Not anymore.

Even as they seem to lose a key player every week, the Texans (9-3) have stayed on point, winning six straight games and surging to the doorstep of that elusive first postseason berth.

Houston plays at Cincinnati (7-5) on Sunday and can clinch the AFC South with a victory and a Tennessee loss to New Orleans, but no one in the locker room is talking about the potential milestone nor the magnitude of the moment when the young franchise finally makes its breakthrough.

Maybe that says it all about how much this team has grown up, and where it seems to be heading.

“You don’t hear much about it, you don’t hear a lot of talk about it,” said right tackle Eric Winston, a third-round pick in 2006. “It’s just, ‘Hey, we need to take care of our business, and do our deal.’

“If we keep racking up wins, no matter if it happens this week, or in two weeks, it’s going to happen.”

For most of the team’s history, it seemed as though it never would.

The Texans beat Dallas 19-10 in their inaugural game in 2002 — still one of the franchise’s greatest victories — then languished through five losing seasons.

Houston went 8-8 in 2007 and expectations began to swell, but just when the Texans seemed poised to take flight, something bizarre always seemed to knock them down.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike damaged Reliant Stadium, postponing Houston’s home opener and forcing the Texans to begin the season with three straight road games. The eventual home opener then turned disastrous, with backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels’ fumbles and interceptions helping Peyton Manning and Indianapolis rally from 17 points down in the fourth quarter for a 31-27 victory.

In 2009, Arizona stuffed Houston on three plays from the 1-yard line in the final minute of a 28-21 Texans loss. Later that year, Kris Brown missed last-second field-goal tries in consecutive weeks, and coach Gary Kubiak signed off on a halfback pass that Jacksonville intercepted, sealing a 23-18 defeat.

Last year, the Texans lost middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans, then lost games on a last-second pass from midfield (at Jacksonville), a last-minute, 72-yard drive (against the New York Jets) and an interception return in overtime (against Baltimore).

Fans began calling for Kubiak and general manager Rick Smith to be fired, while inside the locker room the team bonded together.

“It would’ve been pretty easy at a lot of junctures last year, for this team to split apart,” right tackle Eric Winston said. “We never did, and I think that says a lot about the character of the guys. Everyone believed we were on the right course. We just hit a bad detour.”

At times, things seemed to be falling apart again this season.

Star receiver Andre Johnson hurt his right hamstring without anyone touching him and sacks leader Mario Williams tore a chest muscle in consecutive weeks. Key offseason acquisition Danieal Manning then broke his left leg intercepting a pass, Matt Schaub broke his right foot on a quarterback sneak, of all things, and backup Matt Leinart broke his left collarbone less than two quarters into his first start in two years.

Read More: Lawrence Vickers (FB – HOU), Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), Brian Cushing (LB – HOU), Glover Quin (DB – HOU), Garrett Graham (TE – HOU), Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are down to T. J. Yates as their starting quarterback as Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart are out for the year with injuries. However, the Texans are expecting more from wide receiver Andre Johnson who has been out since Week 4 with a hamstring injury and had a poor performance last week. Johnson was limited in practice all week only as a precaution.

Here’s the rest of Friday’s edition of the Texans injury report for Week 13:

Read More: Brian Cushing (LB – HOU), Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans

Brian Cushing was held out of practice by the Houston Texans medical staff on Wednesday, Coach Gary Kubiak said Cushing was “just beat up,” so he is still expected to start Sunday versus the Atlanta Falcons.

Here is the full injury report on the Houston Texans on Wednesday:

Did not participate: DT Tim Bulman (calf), LB Brian Cushing (ribs), FB Lawrence Vickers (hamstring)

Limited participation: LB Mister Alexander (shoulder), DT Shaun Cody (toe, ankle), LB Tim Dobbins (shoulder), TE Garrett Graham (hamstring), WR Andre Johnson (knee), CB Johnathan Joseph (hip), S Glover Quin (elbow), DE Antonio Smith (shoulder, back), G Wade Smith (ankle)

Full participation: CB Jason Allen (thumb), G Mike Brisiel (ankle), TE Owen Daniels (knee), TE Joel Dreessen (neck), S Danieal Manning (ankle)

Fore more on the Falcons, check out The Falcoholic. For info on the Houston Texans, check out Battle Red Blog, and for everything NFL, visit SB Nation’s NFL page.

Read More: Jason Allen (CB – HOU), Lawrence Vickers (FB – HOU), Tim Bulman (DE – HOU), Owen Daniels (TE – HOU), Andre Johnson (WR – HOU), DeMeco Ryans (LB – HOU), Tim Dobbins (LB – HOU), Danieal Manning (S – HOU), Jesse Nading (LB – HOU), James Casey (FB – HOU), Garrett Graham (TE – HOU), Earl Mitchell (DT – HOU), Mister Alexander (LB – HOU), Bryan Braman (LB – HOU), Houston Texans

After a two month absence the Houston Texans will be welcoming back star wide receiver Andre Johnson. Johnson was able to fully participate in each practice this week for the first time since injuring his hamstring. That is the good news for the Texans this week since they already knew they will be without Matt Schaub for the year.

Danieal Manning is returning from an ankle injury and has already been announced the starter by head coach Gary Kubiak. Lawrence Vickers, Garrett Graham and Tim Bulman are game-time decisions on Sunday.

DID NOT PARTICIPATE: Defensive end Tim Bulman (calf, questionable), tight end Garrett Graham (hamstring, doubtful) and running back Lawrence Vickers (hamstring, questionable).

LIMITED PARTICIPATION: Linebacker Mister Alexander (shoulders, probable), safety Danieal Manning (ankle, probable) and DE Antonio Smith (shoulder, probable).

FULL PARTICIPATION: Corner back Jason Allen (knee, probable), Linebacker Bryan Braman (thigh, probable), Running back James Casey (chest, probable), tight end Owen Daniels (knee, probable), Linebacker Tim Dobbins (hamstring, probable), Wide receiver Andre Johnson (hamstring, probable), Defensive tackle Earl Mitchell (ankle probable), defensive end Jesse Nading (shoulder, hip, probable), linebacker DeMeco Ryans (shoulder, probable).

For the latest news and notes on the Texans, check out Battle Red Blog. 

Kubiak was hoping Schaub might still return this season after he was hurt in Houston’s 37-9 win over Tampa Bay on Nov. 13. But Schaub met with several doctors and talked to Kubiak early Wednesday about the disappointing diagnosis.

“Well, that there’s no way that any rest would allow him the opportunity to go play. It was just too risky,” Kubiak said. “It’s something he needs to get fixed for his future, so that’s what we got to go do. We’ve got to go do what’s best for him.”

Matt Leinart will start for Houston (7-3) at Jacksonville (3-7) on Sunday. Rookie T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick, will be the backup, and Clemens will take the No. 3 spot on the depth chart.

Schaub was averaging only 29 pass attempts per game, but had completed 61 percent of his throws this season. His 96.8 rating ranks sixth, and his 15 touchdown passes rank ninth.

The Texans haven’t needed Schaub to put up big numbers like he did last year, because running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate have both played well and helped Houston rank second in rushing (158 yards per game).

“It’s not his fault we weren’t throwing it that much,” Kubiak said, “but when we threw it, he was throwing it as good as anybody and he made probably as many big plays as anybody in the league.

“Everything he was doing,” Kubiak said, “he was a better play this year than he’d been for me the previous four years. I think Matt’s going to have a great career.”

Now, it’s up to Leinart to help Houston earn its first playoff berth in franchise history. The Texans have a two-game lead in the AFC South with six to play.

Kubiak said Schaub will be back at practice on Thursday to assist in getting the other quarterbacks ready, and Leinart says Schaub will be on the sideline Sunday to help him.

“I’m going to pick up where he (Schaub) left off and get us into good situations and do what he was doing,” Leinart said. “I know he’s going to be there every day supporting me. I’m sure I’ll turn to him for a bunch of things.

“We all know he’ll do everything to get back as soon as he can,” Leinart said. “But he’s going to be here, helping big-time.”

Leinart has started only one game since 2007, when he played for Arizona. Clemens tried out for the Texans on Monday, along with Jeff Garcia, Trent Edwards, Brodie Croyle and Chase Clement.

Clemens had an edge because he was in training camp with Washington and coach Mike Shanahan, Kubiak’s former mentor. The Redskins’ offensive coordinator is Kyle Shanahan, Mike’s son, who was Kubiak’s offensive coordinator with the Texans from 2008-09.

Since he was cut by the Redskins on Sept. 3, Clemens has mostly been working out in his home state of Washington, waiting for an opportunity to re-enter the league.

“The offense, there’s some carryover,” said Clemens. “It’s been as easy a transition as it could be in one day. I’ve only been official for a few hours.”

Meanwhile, star receiver Andre Johnson and safety Danieal Manning were back for the team’s first full practice following the bye week after both missed several games with injuries.

Johnson has been out since hurting his right hamstring in the Texans’ 17-10 win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 2, an injury that required minor surgery to repair. Manning has made a quicker-than-expected recovery after breaking his left fibula in Houston’s 41-7 win over Tennessee on Oct. 23.

Kubiak expects Johnson and Manning to both play in Jacksonville.

Schaub is the 10th Texans player to go on injured reserve this season, joining a group that includes outside linebacker Mario Williams (torn chest muscle) and linebacker Darryl Sharpton (dislocated shoulder).

Schaub’s durability was questioned after he missed games in the 2007 and ‘08 seasons with various injuries. But the quarterback started all 16 games for Houston in 2009 and 2010.

Clemens was a second-round pick by the New York Jets in the 2006 draft and backed up Chad Pennington. Clemens started only nine games for the Jets, eight in the 2007 season when the team finished 4-12.

He was eventually demoted to No. 3 on the depth chart after Rex Ryan became the coach, and the team drafted Mark Sanchez in 2009. Clemens became a free agent after the 2010 season, signed with Washington before training camp began.

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