The Houston Texans Get New Offense Started as Training Camp Begins

The Houston Texans Get New Offense Started as Training Camp Begins

All right, training camp day one is in the books. Landry locker, Cody Stuts, we were on the scene and there was a there was a lot going on. I thought it was a very active day uh off the field, on the field. Uh where do we want to start? I I I maybe we start with the pup list. Um the the pup list came out and there were some surprising names on there. There were some that perhaps uh we expected uh and there was there was even more to that. But but the guys who were not on the field, give them the list. It’s Yeah. So the physically unable to perform list and these players can be activated at any time. So a lot of times it’s guys that just haven’t passed the conditioning test. Sometimes it’s things that are more serious, but the names that are on the pup list, Tank Dell, obviously there’s a little bit more to his situation. Jimmy Ward, obviously there’s a little bit more to his situation. We’ll talk about that. JJ Taylor, Damen Pierce, Casey Osai, who is a rookie undrafted free agent, Eli Cox, who’s also a rookie undrafted free agent, Trent Brown coming back from his patellar tendon injury last year. Foley Fodakasi, Kurt Heinish, Derek Barnett, and Deno Autry on the pup list to start camp. Joining them via the nonfoot injury list, Joe Mixon and Elijah Huzzy. So, the notable name here amongst all of it is Joe Mixon has not practiced. Yeah, we we’ve been talking about the the foot injury that was or was in and the boot and everything. It’s it’s a non- football. Now, Shfter does say that he’s not going to be out for too long of a time. Uh, but I this list this list is interesting to me because I know it’s early and I know that you kind of look at it and you say, “Okay, well, you know, there’s plenty of time and these guys can get back out there.” But I mean, good lord, Damen Pierce, like I that’s that’s the one that’s the one that it just sticks out and it’s like, man, like we keep we keep saying like this is the opportunity for him. This is the opportunity for him. and Joe Mixon’s out. He’s RB1 no matter what. And you just think, okay, well, here’s an opportunity for Damen Pierce. And then you look and you’re like, okay, well, Damen Pierce isn’t practicing. Uh Kurt Heinish, he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Uh Fatakasi, he was banged up last year. So, you have that, you have that. Trent Brown, we expected he was kind of pacing up and down the field before. We don’t know whether we’ll see Trent Brown or not. Uh we don’t know what happened with Barnett, but that hasn’t been like a consistent trend. And then Deno Audrey just turned 35 years old. You kind of wonder about him. But but the thing that is the most interesting about this list for me is it’s a lot of guys who’ve had just trouble staying healthy and then you get there to the first day of the offseason, they’re not there. Now, this can change at the snap of a finger. There’s going to be three straight practices. Uh so maybe we see three more three more straight practices. So we’re going to get one Thursday, we’re going to get one Friday, and we’re going to get one Saturday. So maybe we see these guys kind of creep back. I don’t I don’t that’s not gonna happen with JJ Taylor. That’s not gonna happen with Jimmy Ward. And then your guess is as good as mine with with some of these other guys, but that’s really what stuck out the most to me. Well, I would tell you with the guys that are hurting themselves the most by not being ready are Damen Pierce, obviously. I mean, when Joe Mixon got hurt last year in the regular season, Damen Pierce was already hurt and he didn’t have a chance to take advantage of not having Joe Mixon there. And here we are again. Joe Mixon’s hurt and Damen Pierce doesn’t have an advant an opportunity to take advantage of no Joe Mixon. So, he’s the one that’s hurt the most by not being ready to go. Especially if Mixon needs to take his time to get back from his foot injury. Then Kurt Heinish. I mean, this dude was a healthy scratch for Tommy Togei last year. Like Kinish was healthy and not playing, not active so they could play Tommy Togei. Guess who’s out there? Tommy Togei. Guess who’s out there? Kee Hamilton and Junior Taffuna and Tim Settle and Sheldon Rankkins and Mario Edwards. Like there’s guys out there that is gonna have have a hard time beating those guys out if he can’t get on the field. And then for Deno Autry, I mean it’s defensive Noah Brown. Like, hey, we like what you can do when you’re healthy and you’re there, but if you’re never healthy and you’re never there, we may just need to go in a different direction. Yeah, that’s that’s the thing that I that really kind of sticks out to me is Damen Pierce. And I will say this, I will say this, did not anticipate this. I’ll say someone who’s kind of benefiting from this opportunity, depending on how long the opportunity is. British Brooks is going to get a crack at running back. There’s no there is no possibility of British Brooks playing fullback. So, you look at these running backs, Nick Chub is is what he is. He’s not what he was. He is what he is at this point. Um, British Brooks kind of sticks out when it comes to looking at the running backs because he kind of has he’s a massive back and he also has a little bit of explosiveness and we did see him run the ball pretty well in preseason last year, but I think of all the people that are kind of benefiting from this stuff. Like I I wasn’t even ready to like entertain the possibility of British Brooks making the team and I still think it’s a long shot, but I do think he’s going to get every opportunity at running back. it. I mean, him and Jawar Jordan just look like totally different human beings. They play the same position. And I mean, British Brooks, I think he had probably the best run today of any of the running backs. I mean, it’s very limited. No pads. Uh they can’t, you know, make contact with each other really. And but, you know, they opened up a hole. He took care of business. And look, if if if Woody Marks is going to have a a big ramp up period as a rookie, British Brooks was good on special teams last year, too, which helps his case. Like, it’s not out of the question that he could find himself with an opportunity. like there’s a like the path for him to the roster is is certainly more clear if Damen Pearson gonna be practicing and you know British Brooks go out there and get something done with the running backs and then continue some of his special teams success that he had a year ago on these super chats uh here as SNL reacting to uh day one of Texans training camp. Trill kick [Music] swarm says most anticipated stream is here. Landry any way too early golden retrievers not mers. So guys who are moving bad on the offensive line? Not really. I mean it none of them are really moving great but there there’s no there’s no one that looks like they’re kind of washed up. No like I call it the uh the Matt Khalil Sha Mason thought that nothing nothing really there that sticks out. But then again, the pup list is huge. There might be some possibilities there. Yeah, massive. The golden retrievers that are there may not have made it to the park just yet. Yeah, that is true. They haven’t gotten to the dog park yet. Uh Jacob on the soup says, “Where is Cody? And who is this 16-year-old covering from today?” Yes, I I did shave my mustache and big mistake. Seemingly 95% of the people thought that a bad idea. So, and it’s not like the Play-Doh playset. I can’t just like, you know, and then have it grow. It’s going to take a minute, but it’ll come back. Uh, HDV Traveler. He notices. [Music] Swarm. Afternoon, Landry, Cody, and Friends. What’s different about Cody today? Lol. He looks like he look he honestly like, “Damn it, Bobby actually is kind of alive because of something that Cacerio said. Damn it, Bobby.” But he kind of looks like Hank Hill without the mustache. So, it’s a little bit more appropriate now. I think I have a somewhere around here. I got a pair of Hank Hill glasses. Whoa. You look like him, man. Uh, B Jizzel on the chat. Damn it, Bobby. Not [Music] Swarm says, “Football’s back, MFS.” You bet your ass it is. It’s a lovely time. It was hot as hell, by the way. Very much enjoyed it. But the um the podium is just crazy, too, because everybody was bunched in there. Con sitting there. There’s like a whole like beam of light just on my back. Greg Bailey’s peeking out like he’s like a prisoner trying to put his head through bars uh behind my shoulder to where like the the beam’s coming through. There was a lot going on. Uh JB the annihilator. [Music] Swarm. So what’s up everyone? Do we expect Straoud to be more of a vocal leader on the field? For example, getting in O lineman faces after poor performances uh or can a non-QB step up and hold others accountable. CJ mentioned today that his and and we kind of thought last year that it was obvious that the schedule caught up to him and the offseason and all that. I mean, he mentioned time management and then I asked him about what he could control. He said his communication, his attitude, and his play. So, I I think CJ kind of indirectly acknowledged that there were some things that he’s got to figure out. So, I I do think CJ will be fine. I don’t think he’s ever going to be like throwing his helmet like Tom Brady and cussing at people. But yeah, it does it does seem like he’s got a decent grasp at least of what of what he did wrong last year. It’s that’s that’s a really good point that he is a guy that has talked with Brady before and I know they’re showing him some early Brady stuff to kind of get him ingrained and grooved into this offense, but it doesn’t strike me as the break a tablet and MF somebody on the sideline type of guy. So, that’s not true. That’s true. that he’ll he’ll let he’ll let Nick Kayley do that for him. Uh, Trokick X says, “Reminder, Will Anderson Jr. ain’t no fashionista. He’s a effing fisherman.” Yeah, he got asked about the fashionista by Shout out to Coco over there at Fox 26. That was quite the question. Yep. Fashionista. Did Did he really do that or did he just wear like a normal outfit? I didn’t know that Will was like I didn’t think he was doing anything crazy. Maybe I missed it. I I’m not like on these guys grams that much or anything. I I was unaware that Will Anderson in fashion was like a thing. Very gutless performance by Will Anderson today. I will say very gutless. Just not great. What do you mean, dude? Pick a side. Who’s stronger? Did Neil or Miles Garrett? You worked out You worked out with both of them, man. Pick a damn side. I’m just kidding. Uh Logan Taylor says, “Which offensive player stood out today in practice?” That’s a good question. Um there was not a So today they kind of eased into everything. So there sure wasn’t a running back. Damn sure wouldn’t run. That’s we can we can eliminate running back right now. It damn sure wasn’t a running back. Um so they there wasn’t a lot of like offense versus defense opportunities. There weren’t that many. I mean, the guys I had written down were the three best catches of the day were Jaylen Null, uh, Jiren Wayne over on the sideline, and Braxton Bario in practice. So, I tell you, those three guys and null being I mean, he just he’s he’s quick, man. He’s he’s so quick. So, he’s I’m I’m so excited to watch him a little bit more. As far as I would say I would say that really it was the uh it was team period 2. Team period two would be where we got some offensive stuff. And this is where we kind of saw the the slot guys and the tight ends doing their thing. Um but you had Brevin Jordan with a catch, Schultz with a catch. Uh then Blake Fischer just got completely bitched by Will Anderson. There’s no other way to put it. I wish I could be more articulate. He just got completely bitched. Um, and then there was a quick slot find to null. There was a quick out to Higgins. Uh, the longest pass of the day, uh, until the final play. Uh, Mr. Wayne, I know Wayne gets Wayne doesn’t get a lot of love around here, but, uh, Wayne had a nice catch. Uh, then you had a combo interior sack. Uh, Solomon Bird got him some Fiser, uh, there. and then um Johnson caught a pass and uh Barios. So there was there was a little bit of everything. There wasn’t like anything massive when it came to offense. Like team period one was just terrible. I think there was there was two passes down the middle off of receivers hands. One of them being Wayne and one of them being Higgins. Yep. Higgins had a drop. And then there was the the Mertz was actually the only one to complete one. So, I I would say Braxton Bios did a decent job for himself. If you’re if you’re asking me, like, would I bet on Braxton Barios making the team? The answer to that would be perhaps not. But what happened with Braxton Barios? There were two things. Number one, he had one of the biggest plays of practice, which was the final play of practice. Number two, he was out there, so he was available. Yep. And number three, he um had the best Afielding punts, which might not be saying a lot, but there was a muff by null on kind of a kind of a townsen shank. And that’s going to be a way that Braxton Burios is going to play his way on the team. And I think you got to you got to stack your victories, uh he’s obviously not going to make the team over null, but if he but if he establishes himself as a better punt returner than null, then I think it’ll be in his best interest. So, I would I would actually say that today, if you’re asking the offensive question that you did, Logan, and we appreciate everyone in the chat, I would say I would say Braxton Barios had the best day. Yep. Yeah. I mean, if you factor in his his what he can do on special teams as well, certainly it was him. Um, yeah. Christian Kirk and uh Jaylen Nol had muffs in the punt return situations. And Barios was clean, man. He’s He’s tiny. God, he is so small. Little little guy. He’s he’s smaller than I mean I’ve I’ve honestly watched him play football before, but he’s smaller than I remember. That’s you know. Yep. But hey, sometimes he’s gets lost and the defense can’t find him and he gonna make plays. He’ll make the team. Uh the rhino on the soup [Music] swarm says, “Damn it, Riz Master Cody, save some chicks for the rest of us.” I guess I kind of do look like the the little the little fat kid. [Laughter] Who else does Cody look like? Get it in the chat. Who else does Cody look like? I can’t even imagine what folks are going to say. I’m just waiting for Jim Cornet to walk out behind you with a tennis racket. It’s Vader time. Time. I got hair. Vader didn’t have hair. I got hair. He wore a mask. He wore a mask on the chat. My goodness, my friend. Hey, thank you. swarm. We love you, man. We love you, man. Very generous. Thank you so much. Very generous. You’re gonna be out of practice. Let us know. We got you covered, my friend. Um, but much love to you. Uh, Jared M. Biggest offseason body transformation. I will say this. I will say this. This is random because I know you have a couple. I’m I’m gonna go outside the box. Way outside the box. I’m going to go three and below on the depth chart. Irv Smith. Oh yeah, we did talk about that. Irv Smith. Irv Smith looks like he’s kind of trimmed up a little bit. I We did talk about that. That is true. They lost a little bit in the midsection there. Yeah, I Smith. Pause. But yeah, I Smith. Yeah, that’s a good one. Um, look, Titus Howard’s in the best shape of his career. And you know, maybe thinking about learning about losing your job probably puts you in that position, but he’s in the best shape of his career. And I actually feel like Ursery looks a little bit better than he did in the offseason program. And he didn’t look bad in the offseason program. Yeah, he looks like I I’ll say this about Ursery and we’ll get to the offensive line in a sec. Um he looks like he’s maximized his free time as a rookie. He’s maximized his free time as a rookie. And the the getting off the bus factor, I’ll just jump into it right now. I won’t I won’t really say it. We don’t need to tease it. the the getting off the bus factor with him at right tackle instead of Blake Fischer, it’s significant. Like it it just looks more like a decent offensive line before a before a play is even run. When you when you look out there and we’ll talk about what what the first offensive line look like, but when you see Ursery instead of Fischer, it just looks more like an impressive solid offensive line. He’s he got like Ursery has a presence because of his size. He has a presence out there. Like you notice him. He stands out. He looks larger and bigger than a lot of his teammates. And if he’s going to start at right tackle, then we know why they were so enamored with him. And we know why he’s here. And you know, Blake Fischer is officially uh he is officially in a dog fight for his position. And it’s day one, and he’s officially in a dog fight. Yeah, he was. Anyways, uh Sim Sam says he’s not going to be at practice, but he’s sending it from Minnesota, which is an excuse for me to go little yachty. I’ve been waiting for that. I knew I kept that around. I knew I kept that around. Thank you again, Simpson, man. That’s Jared M already asked the question about the body transformation. Uh Dom in Jersey. So, we’re in Minnesota and Jersey. Uh rep your sets. Uh he says JLo said Kenyan Green looked good out there. expects him to win the left guard spot. Any truth to that? What is he talking about? I don’t know. What is he What is he talking about? Can Oh, is this like a joke? Oh, is this is this is this like a radio joke? Is this I don’t know. I don’t know. Anybody listens to that station after 10 a.m. So, yeah. Yeah. I don’t I don’t know. I guess that’s a little bit of a joke. Dawn with the jokes. Look, for as far as looking like a left guard, the guys that they ran out there first at left guard, Lake Tomlinson, he looks more like a left guard than Kenyan Green ever did. Now, we’ll see if he could fulfill the role, but he looks more like a left guard than Kenyan Green did, which is a really solid transformation or transition. Why’ I say transformation? um transition uh to uh to what the offensive line looked like in the first walkthrough period. This was something we were keeping an eye on and there were two new faces on the starting offensive line. Now in mini camp it was Cam Robinson. We’re going left to right. It was Cam Robinson, Lake Tomlinson, Andrews, Howard, and Fiser. Yep. But you still had Robinson at left tackle. You still had Tomlinson at guard. Jared Patterson was the starting center. You still had Titus at right guard and then you had Arante Ursery instead of Fiser. Yep. At right tackle. Yeah, that’s I know. It’s and and and I I I tweeted this as it was like, you know, they were doing group install is the is the name of the period that they were in. Aries only played left tackle at Minnesota. And all these offensive line coaches will tell you, “Oh, a well, left tackle, right tackle, it’s totally different.” You the the the example they always use is, “What if you wiped with the other hand?” Like, that’s how different it is. And so, he he basically has never played right tackle. And now a rookie is getting the first crack at your position, Blake Fischer, after you finished the season as the right tackle last year. That’s not good. That’s really bad for Blake Fischer. It’s great for Ursery. It shows that they have some confidence and he’s done enough to get that opportunity. That’s really bad for Blake Fischer. Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to overreact and say for sure that Ursar is going to be the starting right tackle. It just it looks different when he’s out there compared to Blake Fischer. I I can’t really like explain it any more than that. It It looks different. And then and then Blake Fischer went out there and he’s the only offensive lineman that just one-on-one got his ass kicked today in any of the team stuff. And it’s like that’s not good for you, man. That’s day one. Like it almost felt like today was like a hey, hello wakeup call. And it’s like is he going to answer it? Is he going to answer the wakeup call? Is he going to be able to to turn this into a competition or they just gonna have to run the rookie out there at right tackle? That’s that’s really interesting. Uh for sure. You know what else is interesting? How great Bobte is. Uh shout out to Bobtec. Uh locally owned and operated. They’ve been in Houston uh doing their thing. Bobb’s been in the business for 45 years. You go to bobtac.com. They got you covered with the safety supplies. 4097448225. Uh give them a call. Uh give them a text. Whatever you want to do. Uh there’s companies that claim to be the ones that get it done. They don’t. They leave you on an island. They they put you with AI customer service. They don’t they don’t handle business whether it’s PPE, spill control, trucking, maritime supply, protective clothing. They got the pops. Uh I talked to someone who ordered some gloves that they needed around the house because they got it all covered for you. 4097448225. Give Bobtac a call or give them a text. Free on-site delivery locally. The the the the big giant companies, they got those slogans where they lie. Yeah, they’re not doing that for you. Bobtac will do it for you. Check out the website. Uh if they don’t have it, they can get it for you. Uh just give them a call, reach out to them. 247 availability and they mean it. You text them, you call them, you’ll get them. Yep. And Bobb’s like Mike Jones, so just leave his phone number out there for you uh to text or call him anytime. Uh he’s like the safety Mike Jones. Nick Cacerio kicked off um he kicked off training camp today and I thought it was interesting. I’ll probably get in the night stream I’ll get into the nerdy ass like contract thing which I basically just I I basically just went out there and just put it on a T form because I knew that I knew he probably wanted to sound off on it. Uh Mr. Cacerio, your driver please. Yeah. And he was in on it but I thought the money quote from Cacerio was when he was asked about and I think Kunkle asked him about having the right kind of guys and the right kind of culture. I think this was a shot at what they let go in the Stfan Diggs Larmy Tonsil. That’s just me. Maybe I’m making too much of it. It wouldn’t be the first time. I put out a video of it. Let’s hear what Nick Cacerio said uh today is training camp kicked off at 8:30 live here on SNL. Yeah, football’s ultimately about the players. So if you have players that walk in the building with that mentality and mindset, I would say, you know, we’re very purposeful with the type of people that we bring in the building because in the end, like they’re the ones that are going to go out there and play. So you win with toughness, you win with physicality, you win with selflessness in this league. So who are the players that have those records or qualities? We certainly prioritize that. You have to be able to play football. like I’m not going to put my head in the sand and be naive to the fact you have to be able to go out there and execute your job and play football, but you can find players who are good at football and have the other traits that we prioritize and covet. So, we make a commitment to that. And at times, if you feel like you’re going to step outside of that, that’s okay. You just want to make sure that you have a reason for doing that. Okay. Yeah. I mean I and and you look at the guys that they prioritize like because when you say prioritize it means you have to make a decision and the decisions that they made and the guys that they’re going to pay they fit in more than the tonsils. And he he basically said you can be good at football without that and sometimes you look past it but it’s not there. And I’ll say this we said this in the in the moment. Diggs not hanging around and working out with the team. That’s not something that they just ignored. There’s a reason that they talk about and Demo talked about Jaylen Petri staying around and working out. Uh the romanticized story about Stingley working out in the building when he got his contract. That stuff kind of matters to them. And whether you think it was a proactive attempt at a culture change, I I I think they did not want to keep the diggs and the tonsil vibe around much longer. Well, you win with selflessness in this league. Laramie Tonsel was a pro bowler on the worst offensive line in football. I mean, it’s, you know, Larry Tonsel would tell you he got his job done. Couldn’t figure out why the offensive line went any good. Like the opposite of selflessness, you know, the opposite. Yeah. And then Diggs, you know, the It feels like once they knew once Diggs’ injury popped up, they knew that was going to go pretty south pretty quick last year. And you know, they were probably pretty content to have the Patriots pay him a handsome sum and see you later on the super chat. [Music] Swarm Stone Alone five times says, “Let’s go Texan.” Shout out to Stone Alone, our guy. Uh Derek Yu says, “Could Fischer have been a Sloic favorite? Texans football is back. LFG.” Um maybe. I mean, they were they they felt they felt like they had a better offensive line when they moved Titus inside and played Fischer at right tackle, but they I can’t imagine Bobby Sloic was like, “Hey, let’s draft Blake Fischer.” And they were like, “Sure, let’s listen to Bobby.” Like, I don’t think that’s what happened. Yeah, I don’t think so either. Staying with the offensive line, JB Allen, shout out to you. Shout out to all the love today and the uh enthusiasm about football. We got you covered. We’re going in depth. I’m going period by period um on the uh on the 10:30 stream. So, we’re we’re going to go in depth, period by period. Uh we’ll even break down the stretches, observations. Not too ind depth, though. Swarm. Boy, he really was touching that right toe. Uh JB Allen, the annihilator. Uh he says, “If Shrimp Brown is is healthy at season start, what is the percentage that Brown starts at right?” A 68 right tackle would be nice. I would say the percentage is very low. Uh and I would be surprised to see him as still an effective football player. Uh he has been cleared for football activities, whatever that means. I didn’t see him doing any football activities today. Uh but Aaron Aaron said that he’s cleared for football activities, but he was not out there, but he was walking around. Yeah. So cleared for football activities and then didn’t do any football activities. It’s like, okay, sure. U could be worse. could be Christian Harris where you’re not on any list and you’re just not there which is kind of what I want to want to talk about to answer uh JB Allen the Annihilator I would say near zero is I don’t believe he’s going to make the team I don’t believe he’s gonna be healthy enough to make the team and they’ve got Ursery to start at right tackle so yeah as far as the offensive line I would say that the the biggest story and the offensive line is going to be one of the big stories it’s been biggest story of this franchise really if you look at just like the total the total package. There’s intense position battle between Ursery and Fiser, and there’s the center battle right now. And then it appears the left side’s actually set. I’m not saying that that means it’s good, uh, but it appears to be set. And I don’t think Titus Howard’s getting threatened either. So, I feel like three of the five spots I’m not going to say they’re locks, but but they appear to be I would be kind of surprised, especially on the left side if if that’s not what it looks like with Robinson and then Lake and Tomlinson at guard. I’d be shocked if Lake and Tomlinson’s not the left guard. And then I would tell you there’s a very, very tiny chance that Robinson’s not the starting left tackle. the other three spots, there’s a little bit more movement to him and and and Titus feels like he’s got a little bit of a head start at right guard, but I wouldn’t put it past somebody challenging him. Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see what that looks like. Uh Juice Grugs still kind of holding the bag. Uh although he did get first team rep on team two and he was very excited. He was going up and shaking hands. I thought it was CJ Straw with all his hand shaking with the O line. He was excited, man. He was ready to go at uh at left guard between Ursery and Andrews. Um so the Christian Harris thing is interesting because he’s not on the pup list. He missed all that time last year. And it’s kind of funny because I was sitting with you because they got they got a new media section, which by the way, I think you and I were the only ones that wanted I guess people didn’t want to be too hot, but it was like such a better angle of everything going on that I’m I’m going there every day. Like it’s it’s it’s the best area. It doesn’t have shade. You’re not chatting with people as much, but you get a better look at practice. So, I’ll be there every day. Um, but we’re sitting there and we look down at the pup list. We’re kind of gathering our stuff. They tell us we can go to that new spot. They’re doing team install, which I think was period 3 today. Um, yeah. And the offense is on the right and the defense is on the left. And I just kind of look up and I go, “Dude, Christian Harris is not out there.” And I go, “Have you seen Christian Harris?” You go, I have not laid eyes on Christian Harris. I go, yeah, that’s EJ Speed right there with the linebackers. I go, so then we start to go through all all the linebackers. I was like, okay, there’s Jamal Hill and I’m like, did he change his number? Does he want new vibes or what? And he’s not out there. So then we we kind of ask around and I guess Christian Harris is not on a pup list. He’s not hurt, but he’s not out there. So we got to see a little bit of EJ Speed. I think EJ Speed is a really really good insurance policy. He’s tall as hell. Like he’s he’s a little bit taller than the other linebackers. He’s 6′ three. He’s a he’s a solid 6’3, but yeah. No, Christian Harris. So you you sit there and you go, “All right, Christian Harris.” And then it’s wait, not really. Well, this is just adds to the legend of Krypto Harris. Let me tell you, you can’t actually see it. You can’t actually touch it, but it’s worth a lot. It’s going to be good for you. Just like Christian Harris, he’s not actually there. He’s not actually practicing, but he’s going to be good. Krypto Harris continues. Yeah, because that’s what I was looking for at the linebackers. I was like, what does he look like? Oh, well, don’t really see him. So, there was no there was no Christian Harris. Look at this kid right here. Oh, we getting invaded again. Yeah. 48 absent. What? She’s got a bumper sticker on her forehead. Wave. Say hi. Hi. I’m a walking billboard. Hi. Billboard locker joining us. That’s incredible. All right. Yeah. Don’t know. Now she wants me to hold it. Okay. Got it. Thank you. Uh where the hell did you get that? Um anyway, so no no Christian Harris, the offensive line doing their thing. The wide receivers, hell of a competition. Uh Brandon has a good point. She is here more than Christian Harris. That is a fact. She’s not injuryprone. She’s very tough. She’ll fall and she’ll get back up. So, oh man, we had that. Uh another guy, speaking of uh defense, Jimmy Ward. I This was the most anticipated question. I got to tell you, I I’ve I’ve kind of come to a conclusion here when it comes to Jimmy Ward. I think you’ve probably come to the same conclusion. Yep. But let’s hear from Nick Cacerio first talking about Jimmy Ward and how he feels about the situation. The GM spoke at 8:30. Demo spoke after practice. Let’s hear what Nick Cacerio had to say. Kind of working through that. I mean, kind of let the legal process kind of take care of itself. Um, you know, we’ve been in contact with the league. We’ll work with the league. We’ll we’ll be compliant on our end. We’ll do the best we can. Um, so like it’s day to day. Um, but kind of let that process kind of take care of itself and whatever the outcome is, you know, we’ll handle it accordingly. So he’s not getting released. There you go. He’s not getting released. And he and he did add that Jimmy Ward reported he’s been in the building and even if their legal situation was not present, he wouldn’t have been able to do much right away because he’s still recovering from his injury. So just wanted to add that in there from Cacerio as well. Yeah. And that happens with Jimmy Ward. We all know that. Well, yeah, that’s kind of the thing. So, we talked about this Demo Ryan and Jimmy Ward, they go way back. They their football lives. Like, ever since Deo Ryan’s has entered the NFL in the next phase of his football life as a coach, Jimmy Ward’s been there. He’s been through a handful of position changes, multiple destinations, uh, multiple battles, multiple games, and they know each other very well. Demo Ryans was asked about Jimmy Ward. Let’s hear what what De Mo had to say about his buddy Jimmy. With Jimmy, you know, it’s a unfortunate anytime something like that comes out in the news and that happens to one of your players. Uh Jimmy’s a guy I’ve known the longest since I first started in the NFL. I’ve I’ve worked with Jimmy and know the type of guy that he is and we’ll just let the legal situation play itself out there. Now, the phrasing there is interesting because I’m sure most people would say that Jimmy Ward did something to someone else and the way Demo Ryan said it was happens to your player. So, um the legal process in a playoff Yeah, it feels like he has his back. like it it it feels like he has his back and we wondered what it would be like but it but it feels like he has Jimmy’s back. So that’s that’s kind of how I I took it. Like it didn’t let the legal process play out is the right approach if the player has any chance to help you as a football team. Like if they’re just the if they’re the 90th guy, okay, you’re not worth the trouble. See you later. I don’t care if we believe you or not. let the legal process play out with a guy that they might want on the roster. Okay. Well, if it turns out that he did it according to the legal process, then they can get rid of him. If it turns out he didn’t do it, then they didn’t make a rash decision. Yeah, I think he’s a good depth piece. Now, I will say this, this was kind of an interesting observation. Um, this is one that only only we would have noticed and you noticed it first. So, the um the problem last year when you faced the Chiefs was that you really didn’t have anyone to line up where Jaylen Petri did. Jimmy Ward in a perfect world, if he’s healthy, he’s going to be your backup nickel and he’s going to be doing those types of things. So, they didn’t really have anyone to do that. Uh, but in defensive install today, and this is we’re we’re creeping up on the one-year anniversary of Jaylen Petri starting kind of a new practice routine where he doesn’t practice with the safeties, he doesn’t practice with the linebackers, doesn’t practice with the corners. Like, he has his own section. Mhm. And he and I call it the Petri practice. And and Jaylen Reed, the rookie, he actually was doing the Petri practice in rookie mini camps and stuff like that. today. It was that Arthur Mallet uh that was following around Petri and having that type of practice and that type of performance. What does that mean? Don’t know. But he was not with the corners. He was not with the DBs. He was he was doing the Jaylen Petri practice as I call it. Now, Mallet was a slot cornerback and and did do a fair amount of blitzing for the Ravens when he was in Baltimore the past couple of seasons, and that’s kind of what he’s done for a lot of his most recent years in the NFL. I It is interesting to me that it’s just those two guys initially. Now, training camp’s long. There’s, you know, a couple this says what, six more weeks or whatever it is. So, maybe some other people sneak over there, leak over there from time to time. But those two being just the only two initially that do the Petri practice is an intriguing element to this defense. And I would tell you gives Mallette a big-time leg up to a lot of the depth pieces at quarterback because if he can back up Petri and play special teams. Yeah, that’s that’s a very useful football player. Yeah, that’s that’s very very useful to say the very least. So, I I think Jimmy Ward, they’re they’re going to let this play out. They’re kind of standing by him. So, there you go. Then there’s the quarterback CJ Strad. He did throw. There was no general sores. He spoke after uh we talked about how it seems like he’s ready to manage new time and the system and everything that goes with that. Uh CJ, what what was your biggest takeaway from what CJ had to say after practice? He’s he seems to be refocused and it feels like last year humbled him to a pretty good degree. And I know there’s a lot of stuff last year that was out of his control that that made the job difficult. There are things that CJ Strad didn’t do well that made the job difficult last year, too. And it feels like he’s tried to eliminate those things and give himself the best opportunity. just the way he talks about it. He talked about his off seasonason. Hey, you know, you know, reorganized his time better, used it better, however you want to phrase it. Obviously, we saw him everywhere after the rookie year. He was nowhere to be found after the second year. Um, and looks like he’s he’s refocused and dialed in. And I got a hunch that at the end of 2025, he’s not going to say, “Well, it was harder than I thought it was, which was essentially what he said at the end of last year. Yeah, I I I thought it was it was a good good stuff from him. I I I do think there’s probably there might be a little guilt like with how it went down with Bobby because I think he really liked him as a guy. I just think business kind of kind of took over. Um we talked about Demo being loyal to someone that he goes back to San Francisco with. boy, he damn sure wasn’t loyal to the guy that uh he he started his uh San Francisco tenure with. I Bobby Sloic. Goodness gracious, man. He needs to put on that 50 C bulletproof vest after Demo did him like that. All we wanted to know was what you liked about Nick Kayley’s system. I know I know it’s sometimes human nature to kind of crap on the new guy, the the old guy when you’re talking about the new guy, but damn, Demo, between the square peg round hole and all this stuff. Goodness gracious, this was this was quite the comment from Demo Ryan’s. Let’s see if you catch the part that’s very much about Bobby Slow. What excites me most about Kayla’s offense is that it’s evolving and it’s it’s being tailored toward the Houston Texans and the guys that we have on our roster. So, what excites me the most is not just uh copy and paste from other places that he’s been and he’s been very successful at other places, but he’s been very very thorough with the installation process of where do we want to put our guys, what position, what’s the best spot for our guys to be in. So, when you look at it through that lens, uh it’s going to be about the Houston Texans. And that’s what I love most about the offense is him being able to be adaptable and put our guys where they need to be. I mean, and and the thing is like this is not this isn’t reading in too much into it because that’s literally what happened. Like that that was literally the frustration was that there there wasn’t adapting. There was the square peg round hole. I I always use the Robert Woods trying to turn him into Nico Collins when Nico Collins is out. like it’s it it’s talking about using your your past experiences valuably like like I I I don’t think it’s malicious. I just think it’s true. Damn it, Bobby. And and I I think it’s I think it’s encouraging that they are at least aware of it and willing to make the change. What it looks like, who knows? But I think it was definitely shots at Bobby Slowick. I mean, it just it felt like a lot of times Bobby Slowick had his, you know, binder that he had of his copied pages from Kyle Shanahan’s playbook and he was just like, “Here, here’s the play. Like, let’s run it.” And it’s it wasn’t working. It wasn’t good. And es especially the evolution. There wasn’t any for Bobby Sloic. there was he was pretty much the same guy in the NFL figured him out and they didn’t they didn’t execute with the players strengths in mind. It was exactly what Bobby wants and they try to fit it. And you’ve you’ve said the square peg round hole a couple times and and Kayle’s been a few different places. Obviously, the most notable two being New England and and um and LA. And if he tried to copy what he had from those guys, they’d suck, too. But like they it he knows that he can’t just do that, you know? And you got vastly different rosters and players and situations, too. I do think the the slot, especially with that last pass period, you kind of got a little like I don’t even know if it was an appetizer like it was maybe bred before, but you did you did kind of see how they were going to move around and use guys out of the slot. And uh we got a little picture of tight end. Brevin Jordan was out there. He looked he looked good to go. I mean, he was he had a nice little play. He’s moving around. Looked like he had a little kick in his step. Looked like probably the most excited guy walking out there. So, made a really nice play for Brevin and Toto saw it. He just couldn’t get there in time and Brevin kind of leaked out to the outside, caught it, turned it up field. It looked a lot better on social media than it looked in person, you know? I know the people. Yeah, he saw it. Kind of like he was kind of like that. It’s like when you It’s like Cody reaching for a check at dinner. It was like, oh, there little slow reaction. Couldn’t quite wrap it up there. How How old are you? Everybody’s got the little toast tabs now. Nah, not everybody. Not everybody. That’s true. Not everybody. Yeah. Uh I will say as far as this new offense, you see movement at the snap during pass plays. You see movement at the snap during run plays, which is which is an element that has been missing. And you definitely see the focus on get the freaking ball out of the quarterback’s hands. So many of the completed passes in the team periods today were quick passes, quick plays. I mean, four or five yards and out, boom, the balls out of the quarterback’s hands. That was all the quarterbacks. It wasn’t just CJ Stout. It was it was Mills and Slovis and and Robo Leg. And they were getting rid of it fast. There wasn’t a whole lot of just like hold it, pat the football. And ironically, the one time they did kind of have a long developing one, Will Anderson ripped Blake Fischer’s head off and would have killed CJ Stra in a live rep. Yeah, killed him. Thanks again, Sim Sam. Uh we appreciate you holding down out there in Minnesota. Uh have a uh have a good one. Uh we we very much appreciate you. So that that’s really day one. Did I miss anything? Special teams was kind of blah. We didn’t we didn’t see any kick return. They didn’t do any kickoff, so we don’t know exactly who the kick returners are yet. I don’t even think Fairb Baron had his cleats on. Fair. Fair Baron, I think he’s featured at the improv on Friday. He had Demo Ryan’s cracking up in one of the special teams periods. De Mo was standing I thought you were serious and I was going to go buy tickets to watch that dude try to do standup. He was He was standing there. He was he was standing in for Tommy Townsen on like one of the one of the the punt block punt protection units. And De Mo Ryan was standing next to him and you know Demoiko when he’s surveying he’s got the he’s looking like this and he was looking at Kaimi and Diko just kept looking at him and laughing and Kaimi must have I mean he must have been firing on all cylinders out there because he had Demo rolling. Um yeah I don’t think you missed anything. I think we got John Mlan got his John Weekes question in the general had to get the John Weekes question in. He he asked about Arnette right off the top. That was my favorite thing. He goes, “Y’all haven’t y’all haven’t let anyone in that’s had an arrest record like him.” He got that in number two. I think that was right after Jimmy. And then you knew he was going to get the week’s question in. Mlan Mlan is very hurt by this by this week’s news. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I it was f you know, Mlan, he he retweets a lot of stuff, but I took a video of Austin Brickman, the long snapper, warming up. I was like, “Hey, no, John Weekes. This is the guy. And Mlan, the one thing that Mlan retweeted today, he retweeted that one. I was like, “Yes, I knew it.” The one thing that he retweeted or one thing he retweeted from you, from me? From me. He’s never retweeted one thing in a in a minute. So, yeah, let’s make that clear. Uh there was one one really funny moment um where Yakob Johnson caught a pass and he was going down the field and he and Damon Arnett collided and Damon Arnett flopped to the ground and Jakob Johnson just kept running. There was no resistance presented by Dude, he’s a big mother trucker too. He’s 63. I didn’t know he three. I knew he was a fullback. most I mean I don’t know like how many 6’3 fullbacks there are but I always think they’re I always thought they were a little bit shorter. He’s he’s huge. I I am very intrigued to see how useful he is beyond just like what you would typically think a fullback would be used. He’s a better receiver. I’m telling you like just watching it like in in mini cam I said this he’s a better receiver than we give him credit for. And he’s also working on the rep. He was doing the Will Compton the rep that’s going to make the team for him. He was doing the He was doing the protector rep right there. And he was doing it mentally, too. Not just with it. He was doing the personal protector. That might off those two steps right there. Protecting Tommy Townsen. That might be the key. But he was he was he was going through the mental rep and getting it on on the sideline. He was off behind everybody else when other guys were in there and he was Yeah. Yeah. doing the rep. That’s the key right there. Do a little shuffle, baby. Big dude, man. Uh Trill asks, “How did the blob look? Do I know who the blob is? Baby Legion of Boom. Oh, be duh. I I I mean, I don’t have anything bad to say about the defense. Like, I can’t really point to any They They by defense. There’s nothing There’s nothing bad. They didn’t deploy this like like there wasn’t like a there wasn’t a moment where they they had an opportunity to really to sh to really show off. Um, and it’s it is it’s it’s probably great for the defense. The way the offense got rid of the ball quick is probably how a lot of opposing offenses are going to initially play the Texans. So, they need to get used to it because that’s what’s that’s one way to neutralize Will Anderson and Denil Hunter off the edge is just get rid of the Rock. Dude, he was beast in fools today though, Denil Hunter. Yeah, Denil Hunter. He he he read perfectly a a run play towards his side and then they tried to cut it back and then Tim Settle was there waiting for the running back and it’s like what do you how do you mean if Denil Hunter’s going to start and Denil Hunter’s going to start stopping the run in addition to pass rush and Will Anderson does what he does like what are you what are you gonna how you how you gonna run on the Texans you’re not going to run what are we looking for tomorrow uh we we’ve we’ve put a pretty decent bow on this shout out to everyone here. We were We were 4 and a half uh deep. Shout out to everyone for the love. Uh the night stream tonight, SNL throughout. We’ll be in West Virginia in damn near 10 days. So, we got you covered there. We’re We’re going out there. We’re working. We’re watching the whole practice. Um but tomorrow, what do we want to see? Maybe some new bodies. Christian Harris, maybe. I’m I’m I’m actually I might try to get rid of that stock. No, no, no. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Not yet. It It dipped today. No. No. No. No. No. I’m buying more. I’m buy I’m buying more after today. I’m buying more. I’m not Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no, no. I’m dying on this hill. I’m buy I just bought more Christian Harris stock. It’s now half stock. You’re Every one of my friends that’s invested in crypto is just like it dipped today, but I’m buying more. Yeah. I’m in. I’m in. Um, I’d love to see a little bit, you know, a little bit more from the running backs. You know, I know that it’s not padded practice, but I couldn’t I couldn’t tell you one thing Woody Marx did today. And they drafted him over some other running backs that were way more highly touted. Uh, so it it’d be nice if somebody showed up from a running back. No, the running backs suck today. There’s nothing there’s nothing there’s nothing endearing about these running backs. Now, there’s no Damen Pierce, there’s no Joe Manson, but it’s not. And the offensive line’s probably outmanned. Uh but yeah, keep it uh keep it 100. Uh Derek says, “Are we going to the Greenbryer?” Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We’ll be there. We’ll be there. Um I mean, mo more offensive line shuffle. I mean, let’s see if there’s combinations they want to try before they start to kind of settle into to who and where they are. British Brooks, I guess, was the most interesting. I don’t know that he did anything awesome. He just the the most interesting like just as far as on the eyes, but there’s not like a play that I can point to. Also, in the in the pecking order of wide receivers, Hutchinson’s ahead of the rookies still. Yeah. I mean, we expect that the Berios the Berios thing is is going to be a factor. That’s He did He did himself favors today. I would say the people that did themselves the most favors today were if I had to pick three, Braxton Berios and that’s just because he everything that he could do he did and he did decent job. Um, I guess Arante Ursery and a lot of that has to do with Blake Fischer having a bad day. Sometimes you can get wins when the other team gives it to you. And then I guess EJ Speed, he’s a good insurance policy and he’s he’s with the first team special teams and he’s he’s out there for Harris. So I I I guess EJ Speed, I’ll go with uh the two tight ends that caught the balls today. Dalton Schultz took care of his business. Brevin Jordan took care of his business. And let’s see if Kate Stove can join him tomorrow. Yeah, we’ll see what happens with Kate. He was Kate Stove got a lot of love from Nick Cacerio. Well, they asked a question about him. It wasn’t like unsolicited because you Jaylen Petri gets the unsolicited love. Hold on. But got you got the you asked a question about him love. Yeah, but Cacerio said nobody has taken advantage of the offseason program more than Cade Stove has. He doesn’t look different. Like I guess I guess he looks a little bit more trim, but he I don’t think he looks like that much different. It’s not like a massive notice. It would be hard to find a player that’s improved as much as tight end Cade Stove in the off season. Oh yeah, by the way, I I think CJ Gardner Johnson’s just ba basically like safe because they let they love MJ Stewart. And this might be kind of connected to the um the previously mentioned Petri practice that we saw from uh Mallet that they let MJ Stewart have some some reps. They like him, man. He’s kind of like their Eric Murray of the last couple of years where they just keep him out there. But CJ Gardner Johnson is just kind of a safe starter. He’s I’ll tell you what, he I think he’s allergic to special teams drills. Like I don’t I think there’s a restraining order on him in special teams drills cuz he is like at least 50 yards away from it. He was juggling today uh with the DB coach. And then I heard him say, “We need to do that in pregame, man.” And it was like, but yeah, he he and Aziz Alshshire, as soon as special teams happens, they are byebye. They even had, it’s so funny you say that because they even had at one point Stingley was on the scout team special teams. At one point Kayn Bulock was on scout team special teams, but Aziz and CJ Garter Johnson, they went and chilled in the cold room. That’s Stingley just doesn’t want to leave a football field. Like I know Stingley’s got like a serious girlfriend now, I think. I don’t know. I haven’t really kept up with it, but I I bet they get married on a football field. Like he he like he he probably going to propose to her. Like he’s probably going to have like a romantic dinner set up on like the 10 yard line. Like he is like when they say steak 48. Yeah. He might have stakes to be on the 48 yard line of the freaking practice field because Derek Stingley will not leave a football field. That’s all that’s the only place he wants. That’s funny. Special teams doesn’t care if it’s anything. That’s just what he wants to do. 48 stakes on the 48. Yes. That’s what he’s got going. So that is your day one observations. Again, we appreciate y’all very much for rolling through. This is just the start. It hasn’t stopped. It hasn’t stopped. Y’all been seeing us throughout the year, but you can tell that business is a little bit better now. And it is absolutely booming. And the Texans got their stuff going on. Uh favor from the few hundred uh remaining, few hundred plus, damn near 400. Be sure to like the video. It would mean a lot to us. Uh subscribe right along. Uh do the same with the locker room. I have a video out uh with uh talking about the two quotes. I’m gonna do the night stream tonight. We’ll go period by period and have some fun there. Cody’s going to be doing his thing. Uh and when it comes to this Texan stuff, whether you got a beautiful mustache or just a chubby bald face, when it comes to this Texan stuff, we’re all in it together. Party City closed, so I can’t go do the Bobby Valentine. Have to order it off Amazon. Eat good, sleep good, be good, grow your mustache. We’ll talk Texans again soon. Thanks for watching everybody.

The Houston Texans started training camp! What stood out during day one? What did the team say about Jimmie Ward? A shot at Bobby Slowik? Plenty to get to with Landry and Cody.

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