Colts

Colts WR Josh Downs and HC Shane Steichen both addressed Downs’ request to be traded amid the team’s current fire sale ahead of the deadline.

“I’m here right now. I’m where my feet are,” Downs said, via ESPN. “We’ve got the Jags this weekend, and so I’m in the game plan. So I’ve got to be ready to go. I’m open to whatever. Whatever comes my way, comes my way.”

“Hey, you’re a professional. Obviously, you requested a trade, but you’re on this football team, and you’ve got to show up. We’ve got to go play a game on Sunday,” Steichen said of his conversation with Downs. “He’s a pro. He practiced this week. He’s ready to go. We’re expecting for him to be his best on Sunday.”

Texans

The Texans’ defense is currently No. 18 in yards allowed and No. 20 in points per game after finishing last season as one of the league’s top units. When asked why they have struggled compared to last season, GM Nick Caserio responded that he doesn’t see any correlation between the two squads. 

“Yeah, every year’s different. One year doesn’t have any bearing on what happens. The ’25 team was the ’25 team. The ’26 team is where we are. There’s really no correlation between what happened last year and where we are this year, other than like we haven’t played good enough collectively as a team. That’s the reality of it. We all look at ourselves in the mirror, that’s what it is,” Caserio said, via TexansWire.

As for what the defense is not doing specifically, Caserio said they are the “worst team in the league in tackling” and are giving up too many big plays. 

“We’re the worst team in the league in tackling. Too many missed tackles. Giving up too many explosive plays. Take those two areas right there. If we tackle better and we give up less explosive plays, then probably see a better result defensively. Taking the ball away. We haven’t really taken the ball away. We’ve done a really good job offensively of taking care of the ball. Pretty close, but I think the least number of turnovers in the league. We’ve done a pretty good job of possessing the ball, taking care of the ball. We haven’t taken the ball. Takeaways, we haven’t taken the ball away. Missing too many tackles. We have given up too many explosive plays, which is why probably we haven’t played as well as we’re capable of defensively.”

In the end, Caserio thinks their players just need to execute rather than Houston having schematic problems. 

“It is a week-to-week league. What a team does, like who we are playing, what are we trying to defend, what are we trying to play against offensively, what are we trying to attack. We have plenty of players, we have plenty of scheme. We just have to execute. We have to execute a little bit better. If we execute a little bit better, the result can be different.”

Titans

Titans QB Cam Ward was asked how he can continue to lead the team following the departure of DT Jeffery Simmons.

“Just continue to be myself,” Ward said, via Titans Wire. “The team really got us together — offense, defense, and special teams. I think the biggest thing that a lot of people don’t know about me is that I’m willing to do anything to win games. So we have a tough schedule coming up, with a bye week, then try to do some for division opponents, and, you know, get what we want from there.”