2009 Training Camp Updates
 

First day of camp is here!!

Anyone going to practice this morning? (If so, you are probably already there.) ItB.com will be there on Sunday morning, hopefully filing a first-hand report by Sunday night. I know several of you may also be there for Saturday morning as well... please post your initial 2009 impressions here!

Some player tweets on the eve of camp:

Brandon Harrison:
Cato June:
Andre Johnson:
Yes, this is a subtle reminder to look up @IntheBullseye and others on Twitter...

I was out of town when TC tickets went out....so if anyone's got extras for this weekend let me know

I'm told Owen Daniels is on the field. No sign of Cushing though.

Dunta was a predictable no-show:
http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2009/20090731.html

I have two tickets available for Sat. morning, if you can pick them up today near 290 and Hollister area.

Just listening to 610 during practice, sounded like Schaub and Orlovsky were throwing good, Andre Johnson, Andre Davis and Jacoby Jones and Owen Daniels were catching well, and Slayton was running well. Sounded like one RB was injured, I think Clifton Dawson, not sure of that name. Couldn't listen too long.

Report from the chron:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/6556103.html

Not much else of interest in there, but given we're starved for news on the first day, thought I would pass the link along.

Lopez on 790AM reported that there was a whole different atmosphere at the first morning practice. Sounds like lots of optimism among fans and players....

Cushing agent Conlan, is busy with his other clients picked before Cushing, so it may be mid to end of week next getting him signed. Too bad, rookies need TC.

Update - glad to hear Cushing has signed.

Yeah, heard this angle before, and if I were Cushing, that would make me mad. SHOW ME THE MONEY!! Showmethemoney. SHow. ME. Da. MonAYYYY!!!

fyi - Rosenhaus just tweeted that he had all his clients in camp on time. Just sayin'.

Some Day1 observations from aj_:

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-7...p-report-Day-1

Who were the starters?

Dang it had a long post written out and it got lost due to my walking away from the box too many times.

So short version

I want to say I have been a Kasey Studdard hater, well today he made me change my mind. He has improved a ton, not starter quality yet, but he understands anchoring himself now.

Butler is a solid back up.

Okam is going to stay 3rd team unless he learns to explode like Bulman, Robinson, and Cody.

Young kids to watch Tim Jamison, Nading, Josh Leonard, on the DL.

Quin and McCain looked good.

David Anderson has improved a lot.

Dan O throws a nice pass. He looked good.

Sorry for the short report my last copy was much more complete. Hope to see some of you tomorrow.

I was at the Saturday morning practice today. Thanks again to Nconroe for giving me tickets.
They're not in full pads so it's hard to really see much. Especially on the defensive side. Anyway, here are my mental notes.
-Adibi is noticeably bigger. He said he's gained 20 lbs since last year when he was sick and had trouble keeping on weight. He was spltting time with Diles at WLB. Cato June and Chaun thompson were splitting first team reps at SLB....Cushing signed this morning, but he wasn't out there.
-Mccain(rookie late round CB) is FAST....but he's small and had trouble jamming WR at the line. He also was lining up as gunner on the punt coverage team and had a LOT of trouble getting around the guys jamming him.
-Okam took some reps with the first team. Travis Johnson was out there, but limited and I didn't see him do anything. The coaches seem to be coaching Okam pretty hard...not that he was screwing up, but they really seemed to be trying to push him...like they know he's the only true NT on the roster. They did seem to get on him a little once though.
-Jacoby had two nice catches. One was an out that he had to go up and get and he did a nice job dragging his feet at the sideline. The other one was on a deep route where the CB had outside leverage. He did a really nice job leaning into him to create space back inside and had a nice little veteran push off before making a nice diving grab. Winston said he muffed a couple of punts at mini-camp, but he caught them all off the jugs machine today.
-Owen Daniels looked like a man on a mission....to get paid
-Casey had a great catch with two guys all over him. Gibbs was talking to him a lot on his blocking.
-Duane Brown looked really athletic getting to the edge on an outside zone play
-Demeco was pretty vocal, and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Lot's a laughing and smiling.
-glover Quinn looked decent at Corner....I think he's got the size for safety.
-David Anderson looked good catching the ball....but the best part was when they were stretching and he's singing and dancing the whole time while everyone else still looks like they are asleep. He cracks me up.
-Buster Davis is short
-heard the coaches atta boy Barwin a couple of times, but I really couldn't see what he did either time.

PK's report on Okam is dissapointing to say the least. You would have thought he would have worked on his leg strength in the weight room. You can't have explosion out of your stance without it. I fervently hope he gets it worked out because without TJ, we are going to need his NT bulk in the run defense.

Thanks for the reports guys! Hopefully I'll have something more to add after tomorrow morning.

Read that James Casey is getting the reps at FB with Vonta Leach out (death in family). Pretty thin on the depth chart there I suppose if Casey is already Plan B.

Camp Quotes - Day Two

Uh oh?

From Mario via Twitter:
"Big toe sore"


Keep up with ItB on Twitter via the link below. Account registration is a breeze if you don't have one already.

Intrigue re: Antonio Smith at practice Saturday morning via Lance Z:
http://blogs.chron.com/fantasyfootba.../post_111.html

Worthwhile to read the entire post, btw, as there are some good notes on other players, but this hasn't really been reported elsewhere.

Smith needs to know his f'n role.

Tweeting live as I can from today's morning practice. Link in sig.

Keith. SpursTexansAstros over on the texanstalk bb was at training camp yesterday. He posted this over there:

Yeah it was intense...the defensive line coach made a comment that if smith had made the sack they would have won the superbowl and the next play smith got blocked and I didnt hear what was said but Smith went at the coach and had to have two players block him.

Also Tim Bulman and an o lineman mixed it up..but Bulman was the one who got it going ..his motor was just higher...nothing ..the ol player cooled him down.

I'm not saying it makes what Smith did excusable it just gives some insight to what helped fire Smith up. Looks like Kollar is going to be firing these guys up.

Its post 198 under the official training camp thread.

That's a disappointing report about this years most expensive FA and a player the team is surely looking to as a leader since he's one of the more senior starters and a SB vet.
I dunno maybe Smith has a problem taking direction including being reprimanded by men not of his race ? I know plenty of white men who can't deal with that. But if there's an incident whenever Kollar disciplines Smith in a manner he can't accept, frankly the team has a very big issue.

wow, where is the jump to conclusions mat when you need it?

let's try waiting a couple minutes longer before any racial cards are dropped on the deck.

I think it was the Superbowl crack, and the heat.

FWIW, LZ appears dubious of the super bowl crack from Kollar. In the comments to his post, several bring this up and he responds that he and John Harris were only a few feet away the whole time and neither heard this comment from Kollar.

I've seen a much more aggressive defense this last 3 days. The LBs are moving towards the line at the snap. The defense is playing in the backfield.

I know that statement is concerning to some, but don't let it. In a real game, our offense would run straight at the teeth of the defense. Which is a concern, if the opponent splits the LBs the RB has a long way to go to get to a weak link (our safety).

It looks like 8 in the box is going to be a norm.

I like the quickness Adibi showed today working the inside run, and also Diles was spotted limping.

I got to watch Caldwell today, and he looked like a rookie going against our 39 year old DT. Caldwell was stood up and pushed, but recovered quickly and was able to get anchored.

One off season should help him. I am hoping to see some progression by the end of camp.

Day 3 training camp diary has been posted!

http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2009/20090802.html

Also, Mario's update on his sore big toe via Twitter:

Great TC write up on the front page Keith. I loved the detail. Please keep it up.

Great write up.

I wanted to mention, I have really like what I have seen of David Gibbs. He is intense but he talks to the guys. Also Kollar has been impressive. I like the one on one coaching both are doing during drills.

It appears one of the items that Kubiak was not happy with was the defense's knockout hits. He said he wants the kind of things on Sunday, just not against each other. "We have to be smart".

Mario scared me when he jumps on Moats' legs to get a fumble. Then the pileup ensued, I was glad no one got hurt.

Excellent writeup Keith. Did anyone else hear Sirius NFL with Gil Brandt and Vic Carruchi, they did four hours from Training Camp and interviewed 17 of the Texans. Excellent show with Gil Brandt making a prediction Texans will be in playoffs this year.

I watched practice from field 2 endzone mostly. I didin't see any friction between Antonio Smith and Coach or anyone, so that's blown over.

First i watched DL do the sled drills. I guess quickest hard hitters were Mario, and then to me looked like Okeye and Barwin, followed by Bullman and Robinson, and then the rest. Okam seemed to lift sled the highest, but not the fastest.

On some 7 on 7 drills, Jacoby caught atleast two passes, which I think was more than anyone else, other than Casey, no drops during this drill. Arian Foster and Slayton looked good out of the backfield. Grossman looked better than i thought he would, some sharp passes for most part.

Then some DL/OL drills. Other than Mario, Barwin most was pretty impressive, getting to the backfield on almost every attempt from right and left. Okam had a good bull rush up the middle against Myers. Duane Brown looked much better than last year.

In the team drills I saw Jacoby Jones and Walters both make two pretty good catches, and then JJ did a drop near end, but it was over the shoulder after a couple of jukes, but coulda been caught. actually seen many receivers drop this kind of pass occasionally including our ProBowler in early years.

I agree, there was plenty of coaching going on and seemed all 80 guys were trying their hardest. Some tough cuts to be made. Depth much better.

Overall, both sides of ball look bigger, quicker, and more athletic this year compared to previous year for my laymans eyes, so I am encouraged it will be a good year, meaning into the playoffs is my prediction right now.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Sometimes I get wordy, so using the implied emotions of our stock smilies, here are my impressions after just one workout:

:eek::D
Arian Foster - ready to back-up Slaton, just need to see him in pass pro more

:D
Mario Williams - dude, yo.
Andre Johnson - yep.
DeMeco Ryans - in control.
lil' Gibbs - impressed so far.

:)
Brian Cushing - coaches seem to know his strengths.
Glover Quin - don't get hyper-excited, but he's intriguing for sure.
Kasey Studdard - I'm a little surprised, too.
David Anderson - stop underestimating him.
Glenn Martinez - caught my eye several times.
James Casey - choo choo... all aboard!

:confused::(
Amobi Okoye - oh boy. at least he's giving Cody and Okam more reps, they're a'ight.

:mad:
Rex Grossman - duck and cover.
Antonio Smith - saw little that impressed me today, but I could've missed something here.
Dunta Robinson's agent - no explanation needed.

:(
Ryan Moats - Not bad, but not great either. Brown and Foster should be ahead of him as Slaton's backups.
Cliff Washburn - hard day at LT. Wished Butler was at LT instead of RT today.

A clip of aj_'s Day 3 impressions:
http://www.examiner.com/x-778-Housto...p-report-Day-3

The Day 3 Quotes:
http://www.houstontexans.com/news/St...?story_id=5412

And hmm....

Great write up Keith. And everybody else who posts nuggets of info and observations.

Thanks!

Local Houstonians... Ch 13 (ABC) is airing a Texans special at 10:35pm tonight.

Great work and thanks for the reminder.

This is weird. Both Keith and AJ are getting poor impressions of Rex thus far, which is what I'd expect. But, LZ, one of the most respected footballl guys in the city, is seeing something completely different and has said he is the best QB on the field thus far.

It's almost as if Rex has some photos on LZ or something.

Eric Winston via Twitter says Cushing got a haircut tonight. "We gave him the Matt Schaub fade"

:D

Getting ready to go watch and then hit the bed so I can attend the practice again tomorrow.

I suspect it had to be a couple of lineman holding him down. I don't see many others having the Omph to get the job done. I wonder if he took it as just part of being a rook. I hope so. If he takes it well it will bond him into the team better.

Rex has looked spotty at best. But he is only in day 6 of live drills with the new offense. He is working with 3rd string receivers. So i am giving a break.

He has nice deep ball. His release is quicker than Schaub's. And he is IMO still in shock no one picked him up before we did with a mini deal for 3rd team honors.

Orlavski is also spotty at best. His delivery is on the slow side, but his ball gets where it need to be quick enough, and it looks catchable. He is not mentally ready, but he has weeks to go. He checks down a lot.

Schaub has looked sub par so far. He hit a lady in the head with his ball...wait wrong sport. He has looked rusty. Only AJ and David Anderson have looked solid in the pass game. Forgot Owen looks spot on also.

Both aj and Keith left out our heckling to Rick Smith, "Pay the man". Must admit aj had better timing with Ryans int.