Fuller says he’s ‘ready to go’
Will Fuller caught his first touchdown pass last Sunday against the Steelers, scoring on a crisp fade route.
And the fastest receiver on the Texans’ roster is planning to duplicate that production Sunday at NRG Stadium against a Vikings defense that has already yielded 877 passing yards and nine touchdown passes.
Fuller was upgraded to full participation Friday after being limited Thursday with a hamstring injury. He had issues with his right hamstring against the Ravens in Week 2 and wasn’t targeted.
“I feel good, I’m ready to go,” Fuller said. “I’m ready to play on Sunday.”
When Fuller is in the lineup, the Texans’ offense is much more dangerous. Fuller has 12 receptions for 166 yards and one touchdown on 15 targets.
During a loss to the Steelers, quarterback Deshaun Watson connected with Fuller and Randall Cobb for his first two touchdown passes to his wide receivers this season.
“It’s always good to get into the end zone,” Fuller said. “We’ve had a great week of practice this week. We’re looking forward to getting into the end zone again this week.
“Every week, I’m looking forward to trying to get it going in the passing game vertically. We think we have a good matchup this week, so we’re looking forward to Sunday and just executing our plan.”
Since the trade of DeAndre Hopkins, the Texans’ offense has been in flux without a true go-to guy. The Texans have divided up throws fairly evenly, with Brandin Cooks leading the team with 18 targets.
“I feel like it’s just a group effort,” Fuller said. “I wouldn’t even put the WR1 label on me. I feel like we all can get it done. I don’t have any added pressure.”
Run defense in fourth ‘troubling’
No one in the NFL has allowed as many rushing yards as the Texans in the
fourth quarter: 250 yards, including 153 rushing yards and 68 yards surrendered the past two weeks against the Ravens and Steelers.
The Texans allow a combined average of 4.85 yards per carry in the first three quarters. In the fourth quarter, that number jumps to 5.68 yards.
“The two most recent games are probably in the fourth, they’re troubling,” Texans defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said. “It’s never been one particular position group, one particular player. Now, what we need to do is not put in ourselves in four-minute situations. We need to play better defense.
“We need to play better defense in the second and third and not give them an opportunity to run the ball in the fourth quarter. But when a team is in that situation and we know they’re going to run the ball, we need all 11 guys doing their job in order to stop the run.”
The Texans are allowing 188.3 rushing yards per contest and have surrendered 565 rushing yards. They’re on pace to allow 3,012 rushing yards and 16 touchdown runs.
They’ve allowed 4.74 yards per carry in the first quarter, 4.92 yards per carry in the second quarter and 4.86 yards per carry in the third quarter. It’s the 5.68 yards per carry in the fourth quarter that’s the most glaring breakdown.
“Definitely not a good look right now, to be honest,” cornerback Bradley Roby said. “The numbers, the stats say one thing, but when you really look at it, you kind of see that a lot of those come up in the fourth quarter. The first couple of games, we’ve been losing in the fourth quarter, so it’s kind of been like a four-minute situation when they’re just running the clock out.
“It’s kind of like we’re not competing, so it’s really just let’s play to the end no matter what the score is. I think this week will be a closer game, I believe. It’s really just finishing strong.”
Johnson ready to play Sunday
Running back Duke Johnson participated fully in practice the past two days without experiencing any setbacks.
After missing the past two games with a sprained left ankle, Johnson is set to return Sunday against the Vikings.
“I think Duke’s looking good and doing well,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said.