Texans’ Noah Brown, Robert Woods, Jonathan Greenard, Laremy Tunsil, Maliek Collins not practicing

As the Texans conducted a light walkthrough practice Tuesday afternoon, several key players weren’t participating during the portion open to reporters.

Several of those players may play Saturday night in a pivotal AFC South showdown against the Indianapolis Colts. A victory at Lucas Oil Stadium would assure the 9-7 Texans of qualifying for the playoffs.

Texans Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil (hip, knee, rest), offensive guard Shaq Mason (calf), wide receiver Robert Woods (hip, rest). fullback Andrew Beck (calf) and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (ankle) didn’t practice, but are all expected to play.

Texans defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who leads the team with a career-high 12 1/2 sacks, was at practice and is going to try to play Sunday after missing a win over the Tennessee Titans with an ankle injury. Greenard’s injury isn’t regarded as a long-term injury and could have been much worse.

Defensive tackle Maliek Collins’ status remains in question with a hip-abdominal injury that prevented him from playing against the Titans. Collins didn’t practice Tuesday along with defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (ankle), who is expected to play.

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Wide receiver Noah Brown is considered unlikely to play against the Colts due to back, hip and knee injuries, per a league source. The back injury, technically a transverse process fracture in two spots, is regarded as the most serious issue, per sources.

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.