Monday's quotes: MORNING Head Coach Gary Kubiak Spoiler (on having the injured players back at this morning’s practice) “Yeah, we got our guys back today on the field and also that group you said included (Jesse) Nading, it included (Brandon) Brooks. (Jared) Crick is not back yet, but, yeah, we came out in shorts today, tried to get going again after the day off. I thought we were sluggish early, but I thought we got better as the practice went along. Got some good heat going on today, so got to push through, and get ready to play this week.” (on how WR Andre Johnson looked) “I thought he looked good. We put a play count on him, so we’re going to do that as the week goes on. It’s about getting him going again and not expecting him to go the full board on the first day out. I thought he held up well, and we’ll move forward tomorrow.” (on if WR Andre Johnson will play in the preseason game this weekend) “I don’t know. We’ll sit down and talk about all that probably Thursday. So I don’t know.” (on T Duane Brown returning) “He was fine. He was one guy that came back, went back to his full allotment of reps. We’re very fortunate with Duane. He’s a hell of a player, good to see him back out here and go on.” (on CB Kareem Jackson returning) “Kareem took half the reps, but looked fine. So all indications are we got through this morning heading in the right direction.” (on any health issues this morning) “We had a couple of guys, couple heat issues. Mister Alexander, I think our young defensive lineman from U of H, (David) Hunter, got a little heat issue, but other than that I think we’re okay.” T Duane Brown Spoiler (on returning to practice) “It feels great. You hate to see these guys go to work and sit on the sideline watching. I felt good today. I’m still out here trying to perfect my craft, get as good as I can. It felt great and it’s just good to get some work.” (on returning to practice) “Felt good to get back and get some work with my teammates. I had to sit out a couple days and get better. But it was good to get back on the ground with these guys.” (on injuries during training camp) “It’s the nature of the beast. You just got to grind to get back. I got lucky. A few of us got lucky out here to avoid some major injuries. You just get back and get back to it. You just try to go as hard as you can and prevent it and if something happens, you just got to work to get back.” (on if he’s completely back) Yeah, I’m 100 percent. I felt great out here, moving around well. I’m ready to go Saturday.” (on if he’s rusty) “You get a little winded with this Houston heat. This is one of the hottest days we’ve had all year. So coming back and getting out in this heat it starts to wear on you, but that’s what makes you tough and makes you a man, coming out here and persevering through this weather.” (on if he was limited at all in practice) “Not at all. I was out there from start to finish, every individual drill, every team period. I got a full day’s work today.” RB Justin Forsett Spoiler (on if he played volleyball with his wife) “I did, I did. Back in California we’d go down to Santa Cruz every once in a while, got on the beach court and me and my friend we beat her, her and her teammate. She will deny that but that’s the truth. (on how tall his wife is) “She’s 5-7. I’m 5-8 on a good day. So, no, she’s very explosive like I said, she has a 36-inch vertical, she can dunk a tennis ball. Yeah, she’s pretty explosive. (on the projected due date for his baby) “January 8.” (on his wife expressing any sadness not being in London for the Olympic Games) “You know, it’s definitely natural that she would want to be out there with the team and have a chance to go out there. But just with this baby, we’re so excited, we’re so blessed to have this opportunity.” (on how his wife broke the news about being pregnant) “Yeah, she was out at Olympic training facility in Anaheim, California, and just working out and then all of a sudden she’s like ‘I’m not feeling right.’ This was about four months ago, and went up and told the coach, took a test and she told the coach.” (on the pregnancy not being planned) “Right, it just happened.” (on if his wife was disappointed or happy) “She was happy. She was happy because of the baby. We know that it’s a blessing, like I said. And just me starting new with a new team and having an addition to our family, it’s only fitting.” (on if she can bounce back into volleyball) “We still got to talk about that but right now we’re just concentrating on the family.” (on his wife playing volleyball again after the birth of their child) “Yeah but volleyball is a thing that- she’s got a teammate that’s playing right now that’s 39, 40. So, you can play a while.” (on if his wife will try for the 2016 Olympic Games) “We don’t know yet. We still got to talk about it but right now it’s just family, it’s just family stuff.” (on the climate in Houston compared to that in Seattle) “Oh, man. Today I think it might be 60 in Seattle. I don’t know what today is, it just says ‘hot’ on the temperature.” (on where they did their training camp in Seattle) “In Renton (Wash.), right at our facility. Right on the lake, nice cool breeze.” (on if his wife would have been on the Olympic team if she had not gotten pregnant) “Yeah, I mean, they still had to go through some more trials or whatnot for it. It’s like training camp, but she was down to 20, last 20. They cut it down to I think about 13. She still had a chance but it was just too close.” CB Kareem Jackson Spoiler (on what he’s learned from CB Johnathan Joseph) “I learned a lot. To have a veteran guy like J-Joe in the room with you, it’s obvious for you to pick his mind. Just learn some of the little tips and what to watch for so, I learned a lot.” (on if CB Johnathan Joseph has said anything to help deflect criticism) “Yeah, in certain situations but, at the same time, I come out every day and I work. J-Joe has seen the work that I put in, as does everybody else that’s out here with me. I’m not really afraid of the criticism. I’m facing it every Sunday that I go out on the field. As long as I’m accountable to these guys on the field with me, that’s all that matters.” (on how much talking him and CB Johnathan Joseph do back and forth during a game) “Definitely, definitely. It’s all about playing the game. At some point, we’re going to have to face the same guy throughout that game. We talk about little things we see in the receiver, little things he’s doing, the space we’re getting, what to watch for, things like that. We definitely talk throughout the game.” (on what he is going to be working on most during camp) “Like J-Joe (Johnathan Joseph) said, all last season a lot of passes that were caught on me, I had perfect position. I just got to progress to that next level, that next stage and that’s to make the big play in certain situations that could possibly turn a game around. So that’s one of the things that I definitely want to work on in training camp.” (on if he’ll work on turning around and finding the ball) “Definitely, definitely. Kind of timing it up and being in the right place at the right time in the right position to turn around and make those plays.” WR Andre Johnson Spoiler (on how he felt returning to practice) “It felt good. It’s always good to be back on the field. You don’t want to be over doing rehab while your teammates are still working, but it felt good to be back out here.” (on if it was business as usual today on the field) “Yeah, that’s the only reason I step out here, to try to get better as a player.” (on if he was limited at practice) “They didn’t want me taking whole bunch of reps. They just wanted to work me in. I took probably about 20 reps today, but they were kind of mixed in. Sometimes I went in for two or three plays in a row. They did a great job of mixing it up. The practice went fine.” (on how practice went) “I felt fine. I had a couple guys telling me I looked like I’m moving well. They asked me how I was feeling. I felt fine running out there and didn’t feel anything.” (on how eager he was to get back out practicing) “I’m very excited. You never want to be sitting on the sideline watching your teammates play. You want to be out there working, just like they’re working. I’m glad I can be back out here and I’ll keep on working.” (on the flow of practice with the offense) “I think it went well. The first period I was able to get in, I was able to catch a pass on the first play. Matt (Schaub) looked at me and it was just like riding a bike. It’s a lot of fun. My teammates make it fun for me. They know I’ve been struggling and down at times, going through injuries and things like that and they’ve done a great job with keeping me upbeat.” (on sitting out of practice) “I hate it. I always want to be out here working. I always want to do everything I can to better my game. I’m never satisfied with where I’m at as a player. While I’m out here right now, I’ll just keep working and hopefully we don’t have any more injuries.” CB Johnathan Joseph Spoiler (on what he sees in CB Kareem Jackson that will improve this year) “It was about being consistent before, he was consistent all of last year. Now it’s probably about just making more big plays, and that comes with time. Like I told him myself, I dealt with injuries early on in my career and faced the stigma on and off the field. And for him, there’s different reasons for whatever, and I overcame. And within him I see the same thing.” (on how much confidence they have in the defense after last season’s success) “Confidence is swagger. The more you build your confidence up, the better you play and the better you play, the more swag you have. For us, we’re just going to go out and practice and improve each and every day. Once we get out on Saturday and make some plays, that’s when we open up the can of swag and just go out and be ourselves and play hard and show the fans and everybody else what we’re made of.” AFTERNOON Head Coach Gary Kubiak Spoiler (on DE J.J. Watt’s injury) “He’s doing excellent. He was doing some push-ups in the training room yesterday. We knew that. He’s so driven in everything he does. He’s so upbeat because he knows he’s going to be ready to go and we’ll see where we’re at here as we get to the middle of the preseason. Hopefully he can come back and play some of the preseason. But obviously the goal is to have him ready for Miami.” (on what came out of the afternoon practice) “We’re just teaching. We continue to have a lot of things to teach. We’re staying in our basic two-a-day routine throughout this week and half of next week. So we’ll just kind of get back to it. We had the day off and a little slow start this morning but we got going.” (on recent injuries) “A couple little things this morning, heat issues more than anything else. We’re hoping they all come back tomorrow morning.” (on any particular young guy he wants to see this weekend) “I want to see all the young players. I’ll sit down Thursday and decide exactly how I’m going to play them. But the bottom line is that we got a lot of good young players, a lot of things that have to get sorted out. We have to make sure they get out there and do it on the field, so we’ll make that decision Thursday.” http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...practice/2ca515b6-ea5a-4503-b164-10b6baae55d9
Snippets: Gary: -Today we implemented a couple more phases of the game. ... We'll start to concentrate on Carolina tomorrow. -We've had some good work. A lot of these young guys will play the majority of this game. -I gotta get these guys to Saturday first but [it's] a big moment for them. Playing a dang good football team that got after us [last year] but we'll give them all the chances to compete. -Randy did not kick today. Groin soreness the last couple days. ... We'll probably rotate them. -Caldwell/Butler doing a good job. Both being pushed hard by Brooks and Newton. A tough call and I couldn't make that call today. All of them are holding their own. Hopefully all are healthy. -Crick, I'm hoping he has a chance to play this weekend. He's doing well but a process we're going through. -We're OK today. Heat issues yesterday but [we] held up today. Bradie James: ...When you get pressure on the QB, you make big plays but you got to stop the run to get the QB. Everyone understands their role. Guys want to go out and make plays and be productive. We have a great task to be everything we want, the sky's the limit, but we have to earn it and that's what we're doing right now. Randy Bullock: Everything going well. Enjoying camp. A lot of work but feel like I'm making strides. Toughest part is taking care of your body(doing the same thing over and over again with the same muscles). ... I've learned a lot from Shayne. I've been trying to soak up information from him on and off the field. All sorts of things. Excited about Saturday. Now it's time to play football. Shayne Graham: Every opportunity I get, I hope to make the best of it. You turn negatives into positives. ... I have my own routine during the game, [Randy]he has his. We get along great but gameday is gameday. I'll be in my center of focus and working on things I need to work on. I don't really know how it will play out. All I worry about is my own kicking. ... (On how he's feeling now after missing a day last week): I wasn't feeling good last week, just a day they let me re-cooperate. When kicking, you're using same muscles over and over. We're not getting beat up. I'll be the last guy to complain about TC but sometimes it is good rest for your leg. ... (On making/missing and the adversity and getting past it): My first ocuple years in HS, I dont get think I missed a FG. When you miss, you learn and live and stay positive. I've learned how to deal with the misses. Sometimes you see a guy miss and it snowballs and it's downhill from there. I take pride that I've handled some adversity and done well afterwards. Barwin: I'm surprised to hear Bradie say that(that it's Cushing and Barwin's defense) since he's making all the calls. He's been great. A natural leader. He knows the D better than anyone in the front seven.
Quotes from Tuesday: MORNING Head Coach Gary Kubiak Spoiler (on today’s workout and plans for the weekend’s game) “Today we kind of implemented a couple more phases of the game. We call it four-minute situations where we’re trying to kill the clock, end the game, close the game out. Got a little sloppy there offensively, handled it pretty good defensively. You know, just continuing to work on ourselves right now. We’ll go one more morning on ourselves. We’ll start to concentrate on Carolina a little bit starting tomorrow afternoon.” (on how he feels about the team heading into the Carolina game) “Well, I mean, we’ve had some good work. I think it’s very competitive going back and forth. You never know until you step on the field. A lot of these young guys are going to play the majority of that football game, so I’ve got to get them freshened up here this Saturday, knowing what they’re doing so they can go compete and try to make this team.” (on how he keeps the rookies composed in their first NFL game) “Well, I got to get them to Saturday first. It’s funny about training camp; seems like we get guys beat up along the way. But, no, it’s a big moment for them; first time you put on an NFL uniform, and we’re playing a dang good football team. They got after us last year, so it’s a big challenge for us, but we’ll give them all a chance to compete and see how they do.” (on if he’s decided how he’ll use his kickers on Saturday) “I haven’t. We’ll do that on Thursday night. I haven’t even decided how many reps we’ll go or what we’ll do or who will sit or who won’t play. I’m meeting with the coaches Thursday and do that.” (on if he’s concerned with kickoffs as much as he’s concerned with field goals) “Oh, no doubt. Yeah, that’s obviously a big part of it. Randy (Bullock) did not kick today. He’s had a little groin soreness last couple days so we held him, and Shayne (Graham) took it. We’ll do everything we can to make it right down the middle. It’s hard, you can’t give them games because one may get more kicks than others so we’ll probably just rotate back and forth. But yes, kicking off will be a big part of it.” (on how G Antoine Caldwell and T Rashad Butler are working in) “Well, I think they’re doing a good job, I think they’re being pushed really, really hard. (G Brandon) Brooks and (G) Shelley Smith are pushing Caldwell, in my opinion, and (T Derek) Newton’s pushing the heck out of (T Rashad) Butler. It’s going to be a tough call. I couldn’t make that call today, I’ll tell you that. But I think they’re all holding their own, and we’ll see how they handle the bright lights when we start playing and how we do. But hopefully they’re all healthy. It’s a very, very tough decision if it is, and it’s good for our team.” (on progress he’s seen out of CB Brandon Harris) “Brandon’s had a lot of great progress. That’s a great question. He struggled in OTAs, he struggled a little bit last year, then about the last four days of OTAs, a light when on, he practiced better. He has been the same guy since he came back, so that’s impressive. He made a big play today in the red zone. He’s acting like a second year guy, so we’ll see how he does once we go for him.” (on progress he’s seen out of DE Jared Crick) “I’m hoping Crick possibly has a chance to play this weekend. Obviously he got dinged and is going through the process to make sure he’s ready to go and get back. He’s doing well, but there’s a process we have to go through, so we’re working on that right now.” (on any other health updates) “No, I think we’re okay today. Had some heat issues yesterday, but we held up today.” (on ILB Bradie James) “Well, he’s a leader. He’s a true pro. Handles himself unbelievable, great condition for a guy that’s played as long as he has. He’s in great condition, understands our defense to a T, he’s been with (Defensive Coordinator ) Wade (Phillips), so he gives us a chance to continue moving forward defensively.” OLB Connor Barwin Spoiler (on how the defense will do this year after having a full year under Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips) “Well, the plan is to do better than we did last year, but obviously I think the OTAs helped this year. I think for us with losing DeMeco (Ryans) and Mario (Williams), I think the OTAs were important just from a leadership standpoint. It allowed us to go out there and play and see what it’s like without those guys before game time. So I think that’s the biggest advantage that we took from OTAs, just kind of seeing who is going to step up as the leaders of the defense.” (on having a better grasp of the defense this year) “We had a pretty good grasp of the defense last year, but I think it helps the younger guys get to know it quicker. We didn’t kind of catch our groove till Week 6 or Week 7 of last year. With knowing the defense better now, hopefully we can start off a little quicker, a little better.” (on having a game to look forward to) “It helps a lot because this is the point in training camp where you’re just waking up. I’m getting tired of going against Duane Brown. He’s probably getting tired of going against me, same thing with Rashad (Butler). So you kind of get sick of hitting the same people, so now it’s nice to look forward to finally getting to hit somebody else.” (on the goal line defense) “We’re really good on goal line defense. But you have to give the offense some credit because they’re not down there cutting because we don’t want to hurt anybody. So there is a little bit of that. We should be a little better out here because we have kind of a built in advantage but we were pretty good today.” (on OLB Whitney Mercilus having an impact like OLB Brooks Reed had last year) “Yeah, no doubt, he can definitely. He’s going to contribute from Week 1 in the pass rush, that’s for sure. He’s going to give us depth that we didn’t have last year right away, which should help me, should help Brooks and obviously is going to put him in a good situation.” (on ILB Bradie James being on the defense) “It’s great to have him there because he knows the defense as good as anybody. He’s a veteran. He’s a natural leader. He’s confident and he’s been a great player. He’s been a great example of how to practice and how to play. He knows (Defensive Coordinator) Wade’s (Phillips) scheme probably better than anybody on the front seven.” AFTERNOON Head Coach Gary Kubiak Spoiler (on health updates) “Yeah, we’re fine. We came out of practice fine this morning. We’re hoping to get (TE Phillip) Supernaw back here and hopefully (DE Jared) Crick here before the week’s out. I’d like for them to be able to play but, other than that, we’re okay.” (on if he’s figured out his plan for the Carolina game yet) “Not really. I’m going to talk to the coaches Thursday. It’ll probably be pretty similar to what I normally do. Obviously, we got a couple players to talk about do they even play, that type of thing, Andre (Johnson) being one of those. And then we got some young players that expect to see them get some quality time with our first group. I got to work through that, and I’ll do that Thursday.” (on his expectations for the young receivers) “Yeah, I got a lot of expectations for them. They’re going to have to play really good. As I said before, (WR DeVier) Posey and (WR Keshawn) Martin, they can’t be rookies for this team to succeed, they got to play like veterans. And they’ve had a good camp, they’re going to both get very good opportunities. (WR) Lestar (Jean) gets thrown in that mix because in a lot of ways he’s a first-year player. So those guys will have to grow up for us real quick. How they play in the preseason to me says a lot about how they’re going to play for us once we get going, so it’s very, very important for them and the team.” (on QB T.J. Yates) “I think I would kind of remind ourselves as coaches every day that this is T.J.’s first training camp in pro football. He did a lot for us last year playing some big games. Lot of growing pains he’s still going through. I think he’s having a good camp. He can improve a great deal as a player, and he works at it and I think there’s no doubt he’ll do that.” (on ILB Mister Alexander) “He’s got a ton of reps and Mister’s finally held up, he had a couple surgeries in the offseason, missed the OTAs but has held up in camp. He’s an excellent special teams player. I think the question is can he keep up with us defensively and contribute there, so we’ll see.” (on if he is where he wants to be going into the first preseason game) “I don’t know if you’re ever where you want to be. We’ll go find out. We’re going to play a lot of people. We’ve been fortunate, we’ve got some nicks, everybody does, but our guys are going to be back so we got to make sure that happens the right way. But it’s time to start putting the pieces together and find out who can help us. We got to go find five or six players that can help our football team this year just like we did last year. So it’s time to go start getting that done.” http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...practice/996ad792-5433-442b-b33a-d89577513b76
its looks like it was good, trading Demeco, and signing Bradie James, he brings veteran leadership, and he knows a lot about the Wade Phillips Defense system.
Cushing missed practice today, spent night in hospital due to illness. The real reason I'm posting this is to share Pancakes' fat-fingered tweets. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Cushing spentvnight hospial.</p>— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/status/233213130572959744" data-datetime="2012-08-08T14:48:37+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Cushing became illnlate last night.</p>— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/status/233213363369426944" data-datetime="2012-08-08T14:49:33+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
^^LOL. Looks like he meant for the space bar and hit some letters instead. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Cushing has a virus and spent the night in the hospital, Kubiak says. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23Texans"><s>#</s><b>Texans</b></a></p>— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) <a href="https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/233213046175182848" data-datetime="2012-08-08T14:48:17+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Keyaron Fox went down with a painful looking knee injury early in practice. Kubiak says they're unsure what it is exactly. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23Texans"><s>#</s><b>Texans</b></a></p>— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) <a href="https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/233215023554650114" data-datetime="2012-08-08T14:56:09+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>LB Brian Cushing (illness) missed practice after spending the night in a hospital. Could be back w/ team this afternoon</p>— Nick Scurfield (@NickScurfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickScurfield/status/233215266224472064" data-datetime="2012-08-08T14:57:07+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Gary Kubiak said he's "not worried" about Cushing- team sent him to hospital to help him recover quickly <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23Texans"><s>#</s><b>Texans</b></a></p>— Nick Scurfield (@NickScurfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickScurfield/status/233215652461178881" data-datetime="2012-08-08T14:58:39+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Kubiak on Andre Johnson: "His week has been very good." Has increased his reps daily from about 15 to 18 to 20 <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23Texans"><s>#</s><b>Texans</b></a></p>— Nick Scurfield (@NickScurfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickScurfield/status/233222725655724032" data-datetime="2012-08-08T15:26:45+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Dad of Wade and <a href="https://twitter.com/sonofbum"><s>@</s><b>sonofbum</b></a> after practice this morning <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23Texans"><s>#</s><b>Texans</b></a> <a href="http://t.co/izd1X29Y" title="http://twitter.com/NickScurfield/status/233220119399108608/photo/1">twitter.com/NickScurfield/…</a></p>— Nick Scurfield (@NickScurfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickScurfield/status/233220119399108608" data-datetime="2012-08-08T15:16:25+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Worth watching: <a href="https://twitter.com/search/?q=%23Texans"><s>#</s><b>Texans</b></a> ILB depth. Cushing (sick) out today. Keyaron Fox (knee), Shawn Louiseau (groin) hurt today. Sharpton on active/PUP</p>— Nick Scurfield (@NickScurfield) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickScurfield/status/233231149428785154" data-datetime="2012-08-08T16:00:13+00:00">August 8, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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They're going to talk about the Texans tonight on Total Access. Albert Breer was at camp today and will have a report.
The Texans released the depth chart for training camp. http://www.houstontexans.com/team/depth-chart.html Couple things I noticed was that Keshawn Martin and Bryant Johnson are listed as 2nd string at WR while Lestar Jean and DeVier Posey are at 3rd string. Also, I was a little surprised to see Derrell Smith ahead of Moran Norris at FB. Everything I read suggested Norris was doing well in camp with Smith struggling to pick up the offense. No major surprises on defense. Kubiak has been talking up Brandon Harris lately so he should move up from 4th string if he plays well during the preseason. Torri Williams was a safety last year but switched to CB in the offseason. It's going to be tough for him to make the team.
Isn't Derrell Smith converting over from defense? Perhaps the struggles that were being reported were just normal transitioning and the team feels that once he gets it all he will be an upgrade over Moran Norris. I had heard that Smith was very athletic and fast, so maybe they like his potential. Don't know.
Yeah, Smith was a LB last year. I think he spent the year on the practice squad. Can't remember. Here's what Kubiak said last Saturday about the FB competition: Right now that puts Norris in the driver's seat. Smith has some catching up to do, but that's what training camp and preseason is for.
Don Banks covers the Texans. Great article by one of the best writers in sports on my favorite website. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...p-postcard/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t12_a0
I think the fairly obvious move going into the game against Carolina is to sit Johnson and Watt, give Foster no more than 5 carries before yanking him, but give Schaub a little bit of time to work in game action with the young WRs. You do this every year, but with our aspirations and injury bug tendencies, you pull every starter possible by 7-8 minute mark. The knowns are knowns, there's no sense in exposing them to injury risk with nothing to gain. Two quarters of the youngsters, then open team tryouts. There's no new system to implement on either side of the ball. This preseason, the only real priorities are: Don't get hurt See which of the 1st and 2nd year players are going to be able to contribute on the active roster. That's it. Agreed....but this snippet was Madden/Pancakes-esque:
Keshawn Martin is going to make noise this year. More praise from Kubiak to Keshawn via @Nick Scurfield: "He’s the one guy out of the rookies that has acted like a pro from the get-go." At first I thought he would be primarily a kick returner, and the 5th WR while Posey and Jean battled for the 3 spot, but now I'm not so sure.
More on Keshawn (from @McClain_on_NFL): "For Texans fans worrying about a lack of experience at backup WR, keep an eye on rookie Keshawn Martin. He's been outstanding." "Keshawn Martin has come on so strong he's separating from the pack of other WRs and is taking hold of 3rd spot behind Johnson and Walter."
