–The Texans had four 2019 Pro Bowl selections: WR DeAndre Hopkins, OLB Jadeveon Clowney, DE J.J. Watt and ILB Benardrick McKinney. QB Deshaun Watson, RB Lamar Miller, S Tyrann Mathieu and CB Kareem Jackson were all selected as alternates.
Bill O’Brien was happy for the Texans selected.
“It’s great for them,” O’Brien said of the group. “I congratulated them this morning in the team meeting. It’s a fantastic honor.”
–Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn was selected as the AFC special teams player of the week after his performance against the New York Jets. Fairbairn made five field goals and two extra points, and he currently leads in the NFL in field goals made.
“He’s done an excellent job,” O’Brien said of Fairbairn. “He really has. He was 5-for-5 last week, 2-for-2 on PATs. He did a great job. I think he was like 5-of-8, relative to his kickoffs, how we grade his kickoffs. He’s done a really good job for us. Again, another guy that we’re glad we have him on our team.”
–Wide receiver DeAndre Carter is going to face off against the team that released him during the season allowing the Texans to claim him off the waiver wire. Eagles head coach Doug Peterson gave his thoughts on his former player in Carter.
“I think, one, it was fortunate for us to have had him and coached him,” Pederson said of Carter. “This kid is a hard worker. He’s explosive, he’s quick and the Texans are fortunate to have him. He’s a guy that if he gets offensive snaps, obviously, they can move him around the formation. He’s smart, he understands concepts and then of course his returns are very explosive. He did that for us and he’s doing that for the Texans now.”
–Safety Andre Hal needs one interception to pass Marcus Coleman and Aaron Glenn (11) for the fourth-most career interceptions in franchise history.
–Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins needs two touchdown reception to tie his own franchise record for the most touchdown receptions in a single season. He had 13 touchdown receptions in 2017. Hopkins also needs six receptions to pass the 100-reception plateau for the second time in his career.
–Quarterback Deshaun Watson needs 209 passing yards to become the first quarterback to throw for at least 5,550 yards and 40 touchdowns and rush for 700 yards a player’s first 22 career games in NFL history.
–Defensive end J.J. Watt needs 0.5 sacks to record his fourth-career season with at least 15.0 sacks, which is the second-most in NFL history behind only Reggie White (five).
BY THE NUMBERS: 3 — The number of points that K Ka’imi Fairbairn needs to pass K Shayne Graham (138 in 2012) for the most points scored in a single season in franchise history. Also, Fairbairn is two made field goals from passing K Nick Novak (35 in 2016) for the most made field goals in a single season in Texas history.
