–The Texans snapped a 20-game turnover streak on Sunday by not turning the ball over. It was also the first game this season that quarterback Deshaun Watson did not turn the ball over all season.
–The Texans bussed Watson to and from the game on Sunday in Jacksonville taking precautions for his bruised lung. With Watson not traveling with the team, he was on the bus with team trainers and security personnel making sure everything went smooth. Head coach Bill O’Brien, when asked if the Texans would continue this plan with Watson moving forward, said simply, “No.”
–The return of Dolphins quarterback Brock Osweiler is a hot topic in Houston and his return came at the expense of the injured Ryan Tannehill who has already been ruled out. The Texans are doing everything they can to keep focus on the game between the two teams and not making it an Osweiler showcase game for Thursday night.
Cornerback Johnathan Joseph made it clear what Osweiler did in Houston has no bearing for the game this week.
“Different scheme, different things,” Joseph said of the return of Osweiler. “We’ll get to watch film and kind of see where he is as a player, but it’s nothing like the Texans versus Brock, it’s the Miami Dolphins versus the Houston Texans and you definitely can’t get caught up in that.”
–Defensive end/outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney had one of his more dominating games of the season when he put up seven total tackles, two sacks, four quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“He’s had some real good games for us, but he really played well,” head coach Bill O’Brien said of Clowney. “There’s no doubt about that. He was very disruptive. He’s a very instinctive player. I thought he played loose and free. He wasn’t over-thinking things. He’s got a real knack for going to the ball.”
Clowney is now up to 20 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits through seven games.
–Inside linebacker Zach Cunningham needs 10 total tackles to become the first Texans player to record double-digit tackles in four consecutive games since DeMeco Ryans in 2016.
–Cornerback Johnathan Joseph needs one pass defensed to pass Ray Buchanan (176) for the ninth-most passes defensed in NFL history.
–Texans special teams have been much improved in 2018 under new coordinator Brad Seely. Seely has orchestrated a unit that leads the NFL in limiting opponents’ kickoff return average to 14.4 yards a return, the Texans starting field position at the 32.5 and opponents starting field position at the 25.1. Even more impressive, the Texans’ special teams unit has forced their opponents to start inside their own 10-yard line 19.1 percent of the time, a percentage that leads the NFL.
BY THE NUMBERS: 50 — DeAndre Hopkins needs 50 receiving yards to extend his current streak to 17 with 50 or more receiving yards and tie former NFL wide receivers Antonio Freeman, Cris Carter and Herman Moore for the sixth-longest streak in NFL history.
