Texans head coach Gary Kubiak and the Texans got in a Christmas Eve practice before takingi Friday off.
The Texans practiced outside Thursday at the Methodist Training Center in preparation for Sunday's Week 16 road showdown versus the Dolphins. The team has off for Christmas Day, and will travel to Miami on Saturday.
Health update: For the second straight day, linebacker Brian Cushing sat out practice because of injury. The rookie defender is struggling with a combination of knee, foot and rib ailments. Meanwhile, left tackle Duane Brown suited up and took part in a limited role during practice, which was encouraging to Kubiak.
"That was a step in the right direction and we'll see how he's doing in the course of the next couple of days. It looks like he has a chance."
To see the complete injury report for both teams, click **here**.
Foster follows up: Also for the second time in as many days, rookie running back Arian Foster had a good practice. Kubiak was perturbed late last week by what he saw out of the undrafted free agent, and was even more disappointed on Sunday when Foster coughed up the football in the first half against the Rams. But the young ball-carrier is evidently making strides.
{QUOTE}"He's practiced very well," Kubiak said. "He's had two very good days. Like I said: he can help us win here. He's going to get a chance to do that."
Scoreboard watching: The **Texans still have a slim chance of making the playoffs** if they win their final two games and get some help from a handful of other AFC teams. With that in mind, Kubiak was asked after Thursday's practice whether or not he and his team would keep one eye on the scoreboard to see what was happening in other games around the NFL.
"We don't have any to watch," Kubiak said. "We've got our hands full. This is a heck of a football team and we'll have to be at our best in all three phases and get a few breaks. We're worried about ourselves. We've had good focus and we practiced really well today. I liked the way we practiced."
