"Numbness in his right thumb, caused by unspecified nerve issues in his neck and shoulder, could keep running back Steve Slaton out of the Texans' crucial game with Jacksonville on Sunday. And rookie defensive back Glover Quin, a key reserve in the secondary, is a definite scratch because of the head injury he suffered against the Indianapolis Colts.

But there's good news, too.

It appears left tackle Duane Brown has bounced back sufficiently from the knee sprain he suffered on the next-to-last play of the Colts game and will be able to keep his starting streak intact.

Although Slaton has been bothered by the numbness for several weeks, coach Gary Kubiak said the condition had worsened in the last day or so and the decision was made to hold him out of practice Friday. Neither Kubiak nor Slaton himself would completely discount his chances of playing against the Jaguars, but it appears likely Chris Brown will get the start with Ryan Moats becoming the backup.

"It's an issue," Kubiak said. "It's something that's been bothering Steve. We've been trying to work him through it, but it seems to have gotten worse in the course of the last 24 hours. We'll see. We didn't want him to take reps away from a guy like Ryan who might have to play a lot.

"With the things Steve has to do, trying to protect the ball, holding on to the ball, protecting the quarterback ... it's a concern."

Slaton, who is righthanded, didn't blame his fumbling woes earlier in the season on the loss of feeling in the thumb.

"No, I can't say that had anything to do with it," he said.

Slaton didn't sound overly concerned, suggesting: "It's just something that's going to take some time. I'll wait to Sunday and see how it feels. It's a little scary, I guess, but I've talked to the doctors and they told me it would be fine." "