Defensive end Will Anderson Jr. and the Houston Texans will step into the national spotlight during the 2024 NFL season, beginning with a meeting with the Chicago Bears on Sunday night.

“I think it’s all about the fans, man,” Anderson said. “We just want all the fans to come, man. We’re excited. It’s our first home game and it’s a night game too, so I know it’s going to rock. And we’re just going to bring the same expectation, the same standard, the same style of play, the same mentality of swarm defense and swarm attack on Sunday, man. And it’s going to be awesome and we’re super excited.”

The NBC appearance will be the first of four prime-time kickoffs for the Texans in 2024, plus a Christmas game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Houston had a prime-time game in 2023 after the NFL moved its final regular-season game to a Saturday night kickoff against the Indianapolis Colts because a playoff spot was at stake.

In the last three seasons in which the Texans combined for 11 wins, Houston has had three prime-time games. Houston hasn’t had four or more prime-time games since 2016, when the Texans won their second straight AFC South title – the fourth of six titles in nine seasons.

But in 2023, Houston hired San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as head coach and used the second and third overall draft picks on CJ Stroud and Anderson, respectively. Stroud won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and the former Alabama All-American won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award as the Texans won 10 regular-season games and one postseason game.

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“We just have a lot of players that know how to win, man,” Anderson said. “We have a lot of players that know what it takes to win, how to win, and we just have that bend-but-don’t-break mentality, man. And I think the group of guys we have here is pretty special. We’re not going to be turned away. We’re going to go out there and impose our will, man, and we’re going to give it our all. And I think it’s just the veterans stepping up, stepping up and the playmakers stepping up to make that happen.”

Houston opened the season last week with a 29-27 road win over the Colts. After missing about a month of training camp and the preseason because of an ankle injury, Anderson played 36 of the Texans’ 45 defensive snaps. He recorded two tackles, including a tackle for a loss when he brought down running back Jonathan Taylor 2 yards in the backfield on the third snap of the game.

“Me personally, man, just trying to shake off the rust, man,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to get back into it, get my endurance up a little bit. Having this month off, you know, it took a little bit out of me. But, man, just getting the extension back at the peak of my rush, it’s become second nature to me. And that’s really all. Everything else will come back to me, I know that. But just repetition, repetition of those things.”