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The former Raiders' star punter, now a team MVP candidate for the Texans, has been battling a nasty case of the flu all week. He spent the last two days in the hospital, but he fully expects to play against his former team on Sunday. The Mothership's Drew Dougherty broke the news late yesterday.
"He’s doing better this afternoon," Kubiak said. "He will stay tonight and he’s expected to be released tomorrow."
"You may not see him here all week. He sent word to me today, ‘Hey, I’ll definitely be there to do my job.’ I think he’ll be OK."
Lechler has averaged 48.7 yards per punt this season, and broke the career 50,000 yard barrier in last week's game against Arizona. He has been one of the rare bright spots for the Texans this year.
Let's hope he is released today as planned and is able to be on the field in Reliant this Sunday. If Shane is unable to play, Randy Bullock will punt for your Houston Texans, and Matt Schaub will possibly be the holder for field goals. As difficult as this season has been already, I don't think any of us are ready to see Joe Marciano's Special Teams fall even further into the abyss.
11/14 Update on Injury Status:
DID NOT PARTICIPATE
TE Ryan Griffin
CB Kareem Jackson
P Shane Lechler
CB Elbert Mack
ILB Joe Mays
ILB Mike Mohamed - Hamstring
LIMITED PARTICIPATION
ILB Darryl Sharpton
G Wade Smith - Knee
RB Ben Tate - Ribs
The complete injury report can be found by clicking HERE to go to the Houston Texans' main website, which also includes the Raiders injury report as of 11/14/2013.
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