Okay, let’s talk about Nico Collins and Week 11. This has been on my mind quite a bit, especially with fantasy playoffs getting closer for some folks, or just wanting to see the Texans do well.
My Digging Process for Collins’ Status
So, the first thing I did when Week 11 prep started was flag Nico Collins. He popped up big time before that calf injury sidelined him, right? You don’t just forget about a guy like that. The question was, would he be back?
My usual routine kicked in. I started by hitting up the main sports news outlets. Just a quick scan, see what the headlines were saying early in the week. Mostly just ‘Collins dealing with calf injury’, ‘status uncertain’. Pretty standard stuff, not much meat on the bone there.
Then I moved onto the practice reports. This is usually where you get the first real hints. I kept checking the Texans’ official reports each day they came out.
- Wednesday: Saw he didn’t practice. Okay, not great, but it was early. Sometimes vets get rest days, or they’re cautious early on. Didn’t panic yet.
- Thursday: Boom. Limited participation. Now we’re talking. That’s a step in the right direction. Limited is way better than DNP (Did Not Practice). It shows he’s actually out there, doing something.
- Friday: Another limited session. Consistency is good. Two limited days often points towards a ‘questionable’ tag, but leans towards playing.
But practice reports are only part of the picture. You gotta listen to what the coaches are saying, even if it feels like decoding a secret language sometimes. I caught some press conference snippets. Coach Ryans was saying Nico was ‘progressing’, ‘working his way back’. You know, coach-speak. Hopeful, but non-committal. They never want to give too much away, do they?
Next step, I lurked around social media, looking at what the beat writers were saying. Those folks are usually at practice, they see things. Saw some comments about him running routes, looking okay-ish. Nothing definitive like ‘he’s 100%!’, but again, leaning positive. They seemed cautiously optimistic based on what they saw.
Putting It All Together
So after all that poking around, checking reports, trying to read between the lines of coach interviews… what’s the deal?
It really felt like he was genuinely questionable, but leaning towards playing. The limited practices were the biggest clue. Teams don’t usually let a guy practice, even limited, if there isn’t a decent shot he’ll suit up on game day. Especially with a muscle thing like a calf, you don’t want setbacks.
My final take based on my digging? I prepared as if he would play against the Cardinals in Week 11. The signs pointed that way. But you always gotta remember, especially with soft tissue injuries, things can change fast. A pre-game warmup could go wrong, or the team might just decide to be extra cautious.
So yeah, that was my process. Checking the news, digging into practice reports day-by-day, listening to the coach talk, and trying to get a feel from the local reporters. It’s never a perfect science, but doing the homework usually gives you a better idea than just guessing.
