Three days before their preseason finale and 13 days before their regular-season opener, the Texans had a light jog-through practice on Monday at the Methodist Training Center.
Defensive end J.J. Watt (dislocated left elbow) and nose tackle Shaun Cody (lower back) returned to practice after missing several weeks with injuries. Coach Gary Kubiak said if the Texans were playing this week, the two starters "would be ready to go."
Linebacker Brian Cushing (ribs), center Chris Myers (illness) and wide receiver Andre Johnson (ribs) did not practice on Monday, but all three are expected to be fine for the Texans' Week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 9.
Johnson fell on the football while trying to make a leaping catch against the New Orleans Saints on Saturday night. He got the wind knocked out of him and went to the locker room for X-rays, which were negative. Johnson said after the game that he was fine and would have returned if it were a regular-season game.
"Andre's doing good," Kubiak said Monday. "He's feeling good. We just gave him a couple days. Pretty sore coming out of the game, but he was fine today."
Kubiak said that Cushing, who did not travel with the Texans to New Orleans, and Myers, who left the Saints game early because he was feeling sick, were also doing well.
"They worked out with the trainers away from us," Kubiak said. "They worked harder than the guys at practice, I can tell you that. We just did a jog-through, so they're doing fine. Whether or not they get any time with this short week, we really only have one day tomorrow that we're going to have a full-speed practice. I'm OK with them continuing to work with Kap (director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer Geoff Kaplan). We just need to make sure they get some work in."
Most of the Texans' starters will not play on Thursday against the Minnesota Vikings.
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