Texans corner Kamari Lassiter returns to practice, good to go for Sunday, Nick Chubb works on side, listed questionable

HOUSTON – Texans standout cornerback Kamari Lassiter returned to practice Friday morning, in a repeat of last week when he missed two practices due to a lingering foot injury.

Lassiter is expected to play Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals opposite All-Pro corner Derek Stingley Jr.. Lassiter has no injury designation.

It’s the same status for running back Woody Marks (knee), linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (ankle), offensive tackle Trent Brown (broken finger), defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins (elbow, shoulder) and defensive lineman Denico Autry (knee).

“He’s the best tackling corner in the league,” Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke said of Lassiter. “He’s the toughest corner in the league. Honestly, if we didn’t have Sting, we’d probably be talking about him as a different type of corner. He’s an elite corner at this level. I thinks he’s arguably top in the league at some of the skillsets he performs with.”

Lassiter wound up playing extremely well against the Kansas City Chiefs, intercepting a pass and knocking away a potential Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass. He didn’t experience a setback, but was held out of practice Wednesday and Thursday to get more treatment and rest for his foot.

Hours spent in the Texans’ training room and a lot of toughness made the difference for Lassiter against Kansas City. Now, Lassiter will try to do that again Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

“He took a little vet week,” said safety Calen Bullock, Lassiter’s best friend, said after the game.. “We knew he was going to play.”

In other injury news, veteran running back Nick Chubb attended practice Friday and worked on the side with a trainer. He has a rib injury that forced him out of the game Sunday against the Chiefs. If Chubb doesn’t play Sunday, Dare Ogunbowale will fill in as the primary backup to Marks.

Chubb was limited Friday. He is officially questionable along with linebacker E.J. Speed (knee), wide receiver Justin Watson (calf) and tight end Harrison Bryant (neck, shoulder).

Lassiter did much more than line up for the Texans’ top-ranked defense.

He excelled against Mahomes.

When Mahomes tested Lassiter on a deep ball intended for Hollywood Brown, Lassiter delivered a textbook coverage performance. He flipped his hips, twisted his body and leapt to high-point the football for his third interception of the season.

Lassiter also prevented a potential touchdown pass by knocking the football away from wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, finishing the game with six tackles, five solos, two pass breakups and the interception.

He played a big part in stonewalling Mahomes, who completed a career-low completion percentage, going 14 of 33 for 160 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions for a career-low 19.8 passer rating.

“I can’t say enough about the effort from our defense,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Kamari battling all week to come out to make a huge play getting the interception and getting the ball when it was up in the air.”

Two seasons into his NFL career, the former Georgia star and second-round draft pick has six career interceptions and 22 passes defensed.

Lassiter is a force in pass coverage and run support as an aggressive hitter. He has a career-high 72 tackles this season with seven tackles for losses and 12 passes defensed.

The interception was a big-time play.

“His guy ran to the corner, switched it, and I think maybe the quarterback thought that he had something, and I was able to make the play,” Lassiter said. “But that’s just being able to play with guys who are always on the details. Man I play with the best in the world.”

Overall, Lassiter has allowed 46 completions on 77 targets for a 59.7 completion percentage, 562 yards and four touchdowns with 331 air yards yielded and 231 yards after the catch.

Because of the presence of All-Pro corner Derek Stingley Jr., Lassiter is tested much more often as quarterbacks regularly avoid his teammate.

How Lassiter competed was no surprise to Stingley.

“That’s Kamari, every play is 100 percent all the time,” Stingley said. “Doesn’t matter what’s going on, circumstances of the game or whatever, he’s gonna end up with the ball some way, somehow, or he’s gonna knock somebody out. He’s a complete football player.”

Lassiter fought through the pain to make it back on the field.

There was no way he was missing this pivotal game as the Texans’ top-ranked defense led the way in a 20-10 victory over the Chiefs, a Super Bowl runner-up last season.

“Man, shout out to the training staff,” Lassiter said. “I just want to thank God for me being able to even be able to play this game. Because without him, it’s not possible. But the training staff, they really helped me get to this game. And it’s really the guys that I play with, I just want to go out there and play for them.”

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