Texans trying to stay healthy before playoffs with Titans closer to top of NFL draft

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Houston coach DeMeco Ryans is balancing the need to keep his Texans healthy for their AFC wild-card playoff game against the desire to knock off rust after a long break leading into Sunday's regular-season finale.

A little good mojo certainly would help going into the postseason. The Texans also have lost two straight since clinching a second straight AFC South title.

Houston (9-7) is in the midst of an 11-day break since being embarrassed 31-2 by Baltimore on Christmas Day. Beating the Tennessee Titans on Sunday would help the Texans work on some issues before they host a wild-card game as the No. 4 seed. Ryans says he’s planning to play his starters, though he wouldn't say for how long.

“We’ll see how the game goes,” Ryans said.

The Titans (3-13) are on the opposite end of the spectrum. Playoff hopes officially ended Dec. 8 with a loss to Jacksonville, and Tennessee has lost five straight. The Titans currently are set to receive the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft next April. A loss combined with a win by New England over Buffalo would put Tennessee at No. 1 overall for the first time since 2016.

First-year coach Brian Callahan is busy trying to help his team improve and hasn't thought about the idea of a lottery keeping NFL teams from tanking for better draft spots. He called it an interesting question that would be better addressed in the offseason. Two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said his job is trying to win games.

“I’m not going out there with a lose mentality for the draft,” Simmons said. “That’s out of my control and what we do and who we go get in the draft.”

The Titans benched second-year quarterback Will Levis after his four turnovers led to 24 points in a loss to Cincinnati on Dec. 15. Veteran Mason Rudolph started the last two games, yet he couldn't help Tennessee snap a skid that is now seven of eight, including a 20-13 loss last week in Jacksonville.

The lone win? Levis started a 33-27 victory on Nov. 24 at Houston, which gives the Titans at least the chance to sweep the Texans. Combined with how Levis has handled himself since being pulled, he earned his 12th start when Callahan announced Friday that Levis will start. It gives him a last chance to stop turning the ball over before Tennessee decides this offseason what to do at quarterback. Callahan plans to announce his starter late this week.

Levis is just happy for another chance and for his last pass at Nissan Stadium not to be a pick-6.

“All I'm trying to do is play quarterback the best that I can, and it's a good opportunity to try to end the season on a good note," Levis said.

Receiver Diontae Johnson is expected to make his debut for Houston Sunday after being picked up last week following his release by the Ravens. The Texans needed depth at the position after Tank Dell followed Stefon Diggs to the injured list with his season-ending knee injury on Dec. 21.

Johnson played four games for Baltimore after a trade from Carolina before being suspended for refusing to enter a game and then being released on Dec. 20. He has 4,726 yards receiving in a six-year career that started in Pittsburgh. Ryans isn’t worried about his history.

“As I mentioned to him, of course it’s a clean slate starting with me,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter what has happened in the past or what the narrative is about you. You come here and everything is a fresh start and so we’ll see how he can help us, what he can add to our team on the field and off the field.”

The Titans have planned all season to wear their Oilers throwback uniforms Sunday against the team that replaced them in Houston. The throwbacks feature the light blue and red that the Texans have incorporated into their color scheme with Houston fans unhappy that the late Bud Adams took everything connected to the Oilers and their history with him to Tennessee in 1997.

Simmons can’t wait to play in the throwbacks and wants to represent the former players who wore those uniforms for the franchise. He also knows the Texans would love nothing more than to hand the Titans a loss while wearing those uniforms.

“It’s been a bumpy season and being able to close this year out in them uniforms I think, you know, it’ll be a better way to go out,” Simmons said.

AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed to this report.

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Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears (2) runs the ball against the Jacksonville Jaguars safety Andre Cisco (5) and linebacker Devin Lloyd (33) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) is helped off the field after getting injured during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) passes as he is pressured by Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Travis Jones (98) during the second half of an NFL football game, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley (0) is tackled by Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Montaric Brown after catch during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) tries to break a tackle by Houston Texans linebacker Christian Harris, left, during the second half of an NFL football game, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Tennessee Titans quarterback Mason Rudolph (11) is sacked by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen (41) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan looks to the field from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud sits on the bench during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans watches from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen on Sunday announced that he would meet with far-right politician Herbert Kickl as speculation grows that he will ask the Freedom Party leader to form a government.

Van der Bellen made the announcement after meeting with Chancellor Karl Nehammer and others at his presidential palace. Nehammer has announced his intention to resign after coalition talks between his conservative Austrian People's Party and the center-left Social Democrats collapsed over the budget.

Nehammer has ruled out working with Kickl, but others within his party are less adamant. Earlier Sunday, the People's Party nominated its general secretary, Christian Stocker, as interim leader, but the president said Nehammer would remain chancellor for now.

Van der Bellen said that he had spent several hours talking to key officials, after which he got the impression that “the voices within the People's Party who exclude working with the Freedom Party under its leader Herbert Kickl have become quieter.”

The president said that this development has “potentially opened a new path," which has prompted him to invite Kickl for a meeting on Monday morning.

Kickl's Freedom Party topped the polls in the autumn's national election with 29.2% of the vote, but Van der Bellen tasked Nehammer with putting together a new government because no other party was willing to work with Kickl.

That decision drew heavy criticism from the Freedom Party and its supporters, with Kickl saying that it was “not right and not logical” that he did not get a mandate to form a government.

Stocker addressed reporters on Sunday afternoon and confirmed that he had been appointed “unanimously” by his party to serve as interim leader. “I am very honored and happy,” he said.

He also welcomed the decision by the president to meet with Kickl and said that he now expects that the leader of the party that emerged as the clear winner from the last election would be tasked with forming a government.

“If we are invited to negotiations to form a government, we will accept this invitation,” Stocker added.

In the past, Stocker has criticized Kickl, calling him a “security risk” for the country.

In its election program titled “Fortress Austria,” the Freedom Party calls for “remigration of uninvited foreigners,” for achieving a more “homogeneous” nation by tightly controlling borders and suspending the right to asylum via an emergency law.

The Freedom Party also calls for an end to sanctions against Russia, is highly critical of Western military aid to Ukraine and wants to bow out of the European Sky Shield Initiative, a missile defense project launched by Germany. The Freedom Party has also signed a friendship agreement in 2016 with Putin’s United Russia Party that it now claims has expired.

Kickl has criticized “elites” in Brussels and called for some powers to be brought back from the European Union to Austria.

Austria was thrown into political turmoil on Friday after the liberal party Neos pulled out of coalition talks with the the People's Party and the Social Democrats. On Saturday the two remaining parties, who have only a one-seat majority in Parliament, made another attempt to form a government — but that also ended in failure after a few hours, with negotiators saying they were unable to agree on how to repair the budget deficit.

Austrian Peoples' Party (OeVP) secretary general Christian Stocker addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, as the party nominated him as interim leader after the expected resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

Austrian Peoples' Party (OeVP) secretary general Christian Stocker addresses a news conference, in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025, as the party nominated him as interim leader after the expected resignation of Chancellor Karl Nehammer. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

Exterior view of the Austrian Peoples' Party's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Jan. 05, 2025. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader)

FILE - Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer attends a press conference in Vienna on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)