HOUSTON _ As he promised last week, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (back) went from questionable to starting Sunday's game here against the Texans (1 p.m.-Cincinnati’s Local 12) at Reliant Stadium with the all-clear coming when third quarterback Josh Johnson went on the inactive list.

But defensive tackle B.J. Hill (Achilles) was ruled inactive, and that put defensive end Shemar Stewart on the field for his season debut. The Bengals opted to make rookie defensive tackle Landon Robinson inactive for the second straight week.

After taking a hit against the Bucs in last week's opener, Burrow went limited at practice Wednesday and Thursday before going full Friday.

Instead, it's the Texans who have Sunday most impactful health scratches with starters at wide receiver, Nico Collins (hamstring), defensive end Jadeveon Clowney (knee) and right guard Ed Ingram (guard).

7-on-7

A 7-on-7 drill is going to break out Sunday in an All-Pro heavyweight bout between Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Texans cornerback Derek Stingley.

Their rivalry stretches even beyond Stingley's freshman year at LSU, when Chase and Stingley were on the same star-studded 7-on-7 team.

"Trash talking. Lots of trash talking and fighting," Chase said last week. "I've been knowing Stingley so long. He's always been a guy, literally always been a guy everywhere he went. And me and him got nothing but respect and love for each other. That's why we're so good to this day."

The clips of their sparring sessions during practices in Baton Rouge are still a must-see, although Chase added a disclaimer.

"It looked like I'm getting killed on every video. I don't like that. I'm pretty sure that was Stingley's footage of him putting it out against me," Chase said. "I remember when I was going to the league, I'll never forget him telling me this. He was like, 'Man, I don't like the fact that you posted all those clips of you killing me on Snapchat, bro.' And I was like, 'Yeah, when I got to the league, I had to post my own.'"

Slants and Screens

There's one heavyweight bout, between Chase and Collins, that won't take place with Collins shelved coming off a game he led the Texans with seven catches for 75 yards and a touchdown.

That extended Collins' NFL-best streak of 10 straight games with at least 50 yards. Next at six are the Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown, the Seahawks' Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and then Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins with five straight of at least 50 yards …

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher both came out of the win over the Bucs saying they have to get Chase more than the four targets and two catches for 12 yards he had in the opener. But it didn't slow down his historical assault.

Chase needs three catches Sunday for the second-most catches by a player in his first 80 games. Chase comes in with 522 while St. Brown put up 524 and New Orleans' Michael Thomas 560 …

The key this to this Sunday's game may very well be held by Cincinnati's Hillcrest Hawks, the youth team of both Bengals safety and captain Bryan Cook and Texans running back David Montgomery. The Mount Healthy High School teammates are meeting for the third time in the NFL, a week after Montgomery had the best debut in Texans history with three touchdowns.

The Bengals know that with Collins down, if they can keep Montgomery in check and unleash pressure on quarterback C.J. Stroud, he may have problems …

Montgomery joined two Hall-of-Famers and a Player of the Year with that outing. The last player to score three touchdowns in a team debut was Eagles running back Saquon Barkley two years ago. The first two players to do it in the Super Bowl era, Colts rookie running back Marshall Faulk in 1994 and 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens ten years later, are in Canton …

Inactive for the Bengals for the second straight week, along with Robinson, were wide receiver Ke'Shawn Williams, cornerback Josh Newton, center Connor Lew and tackle Myles Hinton...