Two of the three Texans players who missed last Sunday's game at Chicago with injuries practiced on Thursday.
Running back Ben Tate (hamstring) did not practice. Tight end Owen Daniels (back) and nose tackle Shaun Cody (ribs/back) did, participating on a limited basis for the second consecutive day.
Daniels and Cody both appear to be on track to play Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"(Daniels) looked better today than yesterday," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "Obviously, today we worked real hard, so to see him make it through that is important. I've got to go back and look at it some more. We've got another couple days here, but I think he's heading toward playing.
"There are some other things we still have to see him and Shaun do, in my opinion, but they've taken steps in the right direction."
Tate was a limited participant in the Texans' light practice on Wednesday, his first practice since getting injured against Baltimore in Week 7.
"He worked yesterday, looked real good working and then just didn't like the way he came out of it this morning, how he was feeling," Kubiak said. "(He) was sore, so we back off for a day. He'll go back to work tomorrow. We'll see where we're at.
"It's just a process, getting this kid on the field. He missed a lot of time. We need him to get back out there and (are) trying to do it the right way. I don't think we had a setback or anything. I just didn't like the way he responded to his limited work yesterday."
Defensive end Antonio Smith sat out of practice on Thursday because of an illness. He should be fine for the game on Sunday. Inside linebacker Tim Dobbins was limited with a shoulder injury.
