The Houston Texans arrived in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia on Saturday evening, for the first time since 2018, ready to conduct a week’s worth of practices at the Greenbrier Resort, With temperatures hovering in the mid-60’s at the start of a 10 a.m. practice on Monday, the team got to work, hoping that cooler weather might elicit crisper offensive execution.
Spoiler alert — that’s did not happen. We will get that in just a minute, but first let’s sift through some other thoughts from camp. I was there live, and here is what I saw:
4. Wide receiver is shaping up as the toughest cut
This room was already crowded before camp started. Nico Collins and Christian Kirk are veteran locks to make the team, and the two rookies from Iowa State, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel, are also locks to make the team. After that, it’s been a battle between incumbent Texans Xavier Hutchinson and John Metchie, along with veteran signings Justin Watson and Braxton Berrios. That’s eight bodies for likely six spots, and here is the thing — all four of the players vying for those last two spots are playing well in camp. The most intriguing one is Metchie, who many people had written off after a subpar third year in 2024, but he’s had a good camp. This will be one of the toughest cuts at the end of this month.
3. The offensive line had a telling shuffle
On Monday, on the first play of team drills, left tackle Cam Robinson went down with a leg injury of some sort. He didn’t practice for the remainder of the morning. The interesting fallout from Robinson’s injury was the ensuing shuffle. Right tackle Aireontae Ersery moved to left tackle to replace Robinson. That made sense. However, Ersery’s spot at right tackle was NOT filled by backup tackle Blake Fisher. Instead, right guard Tytus Howard bumped out to right tackle, and Juice Scruggs stepped in at right guard. This is a pretty damning testament to where the team is on Fisher heading into his second season.
2. C.J. Stroud has not been sharp
Stroud has been, at best, up and down during this training camp. That’s understandable, given the installation of a new system, the near complete turnover of personnel on the offensive line, and the fact that he is going against one of the best defenses in football. However, the disturbing thing about Stroud is that, even when the protection is decent, he is getting jumpy in the pocket. Also, the interceptions that he’s thrown in camp, and there have been several, appear to be poor decisions or misreads of the defense, not interceptions caused by pressure up front. When Stroud’s first read is open, he’s looked really good. When it’s not, he’s looked pedestrian.
1. This defense has turned this into a two team camp
I will repeat what I said in the open to this article — the Texans’ defense made the offense look like a developmental league team in practice on Monday. The first team offense had one of the worst 11-on-11 sessions that I’ve seen any Texans team have in my years of covering the team. Jalen Pitre should have had an interception. C.J. Gardner-Johnson had a pick six. By the end of practice, the defensive side of the field was hollering and celebrating and looking like they were planning a parade. The offensive side of the field looked like they were waiting for the limos to take them to a funeral. There are two distinct subsets on this team.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.