Las Vegas interim head coach Rich Bisaccia updated the media on Hobbs' status Wednesday ... saying based on what the team knows at this time, the 22-year-old will not be punished prior to the Week 18 matchup.

"We take [the arrest] extremely serious, organizationally and certainly within our team," the coach said. "Based on what we've learned at this time, we expect Nate to play."

"It's a legal matter, and other than that I really have nothing else. We'll leave it at that."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Hobbs was arrested after cops say he was found passed out behind the wheel of his car parked in the exit ramp of a Vegas hotel early Monday morning.

Hobbs' attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, addressed the arrest ... saying, "The facts and circumstances related by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to the news media leave serious concerns that this does not qualify as a DUI under Nevada law."

It's a surprising move by the team, especially when Hobbs' former teammate, Henry Ruggs, was charged with 2 counts of felony DUI after he was accused of driving drunk and crashing his Corvette into the vehicle of 23-year-old Tina Tintor, who burned to death after her Rav4 caught fire, according to officials.