HOUSTON – The healthy return of hard-hitting nickel Jalen Pitre provides more than a hammer for the Texans’ defense.

His unique skill set as a hybrid defensive player is hard to find, and extremely difficult to replace.

Now, Pitre returns from a concussion that sidelined him for three games. And the Texans get back Pitre for their top-ranked defense in time for pivotal AFC South showdown against the division-leading Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Pitre, a Stafford graduate signed to a three-year, $42.6 million contract extension in the offseason that included $29.156 million guaranteed, gives a 6-5 team a big boost in the playoff hunt from a strategy standpoint.

“Jalen, he opens our playbook up, the full playbook,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We can do a lot o

See Full Page