Indianapolis, IN
C.J. Stroud injury update: New hope for Houston Texans as quarterback returns to face Indianapolis Colts | NFL News – The Times of India
On Friday, November 28, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans announced C.J. Stroud’s official return. The quarterback will be accessible for the Indianapolis Colts game tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. CET). Stroud hasn’t been able to start since suffering a concussion during the Week 9 game against the Broncos. On Sunday, Stroud will return to the saddle for his team’s Week 13 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts, the division leaders. In an effort to rescue their season by qualifying for the playoffs, the Texans will want to win and gain ground in the AFC South.
Houston Texans get major injury boost as C.J. Stroud returns for must-win Week 13 clash
According to Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans revealed on Friday that safety Jalen Pitre and quarterback C.J. Stroud had cleared concussion protocol and would play against the Colts in Week 13 after missing several games.After missing two games due to a concussion in Week 9, Stroud resumed practice in Week 12. He only played on Tuesday, and he missed another game due to Houston’s short week leading up to a Thursday night game against the Bills. Fortunately, backup Davis Mills led Houston to a 3-0 record while filling in, making this game in Indianapolis crucial. According to Stroud, that gave the team a boost when their season was in danger of ending.Stroud said this week, according to ESPN:“You see guys step up and start to take more on the plate and rise to the occasion.. Of course, we didn’t start off the best. But we know what type of team we have. We’re very talented.”The good news for Houston supporters is that he has been cleared to play after completing all three days of practice this week. It may not seem like it, but his comeback at this point in the season is crucial. Given the situation, Houston cannot afford to slow down, and if it wants to maintain its momentum, all of its best players must be available. Stroud had passed for 1,702 yards and 11 touchdowns before the incident.
Texans turn back to C.J. Stroud as struggling offense seeks spark in crucial playoff push
Stroud, who was previously chosen with the second overall choice in the draft, was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023. Despite a minor decline in his performance in year two, the Ohio State product led the Texans to a 10-7 record last season.However, Stroud has struggled with injuries and inconsistent play in 2025. He has only averaged 212.8 yards passing per game while going 3-5 as a starter. He is also the greatest choice to revive Houston’s chances of making the postseason. Stroud and the Texans, who are now 6-5, have advanced to the playoffs in both of his first two seasons in the Lone Star State. In the meantime, the offence has not shown much faith in Davis Mills, his backup. Houston scored just 60 net yards in the latter two quarters of the game against the Bills, which was their lowest total of the 2025 campaign. Leading the offence, Mills failed to connect with his running backs and missed a number of crucial passes. Now, Stroud is ready to take on the field.Also read: C.J. Stroud struggles while Davis Mills shines: Is Houston’s QB situation shifting?
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on June 17 gave AES the nod to raise electricity rates enough to earn an additional $71 million each year, a decision that drew reproof from Indiana lawmakers who called it another blow to cost-burdened consumers.
The approved rate represents less than half of the $192 million increase that AES initially requested. It’s also less than the $91 million increase proposed in an October settlement agreement between AES, the city of Indianapolis and major electricity consumers like Kroger and Walmart.
But the new rate is still significantly more than what the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor, the state agency representing ratepayers in the case, recommended in September. The OUCC’s proposal would have capped AES’s annual operating revenue at $21 million less than the current level.
The rate increase authorizes AES to earn a total of nearly $2 billion each year, or an estimated $384 million in profit.
The higher base rate comes as a double whammy for Indianapolis-area households, who are already paying more for electricity this summer after AES temporarily raised rates to account for higher-than-anticipated fuel costs during last winter’s storms. The increase also arrives against the backdrop of inflation, which rose to a three-year high last month, and surging gas prices due to the war in Iran.
Gov. Mike Braun wrote in a Wednesday post to X that he was “deeply disappointed” by the IURC’s approval of the rate increase.
“Hoosiers have spent years tightening their belts and making tough financial decisions,” Braun wrote. “It’s time for utility companies to do the same.”
The IURC’s decision also drew fire from the other side of the aisle. In a June 17 news release, five Democrats representing Indianapolis in the state Senate – J.D. Ford, Andrea Hunley, La Keisha Jackson, Fady Qaddoura, and Greg Taylor – chastised Indiana’s Republican supermajority for failing to rein in rising utility costs.
“Hoosiers pay more. Monopoly utilities collect more. And the leaders in the super-majority who promise affordability over and over again show those are just empty words,” the news release said. “Instead, they continue to defend a system that takes more and more out of our paychecks.”
The consumer advocacy group Citizens Action Coalition also slammed the rate increase. Ben Inskeep, CAC’s program director, said the decision left him “less optimistic that this commission is willing to do things differently and to actually hold utilities accountable.”
He said the IURC should have penalized AES for issues that plagued customers after the utility updated its billing system in 2023, including duplicated withdrawals for the same monthly bill.
The rate increase will take effect in two phases, with rates going up in July 2026 and January 2027. AES officials anticipate the hikes “will be less than $5 per month per phase” for a household that uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per month, according to a Wednesday news release from the utility.
“The IURC’s decision reflects a thorough, transparent process and balances the need for continued investment in the electric system with a focus on customer affordability,” the news release stated.
Under a state law that Braun signed in February, AES cannot ask for another increase to its base rate until January 2030 — though electricity bills could still go up for other reasons, like the fuel adjustment charge hitting consumers this month.
Three members of the five-member IURC signed off on the rate increase: Andy Zay, David Veleta, and David Ziegner. Commissioner Bob Deig dissented. Commissioner Anthony Swinger recused himself from the decision because he worked on the AES rate case for the OUCC before he was appointed to the IURC by Braun in January.
“None of this was taken lightly,” Zay, the IURC’s chair, said at the Wednesday hearing, adding that the commission and its staff had carefully weighed concerns about affordability. The commissioners did not go into further detail at the hearing.
But the commission’s order shows some of the debates that played out during the rate case. One point of contention was AES’s authorized return on equity — that is, how much the utility can earn each year in profits. Other disputes hinged on how AES forecasts its operating expenses.
The OUCC accused AES of including more than 100 “phantom hires,” vacant positions it did not necessarily intend to fill in its calculations. Last year, AES said that the rising costs of vegetation management, or trimming trees around power lines, also drove the need to raise rates. The OUCC recommended keeping vegetation management costs flat.
One factor that’s not driving higher prices? Data centers.
AES does not currently provide service to any data centers and did not include them in its calculations, AES president Brandi Davis-Handy said in testimony before the IURC.
Tilly Robinson is a Pulliam fellow for the Indianapolis Star. She can be reached at tilly.robinson@indystar.com.
Interactive radar | Weather alerts by county
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE
(WRTV) — A tornado watch has been issued through 1 a.m. EDT Thursday for much of Indiana, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said.
The watch area covers 47 of Indiana’s 92 counties, and includes Indianapolis and its surrounding counties.
Counties in the watch area are Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Daviess, Decatur, Delaware, Fountain, Grant, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jay, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Martin, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, Shelby, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Vigo, Wabash, Warren, and White.
WRTV Meteorologist Ryan Morse says Wednesday afternoon’s rain was the first of two rounds coming to the Hoosier state. A line of supercells were expected to form in Illinois and travel into central Indiana.
In neighboring Illinois, dozens of counties are under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. CDT/11 p.m. EST.
All threats of severe weather were on the table: damaging wind, strong tornadoes, large hail, and flooding.
Severe storms should exit Indiana in the early morning hours.
WISH-TV Meteorologist Keith Gibson says people should have multiple ways of getting alerts and have electronic devices fully charged in case they lose power.
The next chance for rain after these storms could be on Saturday.
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