Training camp 2011 news

[popanot]

Their 'concern' might not be whether he can make it back to practice soon, but whether he can hold up through TC and into the season.

[Arky]

AJ for mayor

Anytime receiver Andre Johnson gets his hands on the ball, fans go crazy. He ran a crossing route this morning, caught a perfect pass from Matt Schaub, turn and ran into the end zone for touchdown. The fans went crazy cheering for him.



Puts on a show

Jeff Maehl, an undrafted receiver, put on a show in the morning practice and caught everything thrown to him. Working from the opponents’ 15-yard line, Maehl beat cornerback Shaun McManus and hauled in a beautifully thrown pass from Matt Leinart.



Playing takeaway

Second-year receiver Dorin Dickerson is off to a great start with the Texans. Even though he missed an offseason of coaching because of the lockout, Dickerson is a different receiver. He runs precise routes, makes quick cuts, shows excellent speed and athleticism and has been catching just about everything. On a fade route in the left corner, Matt Leinart threw a perfect pass, and the 6-2 Dickerson went high to take the ball away from 5-11 cornerback Johnathan Joseph for a touchdown.

Read more here

[painekiller]

Thanks Arky for posting that.

I was out there this morning, and I am excited by what I saw. (I know koolaid)

Steve Slaton was looking like the Steve Slaton of two years ago, but as my nephew reminded me, I thought Chris Henry looked like the real deal in practice last year.

Dorin Dickerson has really stepped up his game. He is looking like he deserves some playing time. They put him in tight one time and he flattened the OLB on the run play. Plus he seemed to catch everything in sight.

Leinart is a huge upgrade over the Dan O. He is accurate and shows a lot of touch. Down side is he not very mobile.

Joesph had some good plays and some not so good moments.

Just to to be fair to Jackson, he made some bad plays early, mixed in with some good reps, but he had a huge breakup at the goal line in red zone drills. The crowd went crazy for the kid.

Winston was mauled by Barwin on one of his few rush attempts. It would have been a huge sack. Barwin is an animal.

Nading was flashing all day long, could have had something to do with he is working with the 3rd team.

Danieal Manning had a huge kickoff return, oh and he can play a little safety. Want to add he was victimized by Owen Daniels who made a great catch while in tight coverage Manning.

Speaking of Owen, he is catching everything. He looked like the OD of old.

Lestar Jean, Toliver, and Maehl are trying to make the job for Kubiak to pick who is cut a hard one. All looked good.

News alert Anthony Hill still cannot catch a cold.

Heading back out there tomorrow, will try to update you guys then.

[Keith]

Thank pk for the notes. Very helpful!

Curious to see how Barwin progresses this season. Earl Mitchell too. These two could be big keys to how the defense improves this season. Lots of good early reports on Watt, too, which is nice, but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't still a big adjustment waiting for him his rookie year transitioning to the NFL's regular season. Still, encouraging feedback on his camp so far.

Let us know what you see from any of the rookies if you get a chance.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Keith

Thank pk for the notes. Very helpful!

Curious to see how Barwin progresses this season. Earl Mitchell too. These two could be big keys to how the defense improves this season. Lots of good early reports on Watt, too, which is nice, but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't still a big adjustment waiting for him his rookie year transitioning to the NFL's regular season. Still, encouraging feedback on his camp so far.

Let us know what you see from any of the rookies if you get a chance.

I watched Watts a lot today, and all I can say is he appears to be a man among boys. On one play, I'm watching the ball, and all the sudden a huge pile is created in the middle of the line. Watts had taken the OT into the OG and and put both on the ground. I'm telling you the he is impressing me already.

Reed looks OK, has a high motor and he was the guy chasing Leinart, which prompted me to say Matt was not very mobile.

I forgot to look and watch Harris, will try to tomorrow.

Yates looked pretty good for a rookie, he has shown pose, he has size, and better arm strength than Schaub. Looks like he can be a future 2, maybe more?

I only saw Keo on a few plays and I noticed he was not on the Kick off teams we watched today.

Bryan Braman UDFA from West Texas A&M, really wants to make this team. He is playing ILB also and he made a hit that put someone on his ass, I'm sorry but I missed who it was. Also he was heard from across the field yelling “You gotta love your job! Every rep!” during a water break.

Cheta is playing ILB and he looked OK to me, probably a PS guy, but we don't have many ILBs in camp.

Saw a guy running sprints on the back field who looked like a RB with his speed, turned out to be UDFA Mister Alexander ILB from Florida State.

Most of the notes I gave in my first report where things I saw without them being in the early reports form the Chron.com

As for the 1st team Offense, most of the time they looked good in the run game. When we did the red zone work, it seemed to me that the offense won some and the defense won some. Which is what I want to see.

The team is better then it has been in a long time. It reminds me of the feel of the Oilers in the late 80's right as they started their playoff run, a lot of talent that is trying to learn to win. Health, Health and Health is going to be a big key.

I'll get some more tomorrow.

[nunusguy]

Good stuff PK, will look forward to same after this mornings practice.
I'll add a couple things from my visit to practice yesterday where I spent most of my time over at the one-on-ones between Dlineman/LBs and Olineman before leaving early.
I thought Brooks Reed was maybe the most impressive individual because of his outstanding quickness - that guy really gets out of the blocs, but he is on the smallish side which makes one think he's not destined to be an everydown defender ?
At the other extreme is Mario who showed great strength as he ran over Winstons azz with his bull rush, but I just don't see the quickness with him you'd expect from an elite 4-3 edge rusher let alone a 3-4 OLB ? And what was interesting was that after awhile they let the LBs go elsewhere and just kept the Dlineman to do one-on-ones vs the Olineman, except Mario remained behind with the Dlineman ? Maybe that speaks to the hybrid nature of his position, or maybe something else, I dunno ?

[WMH]

Originally Posted by popanot

Their 'concern' might not be whether he can make it back to practice soon, but whether he can hold up through TC and into the season.

True dat.

According to some Twitter reports, he was on the field today running part-time with the 1's.

Don't see him playing Monday, but should be good to go for the Saints as long as he doesn't have a set back.

[NBT]

Thanks to Arky & PK for getting out there in that 100 degree heat to let us know some things. Stay hydrated guys. We really appreciate your efforts.

If Brooks Reed is really 6-2, 263, I don't see how he could look "small"?

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by NBT

Thanks to Arky & PK for getting out there in that 100 degree heat to let us know some things. Stay hydrated guys. We really appreciate your efforts.

If Brooks Reed is really 6-2, 263, I don't see how he could look "small"?

I gather you are referring to my description of Reed, and I probably could have used a better adjective than "small". Perhaps I should have said he was relatively "short" when compared to somebody like Connar Barwin who's overall length seems to make him better suited to play the 3-4 OLB position ?

[NBT]

Oh OK, now I see where you were coming from. I imagine most people would look "small" with all those behemoths out there.

[painekiller]

Yesterday was not an easy day to report on. They did a large portion of the practice on the south side of the field, thus my position near the 20 on the north side bleachers was not a good seat for that part of practice.

If you saw the chron.com report of practice yesterday you got most of my observations.

I will add a couple of notes I remember, The running backs on the field yesterday, Ward, Slaton and Chris Ogbonnaya, all looked sharp. Slaton is showing the burst he had as a rookie, and has had some big runs in camp. Ogbonnaya is showing speed and quickness I do not remember from his days at Texas. Tate is still on the sideline and he is losing ground. He is in desperate need of reps, and Slaton has been able to secure his spot as at he number 3 back. Not saying that Tate will be cut or is a bust, just saying he is falling further behind.

Holiday had a huge punt return that highlighted his speed, he hit the seam and he was gone no one could get near him, he is going to have to do that in the games a few times to make this team.

The UDFA WRs that the scouts secured are all pushing for that #5 WR spot. I am glad that I am not having to make this decision. Jean, Maehl and Toliver are all making cases for making this team. I have Jean slightly ahead of Toliver on the outside, and Maehl is a slot guy that is an upgrade over Anderson right now. So keeping all three will be tough.

Right now my favorite UDFA defender is Bryan Braman. He is at worse a practice squad guy. He is old for a rookie, 25, but he is showing a huge motor and great quickness at the OLB. He had another big play today, a sack.

I have to say, I am not seeing Mario flash in camp in the team drills. Could it be why he is getting called out by AJ?

Sorry Keith, but no big report on Harris. That does not means he has done bad, but the plays I watched him on, he had solid coverage and no one challenged him with a throw. So he did not have any big plays, just solid plays on a consistent basis. I guess that is a report.

Keo is not getting any return work with the ST which is surprising me. They are working Quin on punts, go figure.

Our high priced free agent DBs appear to worth every penny, and I agree with all the hype in the paper, The opening day starters at CB will be Joseph and Allen. I don't see that Jackson is consistent enough to get on the field as a starter yet. And I am not calling Jackson a bust, just not the 2nd best CB we got right now. Jackson is looking better than last year, but not as good as Allen right now. And in the NFL you never have to many CBs.

Oh and Watts...........

[Arky]

Taking advantage

Running back Chris Ogbonnaya is getting a lot of chances to carry the ball even though he went to camp fifth on the depth chart.

Arian Foster and Ben Tate have been out with hamstring injuries. Steve Slaton suffered a hamstring injury, too, during the morning practice. Ogbonnaya and Derrick Ward should get a lot of action in practice and in Sunday's preseason opener against the New York Jets.

Stripping the ball

Glover Quin was the team's best cornerback after his first two seasons, but he was moved to strong safety during the offseason. Quin has good size (6-0, 203), speed (4.55), instincts and hitting ability for safety.

In the morning practice, Matt Schaub threw a beautiful pass to the sideline for Andre Johnson. Right when Johnson was about to catch the ball and pull it to his chest, Quin showed a great closing burst, reached out and stripped the ball from Johnson, which doesn't happen very often.

Keep an eye on

A couple of defensive backs who continue to make plays and earn praise from their coaches are cornerback Sherrick McManis and safety Quintin Demps.

McManis (6-1, 193) and Demps (5-11, 206) made a lot of plays during the morning practice. McManis enters his second season. Demps is a four-year veteran who grew up in San Antonio and played at UTEP. The coaches will be watching them closely Monday night against the Jets.

Looking good

It’s not as if any extra evidence was necessary, but TE Owen Daniels and WR Andre Johnson are and have been exceptional… Rookie free agent WR Jeff Maehl continues to impress. Wide receivers coach Larry Kirksey was reserved Thursday in his praise of Maehl, mostly because the former Oregon star hasn’t shown what he can do yet in live action, but Kirksey said there were things the wide receiver possessed that can’t be taught. “He’s not a fast-twitch athlete, but at the same time, you find him making plays out here on the field,” Kirksey said. “He has a long ways to catch up with the speed of the game, but at the same time, he has playing speed… He’s someone who gets open and plays smart.”

Have had better days

Matt Leinart wasn’t as sharp as he was to open training camp, and the timing is curious because he’s slated to play plenty in Monday’s preseason opener against the New York Jets.

More at the chron