wide receiver Jacoby Jones on punts, but he was inactive on Sunday at Baltimore.
Kubiak said he'll decide whether to use Holliday on Sunday morning.
"We still have to see how we're going to line up special teams-wise," he said. "Obviously, (Shiloh) Keo is coming in and has to replace (Dominique) Barber. We've got to look at our body count as far as what we're doing number-wise. We'd like him to. We'd like for him to come in and help us. We'll see."
Rackers to kick off?
Special teams coordinator Joe Marciano decided to replace rookie punter Brett Hartmann with veteran kicker Neil Rackers on kickoffs last Sunday at Baltimore. Kubiak didn't say which player would handle kickoff duties at Tennessee.
"It was a little windy in Baltimore and he (Hartmann) struggled on that one and flipped the field position for us," Kubiak said. "Neil has been kicking very well for us, so Joe put him in there. We'll see. They are both very capable of doing it. We feel comfortable with both of them. Neil is the experienced guy, but they're both capable of doing it."
Quotable
"We played with confidence against Oakland. We played with confidence against Baltimore. Those are some tough games. We had a chance to beat Oakland on the last play of the game and last week, we were in a 14-13 football game. There is no lack of confidence, OK? We just have to make a few more plays than we're making. This team is very confident. They work very confident, and I expect big things out of them. This is number seven, a chance to go do it again this week."
- Kubiak, bristling in response to a question about how the Texans can regain the confidence from their victory over Pittsburgh in Week 4
"Yeah, that was just from talking to the doctor, worst-case scenario. It's kind of crazy. I've heard there were articles printed saying that I'll miss six weeks. The doctor told me 'worst-case scenario,' so no one needs to panic or anything like that saying that I'll miss six games because I don't even feel that way."
- WR Andre Johnson, on if his comments about possibly being out six weeks was a worst-case scenario
