Texans Rule Out Danielle Hunter, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Azeez Al-Shaair vs. Browns; Will Anderson Jr. Questionable

The Houston Texans will head to Cleveland short-handed. Houston on Friday ruled out defensive end Danielle Hunter (hamstring), linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (groin/personal), wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (hamstring), guard Keylan Rutledge (neck/shoulder) and tight end Brevin Jordan (finger/foot) for Sunday's game against the Browns.

The bigger worry may be the player who wasn't ruled out. Will Anderson Jr. is questionable with an ankle injury after he was limited Thursday and didn't practice Friday. Anderson leads the NFL with 9.5 sacks, and Hunter is tied for second on the team with four, so Houston could be missing both of its starting edge rushers at once. Hunter wasn't on Wednesday's report before showing up limited Thursday and then sitting out Friday.

Al-Shaair's absence takes away Houston's top linebacker. He has 68 tackles, 1.5 for loss and three pass breakups this season, and he didn't practice all week. Harrison, who was limited Wednesday before two straight DNPs, has 11 catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns in seven games. Rutledge, a rookie guard, missed every practice this week.

Several others will be game-time calls. Running back David Montgomery (groin), cornerback Jaylin Smith (hamstring), tight end Jake Hummel (groin), guard Wyatt Teller (back/illness) and tackle Trent Brown (wrist) are all questionable. Running back Woody Marks (knee) and receiver Tank Dell (hand/shoulder) practiced fully Friday and carry no designation.

The timing is rough for a 3-5 team trying to climb back into the AFC race. The Texans are coming off their highest-scoring game of the season, a 44-22 win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium, and now face a 5-4 Browns team that plans to start Deshaun Watson at quarterback. Kickoff at Huntington Bank Field is 10 a.m. PT Sunday, and Houston turns around to host the Colts on Thursday night four days later.