New England Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers didn't see action during the preseason while nursing an undisclosed ailment.
Flowers, however, plans to play when the Patriotshost the Houston Texans on Sunday.
"Yeah, man, that's the plan," Flowers said, via Andrew Callahan of MassLive.com. "I play football, so it's time for football to be played."
Flowers' availability comes at a good time when considering the opponent and quarterback Deshaun Watson, a dual-threat quarterback.
The Patriots will need a healthy Flowers, who led the team in sacks the past two seasons, to help defend against the versatile Watson, who rushed for 269 yards and two touchdowns in 2017 before suffering a torn ACL.
Watson is now healthy, and the Patriots' sack leader knows he and his defensive teammates will be tested.
"He's a guy that's definitely hard to bring down, definitely hard to play, especially in my position," Flowers said. "He's a guy that we've got to contain, got to make sure we stay disciplined in our rush lanes and keep eyes on him and make sure we don't allow him to escape the pocket."
Meanwhile, teams are now required to issue practice reports with injury designations given the arrival of the regular season.
Flowers' game status leading to Week 1 will be closely monitored.
