Practice Practice Practice

painekiller · #1 07-30-2010, 11:56 AM

After the morning practice, I only have a few observations to share.

DTs
Look out for Mitchell. He is showing everything he was billed to show. WOW is all I can say.

Sheppard also impressed my with his quickness. He is appearing like a steal.

Okam looks like he is on his way out.

If the guys play like I saw the sacks should be up from last season. The inside guys will be cause enough disruption that the outside should have a huge season.

OL
Studdard has shown even more growth, his anchor has gotten even better.

Brisiel surprised me at LG, he looked quicker than last season.

And I have to add this Myers is looking solid.

RB

Foster is showing a lot. He is looking very explosive in the first 5 yds. Nice.

As for the rookies that every one want to hears about, I was over on the 2nd field and did not get to see a lot of the CBs work, so not much to report.

And a last note, Holiday is like a bug, a super fast bug that you cannot squash.

Nconroe · #2 07-30-2010, 01:25 PM

I'll try to add my few observations, was walking between endzone of first and second fields. First watched DL drill, some TE/OL blocking drills, then WR on DB drills/QB's throwing, some DL on OL drills, then 11 on 11 play(pass and run). Seemed to rotate thru players quickly on each of these drills, more crisply than last year.

DT's -
Mitchell started out real strong, then Brisell and Studdard contained him.
Egboh - DE, rookie FA, 6'6" 287 looked good on several plays.

I agree, seemed to be fairly intense play for a first practice and some good push up the middle from several DT's. Stressing the speed moves today.

DB's - Seemed Quinn, Reeves, Molden did pretty good in coverage, but with no pass rush the WR did well getting open on majority of plays.

OL - as a group looked stronger and quicker, more confident, than last year.
Agree, Brisell and Studdard looked improved, as did Duane Brown. Winston seemed to be leading.

RB - Foster and Slayton looked good to me, and perhaps Henry. Tate maybe had first day jitters.

WR- we got a whole bunch competing well. AJ and JJ stood out to me.
Bobby Williams, FA rookie, 6'4" out of North Alabama had a few nice catches.

Arky · #3 07-30-2010, 08:26 PM

Good stuff! Keep 'em coming!

chuck · #4 07-30-2010, 09:27 PM

Yeah, nice work, guys, keep it up if you can.

painekiller · #5 07-31-2010, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck

Yeah, nice work, guys, keep it up if you can.

I'm not going back out there until Monday morning, hopefully Keith or one of the other guys will post more for us.

TheMatrix31 · #6 07-31-2010, 02:48 AM

Observations definitely appreciated! Thanks dudes

Keith · #7 07-31-2010, 12:01 PM

Thanks guys. I can't make it out this year, so this really helps.

I always recall being more impressed with the DL that first week, so I will try to temper my excitement there at least until August...er, tomorrow.

NBT · #8 07-31-2010, 04:00 PM

Har, har Keith, me too!

dalemurphy · #9 07-31-2010, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nconroe

I'll try to add my few observations, was walking between endzone of first and second fields. First watched DL drill, some TE/OL blocking drills, then WR on DB drills/QB's throwing, some DL on OL drills, then 11 on 11 play(pass and run). Seemed to rotate thru players quickly on each of these drills, more crisply than last year.

DT's -
Mitchell started out real strong, then Brisell and Studdard contained him.
Egboh - DE, rookie FA, 6'6" 287 looked good on several plays.

I agree, seemed to be fairly intense play for a first practice and some good push up the middle from several DT's. Stressing the speed moves today.

DB's - Seemed Quinn, Reeves, Molden did pretty good in coverage, but with no pass rush the WR did well getting open on majority of plays.

OL - as a group looked stronger and quicker, more confident, than last year.
Agree, Brisell and Studdard looked improved, as did Duane Brown. Winston seemed to be leading.

RB - Foster and Slayton looked good to me, and perhaps Henry. Tate maybe had first day jitters.

WR- we got a whole bunch competing well. AJ and JJ stood out to me.
Bobby Williams, FA rookie, 6'4" out of North Alabama had a few nice catches.

I was at Day two and concur with almost everything you said. Here is a writeup and some pictures we took today:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/
http://www.texansbullblog.com/images/2010training-camp/

Arky · #10 07-31-2010, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

I was at Day two and concur with almost everything you said. Here is a writeup and some pictures we took today:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/
http://www.texansbullblog.com/images/2010training-camp/

Good stuff, there. I bookmarked your website.

Say, I was clicking around and kept getting "ads by Google" right in the middle of pictures and text. I didn't see a way to get rid of it. Perhaps you could contact the webmaster (or whatever) and tell him about it?

Keep up the good work....

dalemurphy · #11 07-31-2010, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arky

Good stuff, there. I bookmarked your website.

Say, I was clicking around and kept getting "ads by Google" right in the middle of pictures and text. I didn't see a way to get rid of it. Perhaps you could contact the webmaster (or whatever) and tell him about it?

Keep up the good work....

Thanks... I appreciate it.

We're working on cleaning up the format. It's coming along.

Keith · #12 07-31-2010, 10:27 PM

From Texans Bull Blog:

Quote:

1. Chris “Catfish” White lived up to his nickname today. Five minutes into practice, he walked towards the fence on the north endzone, unzipped his pants, and relieved himself! I got a picture of it (well, not of it but of his backside) but Barrett was insistent that I should leave him alone… So, it’s quite blurry. I may post it later, anyway.

Ahh, misty-eyed memories of Kailee Wong many, many years ago.

Best of luck on the blog, btw.

nunusguy · #13 08-01-2010, 11:40 AM

Friday Tate and Graham looked shaky to me, but this morning both impressed.
Graham made a sensational one-handed catch over the middle and Tate flashed his quicks as he outran a couple defenders around the edge. He really does have a good burst, especially for a larger back.
But rookie Jackson is still looking foolish trying to cover AJ and Holliday continues to drop lots of balls.

dalemurphy · #14 08-01-2010, 01:10 PM

Here's a link to pictures from today's practice followed by a little writeup:

http://www.texansbullblog.com/images...ng-camp-day03/

Great practice this morning. It was fun meeting BigRon from the Chron.com fanblog, Stephanie (TexansChick) http://blogs.chron.com/texanschick/, Chris of http://www.houstondiehards.com/ , and Alan Burge http://www.examiner.com/x-778-Houston-Texans-Examiner.

This morning, the guys were in shoulder pads and did some actual hitting. Bernard Pollard was pumped up! There was a lot more team activities, which I will get to later. I spent half of practice concentrating on the drills between offensive and defensive linemen and the one on one drills between WRs and CBs. Here are some observations:

1. Earl Mitchell looks amazing! He was the most dominate defensive lineman during the drills. On his first attempt, he bullrushed Kasey Studdard right into the QB (played by Bruce Matthews). Shortly afterwards, he ran a twist with Shaun Cody, and absolutely blew up Chris Myers. He isn’t only quick but has great explosion and good balance and leverage. I think he’s going to make an immediate impact in the Dline rotation.

2. Mario sat out practice with a sore hip. Look for Kubiak’s comments about that later. He wasn’t hobbling around on the field but did not do any of the activities.

3. I’m a huge Barwin fan, but I thought he looked raw during the drills. Granted, he was lining up against Winston and Brown, but he didn’t show anything other than a good edge rush. He tried a spin inside but was stoned by Winston. He was also slow running a twist. Kollar jumped all over him for it.

4. Duane Brown looks good. He’s in great shape and was impressive in drills. He went against A.smith an number of times and they both looked pretty good. Brown got bull-rushed by Smith once and driven back, but Brown was able to recover and keep him off of Bruce Matthews.

5. I only saw a couple reps from Shelly Smith, but he didn’t look good. I thought he had a good chance to make the roster but it looks like he’s not there yet.

6. Fred Bennett got burned deep by Dickerson. Then, he was burned deep by A. Davis. Then, he was burned deep by A.Johnson…. then, he was relegated to 4th string.

7. Molden looked good again today. I still think he struggles in press but he seems healthy and confident.

8. Brice McCain looks great! He is always in the WRs hip pocket and often makes a play on the ball. I think he’s destined to play nickel and dime due to his heighth. But, he’s a player. Another note, when the 1st team defense is playing nickel, McCain plays outside and Quin slides into slot.

9. Glover Quin looks great against everybody except Andre Johnson. Quin’s supposed lack of speed doesn’t show up on the field.

10. My personal sleeper to make the roster is Mark Parson. He had another pick today, this time in the one on one drills. I think he may have been flagged by the practice ref for illegal use of hands, but it was a good play. As I said yesterday, he plays very physically without clutching and grabbing (think Al Harris not Courtland Finnegan), and is always glued to the WR.

11. Kareem Jackson is hard to assess. He made some plays and had tight coverage, except when Andre Johnson blew past him for a TD during the drills or when Andre Davis left him for a TD in Saturday’s practice.

12. Ben Tate definitely looked quicker and more decisive. During the 11 on 11’s he had a couple very nice runs. His mediocre showing the first few practices is probably simply a result of his head swimming with information.

13. Jacoby Jones looks very good as a WR. He handled press well and almost always created separation on his routes. He dropped one catchable ball and then also fumbled during a punt return (of course).

14. Trindon Holliday also fumbled during a punt return. He’s so freakin’ quick and fast!! Unfortunately, he is totally useless as a WR right now. He had a drop, his routes are sloppy, and his blocking is a disaster! I still think he makes the team, though. I think his roster spot is tied into how valuable Kubiak deems Jacoby is as a WR. Right now, I’m thinking he’s pretty valuable.

15. Garrett Graham made a great one-handed catch downfield today.

16. Caldwell is clearly the starting RG and there seems to be a battle between Wade Smith and Myers at center and between Studdard and “Biscuit” Brisiel at LG. I’m interested in whether Wade Smith is also a consideration at LG?

17. Sherrick McManis did not participate in the team activities again today and was running conditioning tests with Cedric Smith after practice again when we left at 10:15am.

18. Owen Daniels and Anthony Hill were both doing some ball-catching drills on the side. OD definitely seems further along in his rehab than Hill does.

Well, that is about all I have right now. Barrett and I are loading up and heading back to Austin after our two day training camp. It was a lot of fun. I reccomend coming out and watching one of these if you are able. We are posting another group of pictures in our images section. Also, tonight or tomorrow, I will load a few short videos that I took on my little digital camera.

http://www.texansbullblog.com

painekiller · #15 08-01-2010, 02:13 PM

Nice write up, thanks.

Arky · #16 08-01-2010, 03:25 PM

The chron is doing a blog of short updates from various reporters. They call it Texans Camp Insider. Click at the top of the column for other entries...

nunusguy · #17 08-02-2010, 11:18 AM

Stood in the sun on Field #2 this morning hoping to see some one-on-ones between the the D & O lineman, but not in todays plan.
Rookie Mitchell is stockily, stout and when they did some individual drills including sled-drills, you can see his quickness.
While some of the younger defensive-lineman were doing some drills together, A.Smith & Okoye were off together with their helmets removed practicing their hand-techniques on a one-man blocking sled. They're both very svelte and clearly the Texans are gonna be very fast but also smallish in the DLine at the tackle position led by these 2 and Mitchell. Suppose that works as long as it's not late in the game and your team isn't trailing ?
Today was the first day of full-pads and the D-Coachs took the defensive players (all postiions, all dplayers) and put them all in a large circle in front of the north GPs on the#1 field in full-view of the fans and had a series of very spirited one-on-one tackling drills. One guy simulated a ball-carrier while the other tackled him, head on. As the drills continued the scene got a little mob-like as the guys were obviously excited with the contact and Mano-a-mano competition. The backers led by DeMeco and Cushing were making the fierches hits (hey that's why they're LBs, right ? ), but the best contest of the day was between Barwin vs Bullman (who had to be the tacklee). Highlite of todays practice !
Tate continues to show off his speed and looks good. And Foster & Slaton & Henry also continue to hustle and impress.
I think McCain was the most impressive corner out there - too bad he's not 2 or 3 inches taller but on the other hand he's sure got the speed element covered.
Mario did not suit up - tender hip, but and they say it's no big deal.
Holliday there but not participating. Not a good sign for a late-round rook return/WR guy trying to make this team who's having lots of trouble holding on to the ball. On the other hand another late round pick (Dickerson), continues to look like a steal in the 2010 Draft in the 7th round.

painekiller · #18 08-02-2010, 12:42 PM

Two guys I watched were the backup QBs. Booty is looking better that Dan O, IMO. Booty appears to be quicker with his reads and more decisive with his throws. Dan O seemed to stand around forever then dump the ball off or take off at what appeared to be a run, not a pretty site.

Jacoby Jones made some nice catches and then dropped what would have been a nice catch.

The RBs are deep. They are going to have a hard time making the cuts here. Henry continues to look solid, he is big and fast. Johnson maybe lost in a numbers game, but he had some nice inside runs.

There was a fight. Myers and Pollard started it off, and Pollard threw a punch, Winston came in and took Pollard down, and A.Smith body slammed Winston, and the pile up was on. The fans loved it. Finally some fire when a guy gets a cheap shot.