HOUSTON — Houston Texans star receiver Andre Johnson will play against Tennessee on Sunday after missing the past three games because of a strained left hamstring.

Coach Gary Kubiak said Johnson will be on a play count, but wasn’t sure how many. Johnson has played only six games this season after missing six straight with a right hamstring injury that required surgery.

“It was all depending on how the week went and everything went fine this past week, so I’ll be able to go out and play a little bit on Sunday,” Johnson said.

Kubiak said he wants Johnson to play so he’ll be ready to contribute for Houston next weekend in its first playoff game. Johnson also believes getting some work in this week is important.

“I just want to get back in the flow of playing a game,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played. I just want to get back to the game feeling. I think it will show fans that I will be ready to play for the playoffs. So it will give them something to be excited about.”

Johnson is disappointed that he hasn’t been able to play much this season, but after enduring years of losing seasons in Houston, the team’s success this year has kept his attitude positive.

“It’s been a long season with a lot of frustrating times, but there’s still light at the end of the tunnel,” Johnson said.

The AFC South champions have lost two straight heading into Sunday’s game after reeling off seven consecutive wins. While the outcome can’t change their playoff position, they hope to build momentum for the postseason.

“We want to go out and win this game and get back to playing football the way we had when we were on our winning streak,” Johnson said. “We need to come out and eliminate those mistakes that we’ve been having for the past couple of weeks.”

Johnson has finished with more than 1,200 yards receiving the each of the past three seasons, including a career-high 1,575 in 2008. He has 31 receptions for 471 yards and two touchdowns this season while missing the most games in his career.

CAROLINA PANTHERS 28
HOUSTON TEXANS 13
Paid Attendance: 71,540

THE TEXANS…
· Set the franchise single-season sack record with the 38th of the year when NT Earl Mitchell tackled Carolina QB Cam Newton for no gain in the first quarter, breaking the previous mark of 37 set in 2005. The Texans entered the game with 36 sacks on the year.

· Trailed at the end of the first quarter, at halftime and through three quarters for the second consecutive week and the third time this season in each instance. Houston fell to 1-2 in all three instances.

· Were shut out in the first half for the first time this season.

· Scored on their opening drive of the second half for the eighth time this season and for the second consecutive week when K Neil Rackers booted a 26-yard field goal.

· Team captains were C Chris Myers on offense; ILB Brian Cushing, ILB DeMeco Ryans and DE Antonio Smith on defense; and K Neil Rackers representing the special teams.

· The Texans won the toss and elected to receive.

· Total paid attendance was 71,540, which was the third-largest crowd this season and third-largest in team history. The Houston Texans have sold out all 99 home games, including preseason and regular-season contests, in franchise history.

G THOMAS AUSTIN
· Made his professional debut, taking the field with the kickoff return unit on the opening kickoff.

OLB CONNOR BARWIN
· Sacked Carolina QB Cam Newton for a 10-yard loss on the Panthers’ opening drive, giving him 10.5 for the year. Barwin became the second Texan to notch double-digit sacks in a season, joining Mario Williams, who did so in 2007 and 2008.

G ANTOINE CALDWELL
· Made his first start of the season at RG. He started seven games in 2010, including the last three games of the season.

ILB BRIAN CUSHING
· Led the team with 12 tackles, including nine solos and one tackle for loss. It was the 10th game this season in which Cushing led the team or tied for the team lead in tackles.

TE OWEN DANIELS
· Extended his streak of consecutive games played with a reception to 67 on a 17-yard reception in the third quarter.

FS QUINTIN DEMPS
· Returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 50 yards. It was his longest kick return as a Texan and his longest since 11/23/08 when he had a 100-yard return for a touchdown at Baltimore as a Philadelphia Eagle.

RB ARIAN FOSTER
· Surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive season on is seventh carry of the game, a gain of 18. The run gave him 1,010 yards on the year, making him the second player in team history to top 1,000 rushing yards in consecutive season along with Domanick Williams in 2003-04.

· Became the fifth player in NFL history to surpass 1,000 rushing yards and 600 receiving yards in consecutive seasons. He topped 600 receiving yards on the year with his fifth catch of the day, a 22-yard gain in the fourth quarter, which gave him 601 yards on the season.

· Went over 100 yards for the sixth time this season and the 14th time in his career. He topped the century mark on a 6-yard gain in the fourth quarter, his 13th rush of the game, and finished with 109 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.

· Scored his ninth rushing touchdown of the season and the 28th of his career when he dove into the end zone from 2 yards out. Foster has scored a rushing touchdown in eight of Houston’s last nine games.

WR BRYANT JOHNSON
· Doubled his season reception total with a pair of catches on Houston’s second drive. He entered the game with two receptions for 22 yards on the year and caught two passes for 23 yards on that drive.

WR JACOBY JONES
· Returned a third-quarter punt 42 yards. It was his fifth return of 40 or more yards this season.

WR JEFF MAEHL
· Made his NFL debut after being signed off of the Texans’ practice squad on Wednesday. Maehl saw his first action on the punt return unit in the first quarter.

NT EARL MITCHELL
· Registered his first sack of the season when he tackled Carolina QB Cam Newton for no gain in the first quarter. It was his second career sack.

K NEIL RACKERS
· Scored seven points in the game to increase his season total to 115, tying Kris Brown’s 2007 point total for the third-most in franchise history.

FB LAWRENCE VICKERS
· Caught his fourth pass of the game, a four-yarder in the third quarter, to set a career single-game high. Vickers’ previous high was three receptions on 11/4/07 vs. Seattle as a member of the Cleveland Browns.

DE J.J. WATT
· Tied a career high with seven tackles, including five solos, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit. He also made seven tackles in Week 12 at Jacksonville (11/27).

QB T.J. YATES
· Completed his first eight pass attempts, gaining 60 yards on those throws. His ninth pass of the game was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell incomplete.

· Finished the game 19-of-30 for 212 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions, giving him a passer rating of 56.5.

December 9, 2011 – United Football League (UFL)
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Friday, December 9, 2011 – Former Omaha Nighthawks quarterback JEFF GARCIA has signed with the Houston Texans and is one of three players with United Football League experience to sign with National Football League clubs this week.

Offensive tackle TONY UGOH, who helped the Las Vegas Locos reach a third successive UFL Championship Game in 2011, has signed to the active roster of the New York Giants.

Defensive tackle DEMARIO PRESSLEY, who posted 10 tackles during the 2011 campaign with the Nighthawks, has signed to the practice squad of the Carolina Panthers.

Safety DA’MON CROMATIE-SMITH, who was a member of the 2010 Sacramento Mountain Lions, was activated from the practice squad to the active roster of the Pittsburgh Steelers and played in Thursday night’s 14-3 win over the Cleveland Browns, posting one special teams tackle.

Jeff Garcia was the Nighthawks starter during the team’s inaugural 2010 season, completing 132 of 225 pass attempts for 1,321 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and also rushed for 68 yards. He won two Offensive Player of the Week awards.

Garcia played five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers during an illustrious career that includes time spent with the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was MVP of the 1998 Grey Cup and a four-time all-star in the Canadian Football League while playing for the Calgary Stampeders. He was voted to three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2000 to 2002, and was honored again in 2007 as a member of the Buccaneers.

“Jeff is a true competitor and his leadership was evident during the first season of the Nighthawks,” said UFL Vice President of Football Operations BRENDAN ROWE. “We are delighted that he has another opportunity to further his career with the Texans and congratulate him on this latest success.”

Garcia joins fellow former UFL quarterbacks JOSH MCCOWN (Hartford Colonials / Chicago Bears), J.P. LOSMAN (Las Vegas Locos / Miami Dolphins) and RICHARD BARTEL (Sacramento Mountain Lions / Arizona Cardinals) on active NFL rosters.

• Discuss this story on the United Football League message board…

• Digg this story

• Add to Del.icio.us

• Quarterback Jeff Garcia Signs With Houston Texans – UFL

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

ATLANTA FALCONS 10
HOUSTON TEXANS 17
Paid Attendance: 71,545

THE WIN…
· Extended the Texans’ winning streak to six games, setting a franchise record for consecutive wins in a season. Houston previously won six games over two seasons in 2009-10, winning the last four games of the 2009 season and opening 2010 with consecutive victories.

· Matched the franchise single-season wins record, equaling the total from 2009 when the Texans finished 9-7.

· Improved Houston’s record at Reliant Stadium to 5-1 on the season.

· Gave the Texans a 2-1 record against the AFC South on the year.

· Improved Houston’s record against Atlanta to 2-1 all-time and 2-0 at home.

HEAD COACH GARY KUBIAK
· Evened his career record at 46-46 with the Texans.

· Improved his record at Reliant Stadium to 29-17.

· Unsuccessfully challenged a call in the first quarter of a fumble by QB T.J. Yates. The unsuccessful challenge dropped Kubiak’s record to 2-4 this season and 12-26 in his career.

THE TEXANS…
· Won the time of possession battle for the 10th time this season, holding the ball for 35:04, and improved to 8-2 in those games.

· Outrushed their opponent for the eighth time this season, outgaining Atlanta 162-70 on the ground, and improved to 7-1 in those games.

· Posted a positive turnover margin for the eighth time this season, recording two takeaways and giving the ball away once. Houston improved to 6-2 in those games.

· Held the Falcons to 10 points, marking the ninth game this season and the sixth consecutive game in which Houston has held its opponent under 20 points. Houston is 9-0 in those games.

· Intercepted a pass for the 11th consecutive game.

· Registered a season-high 13 passes defensed, topping the previous high of nine vs. Jacksonville (10/30).

· Scored first for the 10th time this season and improved to 8-2 in those games.

· Led after the first quarter and at halftime for the 10th time this season. Houston is 8-2 in both instances this season.

· Were tied after three quarters for the first time this season. Houston has led going into the fourth quarter 10 times and trailed once.

· 19-play touchdown drive tied the franchise record, matching the 19-play touchdown drive earlier this year vs. Pittsburgh (10/2).

· The 19-play drive used 10:41 of clock time, making it the second-longest drive in team history in terms of time. The longest consumed 10:55, a 19-play, 95-yard touchdown drive earlier this year vs. Pittsburgh (10/2).

· Total paid attendance for today’s game was 71,545, marking the 98th consecutive home sellout for the Texans. Houston has sold out every home game, including preseason and regular-season games, in franchise history.

· Team captains were WR Andre Johnson and C Chris Myers on offense, ILB Brian Cushing, ILB DeMeco Ryans and DE Antonio Smith on defense and K Neil Rackers representing the special teams.

· The Falcons won the toss and elected to receive.

CB JASON ALLEN
· Intercepted his fourth pass of the season and the 15th of his career when he picked off Atlanta QB Matt Ryan in the first quarter. He returned the interception 34 yards, which was the longest return of his career.

ILB BRIAN CUSHING
· Tied for the team lead with six tackles, including five solo stops. It marked the ninth time in 12 games that Cushing either led the team or tied for the team lead in tackles.

TE OWEN DANIELS
· Caught a pass in his 65th consecutive game when he hauled in a 17-yard throw in the first quarter.

· Surpassed 3,500 career receiving yards on his second catch of the game, an 8-yard gain in the first quarter. Daniels entered the game with 3,481 career yards.

TE JOEL DREESSEN
· Caught his career-high fifth touchdown pass of the season when he hauled in a 3-yard throw from QB T.J. Yates in the second quarter. The touchdown was the 12th of his career.

RB ARIAN FOSTER
· Surpassed 100 rushing yards for the fifth time this season and the 14th time in his career. He reached the mark on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter. Foster finished the game with 111 rushing yards on 31 carries and one touchdown.

· Scored a rushing touchdown in his sixth consecutive game, matching the longest streak in franchise history. Domanick Williams rushed for touchdowns in the last six games of the 2004 season.

· Scored his eighth rushing touchdown of the season and the 27th of his career when he plunged in from 1 yard out in the fourth quarter.

P BRETT HARTMANN
· Boomed a 66-yard punt in the third quarter. It was the second-longest punt in team history, trailing his 69-yard effort in Week 2 at Miami (9/18). He now has three punts of 60 yards or more this season.

CB KAREEM JACKSON
· Registered his first interception of the season and the third of his career when he picked off Atlanta QB Matt Ryan in the first quarter.

WR ANDRE JOHNSON
· Extended his franchise-record streak of consecutive games played with a reception to 81 with a 5-yard catch in the first quarter.

· Passed Joey Galloway (701) for 33rd on the NFL’s all-time receptions list with his second catch of the game, a gain of 20 yards in the first quarter.

· Caught a season-long 50-yard pass in the second quarter from QB T.J. Yates in the second quarter. The catch set up a Texans touchdown three plays later.

QB T.J. YATES
· Made his first career start. He became the first rookie to start on offense for the Texans this season and the third member of the Texans’ 2011 draft class to start a game, joining DE J.J. Watt and OLB Brooks Reed.

· Became the third rookie to start at quarterback, joining David Carr (2002) and Dave Ragone (2003).

· Completed 12-of-25 passes for 188 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, giving him a passer rating of 86.8.

· Led the first fourth-quarter game-winning drive of his career, taking the Texans on a 19-play, 85-yard drive that culminated with RB Arian Foster’s 1-yard touchdown run with 6:05 remaining in the game. The touchdown broke a 10-10 tie and proved to be the winning score.

· Surpassed Dave Ragone (135) for the second-most yards by a Texans rookie quarterback in team history with a 28-yard throw to RB Arian Foster in the second quarter. The completion gave him 82 yards in the game and 152 on the season.

· Threw his first career touchdown pass when he hit TE Joel Dreessen from 3 yards out in the second quarter.

· Surpassed the team record for most passing yards by a rookie in his first career start before halftime. A 9-yard pass to RB Arian Foster in the second quarter gave him 154 yards in the game, moving him past David Carr’s total of 145 yards in his first start vs. Dallas on 9/8/02, the first game in team history.

HOUSTON –

The stars and even their backups keep falling for the Houston Texans.

This team has weathered season-ending injuries to linebacker Mario Williams and quarterback Matt Schaub as well as playing for six games without Andre Johnson, yet managed to remain atop the AFC South standings.

Now this resilient bunch will face its toughest test when rookie third-string quarterback T.J. Yates makes his first NFL start against the Atlanta Falcons (7-4) on Sunday.

Yates saw his first NFL action in a 20-13 win over Jacksonville last week after backup Matt Leinart was injured. Leinart broke his left collarbone and is out for the season, leaving Yates as the Texans’ best option (for now) as they try to secure their first playoff berth.

This certainly isn’t the scenario the Texans envisioned when the season began. Still, they insist there’s no reason for panic and that they’ll deal with this setback just as they’ve handled everything else thrown at them this year.

“Nothing’s changed. We’ve been dealing with injuries all year,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s running around here like things are supposed to be bad, but the team is fine.”

Johnson has plenty of reasons to be confident. The Texans (8-3) have the league’s top defense (measured by yards allowed), the third-most potent running game and have won five straight heading into Sunday’s game.

Yates, a fifth-round pick out of North Carolina, doesn’t seem daunted by his new responsibility.

“I wasn’t expecting for it to come under these circumstances and this quick in my career, but I’ve been preparing for it all season long just in case something like this was going to happen,” he said.

Yates was 8 of 15 for 70 yards against Jacksonville after Leinart was injured in the second quarter.

Falcons coach Mike Smith isn’t expecting much of a drop-off with Yates in at quarterback.

“It is a system offense. Coach (Gary) Kubiak’s offense has a system and it’s really based, in my mind, around the running game and the running game sets up everything else,” Smith said. “The way that they’ve thrown the ball, it’s all predicated off the run game. Even though it’s not going to be the quarterback that we thought it was going to be three weeks ago, I don’t anticipate seeing any changes in terms of what they’re going to try to do offensively.”

Atlanta cornerback and former Texan Dunta Robinson agrees.

“It’s going to be a little bit different, but the way that their offense works, it really doesn’t matter who they have at quarterback,” Robinson said. “All (Yates) has to do is take care of the football and not really try to do too much, not make any mistakes. But they still have all of their weapons and we’re more focused on those guys than we are who’s playing quarterback and what’s going to happen at quarterback.”

The Texans will have to run the ball more effectively than last week, when they finished with 88 yards rushing, well below their almost 152 yards a game average. It won’t be easy against a defense yielding the second-fewest yards rushing a game in the NFL at less than 84.

Running back Arian Foster said Houston’s focus this week shouldn’t be on how Yates will perform, but rather how each player can help the rookie.

“I’ve got to make sure I play the best that I can for him and for our team,” Foster said. “I think if everybody takes that mind frame and just doesn’t worry about who’s at quarterback and just worry about doing your job, it’s going to make his job that much easier.”

The Falcons are also looking to make a playoff push and have won two straight to sit second in the NFC South behind New Orleans. Their recent success has been aided by the solid play of Matt Ryan, who has thrown for 578 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in those last two games.

Smith knows Ryan and his offense will be in for a challenge against a Houston defense that is getting better every week. Smith is impressed with the turnaround Wade Phillips has orchestrated in his first season with the Texans, and calls him one of the top defensive coordinators in NFL history.

“They are very sound and not necessarily overcomplicated, but man, do they give you fits,” Smith said. “When you get done watching that tape, you can see why they’re 8-3 and the No. 1 team in the AFC with the best record.”

The Texans had seven sacks against the Jaguars, four from outside linebacker Connor Barwin, a third-year player who is having a breakout season. He has 34 tackles and leads the team with 8 1/2 sacks.

He said the team’s quarterback woes don’t increase the expectations for the defense. They’re simply looking to improve no matter what’s going on with the offense.

“I don’t look at it as pressure,” he said. “You kind of have to elevate your game a little bit and kind of play better, but no matter what’s happening during the season, as the season goes on, as these games become more important, I think you always want to think you need to elevate your game.”

Robinson, drafted in the first round by the Texans — he played his first six seasons in Houston — isn’t surprised by what the team has done this year. He could see the pieces coming together before he left before the 2010 season.

“You knew it was a matter of time,” he said. “You knew this team was going to be successful. We got better and better every year. They’re a team with not a lot of holes. There’s not a lot of weaknesses on this team, period. We got our hands full this week.”