The wait is over for the Texans. After spending almost a year recovering from serious knee and hamstring injuries, Dunta Robinson will play Sunday against the Detroit Lions.
Taylor to IR: The Texans took cornerback Dunta Robinson off the physically unable to perform list (PUP) on Friday and placed him on the active roster.
They made room for Robinson by putting running back Chris Taylor on injured reserve. The third-year pro suffered a deep thigh bruise in Week 4 at Jacksonville and has been limited in practice ever since.
{QUOTE}Taylor spent last season on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Dunta to play: Coach Gary Kubiak said that Robinson looked better in each day of practice this week. The star cornerback, who hadn't played with the team since Nov. 4, was making plays on the ball and hitting people with his D-Rob swagger.
"We thought the times we were working him out, watching him work out as he was going through his rehab process, we felt like a few weeks ago that he was showing signs that he was ready to play," Kubiak said. "But we didn't quite know until we got him in a competitive environment, put his pads on. If anything it looks like he's raised his level."
Even Robinson was surprised with how good he felt on the field.
"I expected to come back and I didn't expect things to go as smoothly as they did," he said. "I didn't expect to feel as good as I did or cover the receivers as well as I did. All these things I didn't expect. I'm glad to see things going well."
Robinson, who tore his knee and hamstring on the same leg, said he didn't think about the injury during team drills.
"I wondered before the play how it would feel, but once the ball is snapped it's football," Robinson said. "I really didn't have time to think about it. I was thinking about the receivers movements, reading his body language. So I think that's probably what kept me from thinking about that. So, like I said, it was a lot better. I expected to have a little bit of pain and I didn't have any pain and that's a good feeling."
Robinson was named a team captain for the game, and the Texans plan to use him in no more than 30 plays on Sunday.
"He's our captain this week," Kubiak said. "He's our sixth guy. Everything he's been through to make it back and be ready to go in this game, it's special with that injury he had. These players are really pulling for him. He's brought a lot of energy to our football team in practice this week."
Faggins earns praise: Last season, it seemed that DeMarcus "Petey" Faggins couldn't get it right. He lost his starting position midway through the season and looked like he would have trouble getting on the field in 2008.
That has not been the case. Faggins has been starting and playing some of the best football of his career.
"It's confidence," Kubiak said. "To me, in this league you have ups and downs as players and he went through some tough times last year. He's never lost site of what he's trying to do as a player and he's worked his way back to confidence. He's got a lot of it right now on the field."
Injury notes: Safety Dominique Barber will sit out Sunday with a hamstring injury.
For the official injury report, click **here**.
