One phrase that never gets old throughout the city of Houston is, “Ten Toes Down.” Now I know some of you all are not familiar with it and others are reading this saying, “I have used that ever since I was a kid.” The phrase literally means that no matter what a person goes through, they will always have both feet planted on the ground ready to take on any adversity that may come their way.

I am almost certain that the Houston Texans have uttered that sentence more than once this year and probably will make it a rally cry heading into the final weeks of the 2020 NFL season. The Texans were hit pretty hard this week when star wide receiver Will Fuller and cornerback Bradley Roby was suspended six games each for violating the leagues substance abuse policy.

That news wipes out the positive strides the Texans have made over the last couple of weeks and puts them in a very bad predicament with three combined games against their divisional foes Indianapolis Colts (2) and the Tennessee Titans (1). Yet Houston has no plans on giving up on the rest of the season.

“What we’ll have to do now is everybody as a group will have to tighten the belt straps and put our best foot forward and get ready for the game on Sunday,” said interim head coach Romeo Crennel when asked about the difficulties of losing two key players. “The attitude of the team, the work ethic of the team is still in place. We’ve got guys who work hard, who are going to play hard, who are going to give their best. Like I told them this morning, we have enough in the room that we can win, so that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Houston has overcome a rough 0-4 start to the season and is currently on a two-game winning streak with quarterback Deshaun Watson and defensive end J.J. Watt leading the way. Watt, who scored a touchdown on Thanksgiving against the Lions knows that the Texans have no time for excuses.

“Next man’s got to step up and play good football,” Watt said about the suspensions of Fuller and Roby. “That’s really all that you can do.”