Was it good? What does "2008 yearbook" mean, do they just rundown last year's roster or go through every game with a couple of interview excerpts?
It's the Texans version of the half hour highlight films that NFL Films produces for every team every year. NFL Films work is ALWAYS special! They come up with a theme for each team and hit all the highlights and show locker room clips and stuff. I've got it TiVo'd and haven't watched it yet. My guess is that if you missed it last night, you've missed it as this was the second time they've showed it (although the first showing was preempted by ESPN covering Obama meeting with NASCAR guys).
"I think everyone would like to see me out there, including myself," Cushing said. "But we have to be smart. It is a preseason game (Monday) and the biggest thing is being healthy for the real season. My main goal right now is to get some playing time versus Tampa, but to be ready for New York." Rookie linebacker Brian Cushing is closer to game action. He participated in drills this afternoon at the Methodist Training Center. Head coach Gary Kubiak is anxious to get a look at the first-round pick, whose knee injury has sidelined him for the first two preseason games. "I would like for him to be beating my door down to play," Kubiak said. "I'm hoping that tomorrow he does a little more practice with the team, a little bit more on Saturday and he's begging to play on Monday night and we make a decision. He's awful close, but we've just got to be smart in what we're doing." Practice Report By Drew Dougherty August 27, 2009
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6591955.html Texans linebacker Cato June was placed on injured reserve with a broken forearm and willl miss the entire season, the team said Friday. The Texans signed free-agent cornerback Cletis Gordon, who was waived by San Francisco earlier this week. June signed a one-year free agent deal with the Texans during the offseason.
I feel really bad for the guys who get hurt in camp or in the preseason and it basically costs them their job... or in a second/third stringers case, their freakin' career.
Allen's hit a reminder to linemen The Texans know they must protect QB Matt Schaub after the villainous Vikings DE took him out last season By DALE ROBERTSON Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle The word on Jared Allen is that, away from football, he's a good bloke, the kind of guy you want to have a beer with. But, in the heat of battle, Allen has a tendency to jettison that image. Last Nov. 2, after Minnesota's master sack man delivered a late blow to Matt Schaub's left knee and sent the Texans quarterback to the bench for a quarter of the 2008 season, left guard Chester Pitts had a different word for Allen. “I called him a scumbag,” Pitts said. “I was very upset.” Ask Pitts about the incident today, though, and he's nuanced in his judgment. “After I saw it on replay the first time, I thought it wasn't as bad, but I still thought it was dirty,” he said. “If you watch the film a couple more times, you look at the angles, it was definitely on the edge. Let's just say he could have not done it. He could have held up that last little bit. But it wasn't a malicious thing, like where he was on the bottom of the pile, twisting and turning (Schaub's leg), trying to take Matt out. He got caught up in the moment of playing ball.” As, presumably, did Pitts when he surreptitiously popped Allen later, spraining his shoulder. Allen attempted to apologize to Schaub after the game, saying he was slipping when he made contact (while adding Pitts “separated my shoulder, if that makes you feel any better.”) But Allen didn't explain the other shot he took at Schaub's knee that afternoon. The plays, which didn't result in penalties but subsequently cost Allen a $50,000 fine, are relevant this week because the Vikings visit Reliant Stadium on Monday night for the major dress rehearsal of the preseason, the one game both teams will treat almost like it counts. That means Allen, nostrils flaring, fangs bared, ears pinned back, etc., will come after Schaub again. A new NFL rule is in place — in part because of what happened to Schaub in the Metrodome — intended to offer deterrence in the form of a 15-yard penalty for direct late blows to the quarterback's knees, but Texans offensive linemen have an understanding of the reality. Schaub's safety can't be legislated. His safety is their responsibility. Keep Schaub healthy “If Matt doesn't stay healthy,” right tackle Eric Winston said, “that's a stain on our house, something we'll have to live with. We take that very seriously. It's personal to us. I'm still angry about what happened. We're not going to do anything malicious or dirty, but we're going to go as hard as we can, try to intimidate them, try to make all of their guys back down.” Winston scoffed at how effective the deterrent figures to be. “A 15-yard penalty? In the grand scheme of things,” Winston said, “what's a 15-yard penalty to an opposing team losing a quarterback for an entire game? “There's no way to police it. They're going to try to fine guys more this year, but what does that mean to guys who make a lot of money, like defensive ends do? You can't ask a guy in the middle of a play to not try to hit the quarterback. That's what they're paid to do. Think about it. If you break it down, they're getting paid upwards of $550,000 to $700,000 a sack.” Counting his massive signing bonus, Allen, 27, a defensive end, banked $21.1 million in 2008, meaning — using Winston's formula — his 14.5 sacks were worth $1.46 million apiece. “Look,” Winston said, “we just have to do our job better. It's on us to keep the defense from getting anywhere near Matt.” The Texan charged with neutralizing Allen will again be left tackle Duane Brown. The Texans' top draft choice in 2008 practically blanches at the memory of the two sacks Allen collected at his expense last fall. Asked how he feels when he watches a replay of Schaub's injury, Brown replied, “It makes me sick to my stomach.” But he also said he's much more prepared. More experience, which should translate into better technique, improves Brown's odds of at least fighting Allen to a draw. “As a player, I feel a lot more comfortable,” he said. “He didn't beat me clean, but he got around the corner on me eventually. I got a little turned, which shortened the corner for him a little bit. If I'd stayed more square, I'd have left him with more field to cover. Technique is everything. I've learned a lot since then.” Part of football As for Schaub, whether he has forgiven and forgotten is open to interpretation — he does say he appreciated Allen's reaching out to him after the game — but he insists he has moved on. “It was a tough circumstance,” Schaub said. “No one wants to be in the training room rehabbing an injury, but that's what I was dealt. That's football. I know he's going 100,000 percent. It's tough for him to back off. Things can happen. I felt fortunate to come back for the last four games of the season. Now, it's in the past. It's a new year. I'm excited to go play them on a Monday night.” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6590528.html
The NFL Films production, "Hey Rookie, Welcome to the NFL", will be shown tonight at 10:00pm on ESPN2. Texans Tight End, James Casey, will be one of the rookies featured on the hour-long program. A repeat showing of the program can be seen exactly a week later.
From Chron Twitter... ChronicleTexans Cushing: "I'm 100 percent, but I don't think I'll be playing. I feel great, but I think we're going to rest my knee one more week.." Good news now lets get DROB in and get ready for the J.E.T.S Jets Jets Jets!
Sweet! That makes me much more comfortable, hearing a player say that he is 100%. Cant wait to see him on the field next to Ryans.
SI predicts we'll tie with the Colts for the best AFC South record (10 - 6). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/09/01/main/index.html?eref=T1
And if that prediction holds, we'd be hosting (and losing to) the Colts in the Wild Card game. Unreal. First things first though, gotta beat the J-E-T-S.
Houston Texans Projected Finish: 1st in AFC South This article appears in the September 7, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated. With the core players hitting their prime, this bunch is (finally) ready to reach the top in a daunting division. Gary Kubiak gets up in Houston every day knowing that Peyton Manning is a world-beater in Indianapolis, Jeff Fisher is loaded with talent in Tennessee and there is no such thing as a soft team in Jacksonville. This may sound like a heavy burden for Kubiak, but the fourth-year coach has learned to embrace his membership in the AFC South. "I tell our guys all the time, we're not going to wait for these great teams to come back to us," he says. "We've got to get them." The Texans are finally in a position to do just that. Houston has been languishing in the middle of the pack for the last three years (six wins 2006, eight in both 2007 and '08), but now its key starters are entering their primes. Defensive end Mario Williams, middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans and tight end Owen Daniels -- all of whom have been to a Pro Bowl -- are heading into their fourth seasons; quarterback Matt Schaub is starting his sixth; and his primary receivers, Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter, are going into their seventh. "We're ready to take that next step," says Schaub. "A lot of guys are in their third and fourth years in [Kubiak's] system. It's time to make that jump." Schaub, 28, who came from Atlanta in 2007, appears primed to join the quarterback elite. Despite missing five games last season (four to an left MCL injury on a low hit by Jared Allen that earned the Vikings defender a hefty fine) he still threw for 3,043 yards and completed 66.1% of his passes. The Texans had no trouble moving up and down the field; punching the ball into the end zone was the issue. The offense was third in the NFL in yards per game (382.1) but only 17th in points (22.9). Houston was also 29th in the league in turnover margin, with a -10. "We could have put ourselves in better situations if we'd taken care of the football and were better in the red zone, not settling for [field goals]," Schaub says. "If we'd done those things, maybe we would have won more games." The talent is there. The 6' 3", 223-pound Johnson led the league in catches but still flies mostly under the radar. He says he's never felt better entering a season, after giving his body more rest than usual in the spring. During the year he faces the opponent's best corner every Sunday, not to mention extra coverage from safeties trying to keep him from beating them over the top. But for all his gifts -- and those of his team -- he has grown weary of the annual discussions about the Texans' impending breakthrough to the postseason. "Last year we talked about it so much," says Johnson, "it took the focus off of what we needed to do." Kubiak, who joined the Texans in 2006, feels a particular kinship with the draft class from that year, which brought Houston's key defensive players: Williams, taken first, and Ryans, picked 33rd. Few people now question drafting Williams ahead of Reggie Bush and Vince Young: After getting just 4 1/2 sacks during his rookie season, he has 26 over the last two years. As for Ryans, his ability to deliver hard hits and run sideline to sideline is surpassed only by his desire to take charge. "I don't want to come off the field at any cost," he says. "This is my defense -- no ifs, ands or buts about it. Our performance reflects my leadership." Ryans and the Texans know that performance, not potential, will determine their fate in 2009. Every victory is precious, especially in a division that normally produces two teams with double-digit wins. One of them is the club with the horseshoe on its helmets. "As long as number 18 is on their side," Schaub says, referring to Manning, "the Colts are going to be a team to be reckoned with." They might be saying the same one day about Schaub and his number 8. But first he must show he can regularly take the Texans to the end zone -- and the playoffs. -- Damon Hack Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/08/31/texans/#ixzz0Q572CbNm SPOTLIGHT Steve Slaton, Running back: As a rookie last season Slaton rushed for 1,282 yards (more than any other first-year player), averaged 4.8 yards a carry (the same as Adrian Peterson) and ran for nine touchdowns (tied for 13th in the league). But when the ballots for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year were counted, Slaton was shut out. The panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league cast 44 votes for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, three for Titans running back Chris Johnson, two for Broncos tackle Ryan Clady and one for Bears running back Matt Forte. Slaton doesn't need the snub to make him a better back this season -- his varied gifts as a runner are sufficient. His speed (4.44 in the 40) combined with toughness between the tackles makes him an ideal threat carrying the ball as well as an excellent decoy to set up the play-action. If Slaton had a weakness carrying the ball in 2008, it was inside the red zone, where he sometimes showed impatience by not following his blockers. To better handle the rigors of pass protection and blitz pickup, the third-round pick out of West Virginia reported to training camp a muscular 215 pounds (up from 203 as a rookie). If he still has his burst, the Texans' offense, which ranked third in the league in '08, will be even more dangerous in '09. And then Slaton might be on the minds of voters for NFL MVP. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/08/31/texans/#ixzz0Q57MCsHD
Hate posting back to back, but that was a long post. I wanted to write that it is just unreal how far this team has come in being completely rebuilt after that disastrous 2-14 season.
Thank God for the new regime! We've been the best in the business at drafting since the 06 draft. Yeah I know that draft class was technically under Casserly but you get the point!
