Following Monday's 27-9 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Texans had Wednesday off from practice, in addition to the normal league-mandated Tuesday. Head coach Bill O'Brien decided that an extra day of rest was necessary.
"I think we need to take the field on Sunday as fresh as we possibly can be, so I think they need some rest," O'Brien said on his radio program Tuesday. "We'll come in Thursday. We'll work Thursday, Friday. We'll walkthrough Saturday, and we'll play the game, you know. We'll put in a game plan that we believe will help us beat Detroit, and it's going to probably a little bit more of a mental week than a physical."
After a week of practice leading up to the game, the team arrived in Houston around 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning. With just over 24 hours before taking the practice field again, O'Brien felt players needed the rest more than the practice reps.
"You basically bring them right back on Wednesday, I'm not sure how much you're going to get out of that, so I think it gives them an extra day to get caught up on sleep and treatment and get caught up on some Detroit film and get ready to go on Thursday," O'Brien said.
The (4-3) Texans will host the (4-3) Lions on Sunday in their annual Salute to Service Day. Kickoff is set for noon CT.
Following Monday's 27-9 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Texans had Wednesday off from practice, in addition to the normal Tuesday. Head coach Bill O'Brien decided that an extra day of rest was necessary.
"I think we need to take the field on Sunday as fresh as we possibly can be, so I think they need some rest," O'Brien said on his radio program Tuesday. "We'll work Thursday, Friday, walkthrough Saturday, and we'll play the game, you know. We'll put in a game plan that we believe will help us beat Detroit, and it's going to probably a little bit more of a mental week than a physical."
The Texans had a number of players injured in the primetime matchup, including a season-ending injury for starting right tackle Derek Newton and lesser injuries to a number of others. After a long, physical game, the team arrived in Houston around 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning. With just over 24 hours before taking the practice field again, O'Brien felt players needed the rest more than the practice reps.
"You basically bring them right back on Wednesday, I'm not sure how much you're going to get out of that, so I think it gives them an extra day to get caught up on sleep and treatment and get caught up on some Detroit film and get ready to go on Thursday," O'Brien said.
The (4-3) Texans will host the (4-3) Lions on Sunday in their annual Salute to Service Day. Kickoff is set for noon CT.
