Sunday: Noon at U.S. Bank Stadium (Ch. 4, 100.3-FM, 1130-AM)

ABOUT THE COLTS

• The Colts (6-7) fell short of a comeback against the Texans on Sunday, losing 22-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

• WR T.Y. Hilton caught a 35-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to pull the Colts within a field goal. Hilton is second in the NFL with 1,203 receiving yards.

• The Colts are one game back in the AFC South, trailing the Texans (7-6) and Titans (7-6), while trying to avoid two consecutive non-winning seasons.

• Andrew Luck leads one of the NFL’s top-10 scoring offenses, but only seven defenses surrender more points than the Colts.

• K Adam Vinatieri, at the age of 43, is third all-time in field goals made (526), trailing only former Vikings kickers Gary Anderson and Morten Andersen.

PLAYER SPEAK | QB ANDREW LUCK

• Luck has a career-best 62.9 completion percentage in his fifth NFL season and has thrown for 25 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.

• The 2012 first overall draft pick has been sacked 37 times, four shy of his career high.

• On not practicing Wednesday because of a right shoulder injury: “We’ve done it before this year, when we felt it was best for me not to practice today. Follow team doctors’ and trainers’ recommendations and be ready to go for Sunday.”

• On the uneven season: “Obviously hasn’t gone perfect. Some shoulda, coulda, woulda, some games we’d like back, but we understand where we are and understand this is a big game for us.”

• On the Colts’ position with three games to go: “As desperate as you can be in the NFL. It’s obviously a must win, we understand that.”

COACH SPEAK | CHUCK PAGANO

• Pagano is in his fifth NFL season as Colts head coach (47-30, 3-3 in the playoffs).

• The former Ravens defensive coordinator has had a top-10 defense with the Colts only once, in 2013.

• On Colts RB Frank Gore, the NFL’s active career rushing leader: “He takes great care of his body, and he’s a tireless worker. He’s a guy that gets it, plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s probably been told for a long, long time he can’t do this, can’t do that.”

• On facing the Vikings defense: “They stuff the run, they get you in third-and-long, they get after the quarterback. They’ve built one heck of a team.”

• On preparing for Adrian Peterson: “We’d be foolish not to. He’s a warrior, just like our guy. … He’s a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.”

ANDREW KRAMMER