Training camp 2015

[Arky]

Originally Posted by Warren

Wow: https://vine.co/v/ewpAWpU0OEE

Sumo!

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16 Observations: Day 3 Texans vs. Washington

With no radio on Saturday to keep me from watching practice, I was jacked up beyond belief to see the Texans tangle with the Redskins. Little did I, or many others, realize that they would literally tangle four separate times. The practice fights heard around the globe, or so it seemed, ended the joint practice sessions between the two teams and put them on separate fields for the rest of the rainy Saturday workout. The fights may have muddied up the Saturday practice, but I still walked away with a few observations from today’s slugfest, errr, practice.

I’ll get to the four different skirmishes as I saw a couple of them up close and personal, but before that it was clear that these two teams had seen enough of one another. All of this had been building since early on day one.

The first drill of the day was one-on-ones with four different quarterbacks throwing on the four different ends of the field. I watched Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer throw to their receivers against the Washington defensive backs.

1. WR EZ Nwachukwu had, more than likely, the best period of his three days up in Richmond. The first rep I saw of his, he shook a Redskin DB and headed to the back pylon in the end zone. Mallett dropped a gem at the back corner of the scoring area, right in front of me and Nwchukwu held on to the wet pigskin. I was feet away from him when it happened and he was stoked that he made the catch.

2. The Redskins DBs were extremely physical during that drill and won a number of different reps against the Texans WRs. They didn’t stop all of the Texans’ receivers, though. One receiver that has flown under the radar and continues to have solid workouts is Keshawn Martin. He made a Redskins DB miss badly on him in the back of end zone on a TD catch in one-on-ones. He also had a couple of catches in team drills later in the workout.

3. The one receiver that has been like Circle K, always open 24/7, is Nate Washington. The former Steeler/Titan has fit right in with this Houston squad and is definitely a security blanket for the quarterbacks. He let one slip through his hands on 1-on-1s but he must have made six or seven catches during drills the rest of the day, all at different spots/levels on the field.

4. Once the joint team drills started, the powderkeg was ready to blow. I was down near field two where the Texans offense faced the Redskins defense. Af first, it seemed innocuous and wet but nothing seemed to be afoot. Then, rookie tight end Khari Lee made an outstanding catch. He was crossing the deep intermediate area of the field and the ball was thrown behind him. Now, at this point the rain was falling heavily and plenty of receivers had balls go through their hands. Even RB Alfred Blue had fumbled on the first play of team drills. Anyhow, after the catch, the Texans’ offensive guys started cheering for Lee and congratulating him on the catch. At that point, Ben Jones and Redskins DT Chris Baker got into each other’s face and the first “discussion” of the day started.

5. Watching that unfold, it didn’t seem like anything sinister, but not ten seconds later, I looked over to field one and there were Texans defenders running to a mosh pit in the middle of field one. Many of you have seen the ESPN video of Vince Wilfork destroying a Redskins OL and pushing him right back into the Redskins RB. What some couldn’t see was a Redskins offensive player pushing LB Max Bullough right in the back. Bullough didn’t take kindly to the shove and turned around to tell that player just that. Many of the Texans were running off the field when the Redskins player then threw hands at Bullough and it was on. Wilfork and J.J. Watt turned right back around and jumped into the fray. They weren’t alone. It was a mob scene. Wilfork, though, didn’t take kindly at all to the Redskins antics. More on him in a bit.

6. Once both fields got calm again, the two teams went back to work. The Texans run game picked up some nice gains with Chris Polk and Kenny Hilliard registering a couple of solid runs. On Hilliard’s last run, he barreled over a Redskins defender. Now, every run that I saw from Hilliard v. the Redskins this week finished nearly the exact same way - the former LSU product sending a message to any Redskin defender that dare tackle him. Well, the Redskins two defensive backs in the vicinity didn’t take kindly to that action and threw Hilliard to the turf. That incensed Texans OT Aaron Adams who then sprinted down the field and hammered the defensive back which set off the third fight of the day.

7. Four or five Redskins had Jaelen Strong in a head lock, while a few of the Texans OL ran down the field and dropped the People’s Elbow on a Redskins defender.

8. Just prior to that fight in front of us, on field one, Texans DB Kevin Johnson tackled a Redskins ball carrier down low and that angered the Redskins WR. So, yep, you guessed it, the Texans D and Redskins O went at it again, only to be distracted by the fight on field two that we had going on in front of us.

9. Honestly, I’ve seen training camp fights for years but nothing ever like this. However, as Coach O’Brien noted after practice, it’s training camp football, things happen. And, it did. This, though, had been brewing as I mentioned due in large part to the animosity between the Texans DB/WR and Redskins WR/DB. The first day set the tone and neither team was ready to step down in any way, shape or form.

10. One thing I heard a Redskins player say later was that the Texans were attacking the run drill a little too aggressively. Not sure there is such a thing - it’s football, by gosh. But, when Bullough got slugged in the head, the second year inside linebacker didn’t let that slide. I hadn’t really seen the interior guys get into it much over the three days but they certainly did on Saturday.

(more at link)

[Arky]

26 observations: #TexansCamp on Tuesday

Back to the grind, BABY!

Tuesday morning was the first practice here back in Houston since the team got back from Richmond, VA. There were no fights, perhaps unfortunately, perhaps fortunately, to add to the Hard Knocks repository but the team got in a solid day’s work under the glare of the 95 degree sun. Let’s get some observations from the day’s work.

1. Ryan Mallett spent the day with the first unit, which follows the alternating schedule the Texans coaching staff has followed from the first day of the spring. He made a few scintillating throws during practice. His best one was a launch deep downfield to Nate Washington that the former Titan/Steeler held on to for one of the best plays of the day.

2. There are times when Mallett, with his powerful arm, makes it look easy. That was true when he hit Cecil Shorts III on a slant route. Mallett split the one and the eight for an easy pitch and catch.

3. I didn’t get to see much of the initial parts of practice, but I did see some a bunch of 1-on-1 reps down in the end zone. One of those reps, I saw a pass break up by Charles James, one of the many he’s had in this training camp. He was draped on Alan Bonner in man coverage in the end zone. There was no place to throw the ball and James knocked it away at the last second.

4. One of the best breaks on the ball today was cornerback Darryl Morris on a slant route completion to EZ Nwachukwu. Brian Hoyer hit Nwachukwu on time, but Morris exploded into the fray and almost broke up the pass. I just have a feeling that Morris is going to find a way to make plays in this defense this season. I don’t know when. I don’t know how. It’s going to happen.

5. Another player in the secondary that has been fantastic is safety Eddie Pleasant. He had another strong day in coverage, forcing a pass breakup early in one-on-ones and then another one in team drills. “Eddie P” was a forgotten man by some heading into training camp, but he’s more than made his name known this summer.

6. I watched a few reps of linebackers versus running backs in one-on-one pass protection. As I looked down to the other end of the field, Justin Tuggle beat a running back and I heard linebacker coach Mike Vrabel praise Tuggle for his rep.

7. The tight ends and outside linebackers tangled again. As I walked up C.J. Fiedorowicz faced one of the young outside linebackers. After beating the outside backer off the ball, he then whipped the linebacker off the ball. Tight ends coach John Perry then remarked “kick his butt both ways.”

8. One of the best reps all day was when Whitney Mercilus and Fiedorowicz locked horns in run blocking. When it was done, both coaches Doug Colman and Perry said “GREAT battle,” and it was.

9. My man Julian Rowe-Cohen was my eyes and ears down watching the tight ends and linebackers until I could get there. Since I know the personalities a bit, it was interesting to see/hear Julian’s thoughts on the “aggressive counseling” happening down on that side of the field. There are certain players that receive more counseling than others but it goes with the territory to be honest.

10. John Simon is such a technician with his hands and it’s interesting to watch him work those hands defending the run on the edge.

11, During the tight ends/linebacker one-on-ones, I saw Chris Polk running away from one of the inside linebackers on a one-on-one pass drill. I heard some ooooohhhs and ahhhhhhs from the crowd after that one.

12. Speaking of Polk, no one had a better day than the former Philadelphia Eagle. He missed a few days of training camp but got some reps on Saturday up in Richmond, VA. Today, he was back in Houston getting a fair share of reps with Arian Foster temporarily on the shelf. He ripped off a long run down the far sideline on a run during a true scrimmage period. He caught the ball well out of the backfield, got open in one-on-one situation and left a strong impression on most that watched Tuesday’s workout.

(more at link)

[Arky]

21 observations: #TexansCamp on Wednesday

Wednesday’s workout, at least to start, seemed to have a Hard Knocks: The Day After sort of feel, but MAN, Wednesday’s real winner was the humidity.

Nearly unbearable at times near the end of practice, Mother Nature dominated the day. Most importantly, though, what about mere mortal, human types on Wednesday?

Here are some observations from the morning workout.

1. As mentioned earlier, it was the day after the premiere of Hard Knocks and it was an action packed first episode. I was down near field three doing a radio hit in Alabama when I heard the fans cheer loudly around 25 minutes before practice. As I talked, I surmised that JJ Watt had just run on the field. Nope. Head coach Bill O’Brien. If there’s one thing that he hates more than anything else, it’s the spotlight being on him and not the team. But, the fans love his fire and appreciate a quality leader when they see one. Hard Knocks gave them the opportunity to see it front and center on Tuesday night. They’re all just finding out what I’ve known for nearly 25 years (he’s going to kill me for mentioning this at all, so I’m moving on in the name of self-preservation).

2. Of course, Watt ran on the field to a raucous ovation as well (to be expected) and left the field well after everyone had left. On the way out, he photobombed Deepi Sidhu and myself recording for Texans 360. This was after spending nearly 30 minutes with two different families on the field, talking with two young kids and playing football with one little boy. Yeah, but he’s just worried about his image (that’s a tongue in cheek blast at those that questioned his sincerity after the first episode - you know who you are).

3. Practice eventually got going and it was Brian Hoyer’s day with the ones. They started the day with an 11-on-11 “coming out” drill. The ball was placed inside the ten yard line and the offense was forced to “come out” from deep in their own territory. I missed the first reps in that bunch but I saw one of the best throws of the day. QB Ryan Mallett threw a laser backshoulder ball to the near sideline to get the drive going. There was some smoke on that ball and it was thrown in the only spot where his receiver could make the catch.

4. On the next play, Mallett looked up Jaelen Strong on the far sideline. I lost the ball in the mesh, but the next thing I saw was cornerback Darryl Morris...and the rest of the defense heading the other way for a touchdown. I believe Morris jarred the ball loose after the catch and scooped and scored to end that drill.

5. I’ve made this comment a number of times, but I’m still waiting for someone to adequately cover tight end Garrett Graham. He completely dominates LB and/or safeties when he’s running routes. The 1-on-1s are just ridiculous. It’s as if he’s playing pitch and catch with the quarterbacks with how open he gets himself downfield.

6. The one thing that stands out watching Graham is that he understands that the route is the starting point to getting open. He understands how to make subtle adjustments in his patterns to remain open and run away from defenders. The young tight ends will learn that in due time but they’re not there yet. A couple of times I saw the younger TEs beat the defender off the line of scrimmage but they then ran themselves right back into the coverage. They started open and then covered themselves. You don’t see that from Graham, in particular. When he knows a guy is beat, he never puts himself back into harm’s way. It’s just the way it is for veterans; they get it, the rookies will.

7. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the guy that’s really shone during training camp. Although TE C.J. Fiedorowicz missed some time up in Richmond versus the Redskins, he’s been outstanding in the passing game. Drew Dougherty, host of Texans TV, spied a one-handed grab and I saw a pair of catches later in practices in different spots. He also beat a linebacker to the back of the end zone for a touchdown during goal line 11-on-11.

8. He was drafted for his blocking, in some sense, and that part of his game has improved as well. He’s the one tight end that I see regularly knocking DE/OLB off the line of scrimmage in run blocking 1-on-1s. One of the best battles of the day was Fiedorowicz against John Simon. The way both fought for hand placement and position, while exerting incredible strength and push, was fascinating to watch up close.

9. Talking with a radio station in Alabama this morning, they asked about LB Benardrick McKinney. I didn’t get to see too many LB/RB reps in 1-on-1 passing game, but one I did see was the MSU rookie locking on to a running back out in the flat and forcing an incompletion. As a side note, perhaps, it was just editing but one of my favorite moments in Hard Knocks that no one will remember involved McKinney. After Washington wideout Pierre Garcon stoked the fires with some trash talk directed at the Texans defenders, in particular J.J. Watt, the very next scene showed McKinney locked up with Garcon during one of the various skirmishes that took place last Saturday. I got the impression that McKinney wasn’t too happy with Garcon’s act in front of his defense and imposed his will.

10. I’ve mentioned Jason Ankrah only in passing during my observations and that’s unfortunate because he’s definitely more comfortable in his skin as a second year player in this defense. I don’t see many tight ends that can block him in the run game - I don’t know that I remember him losing a rep to a tight end on Wednesday. His ability to rush the passer has improved as well and he’ll be a guy I’ll watch closely on Saturday night, especially with Jadeveon Clowney due to return (hopefully) soon.

(more at link)

[WMH]

Clowney made it back on the field today, without a knee brace. That's pretty impressive.

If he can get/stay healthy, man, that D has the tools to be sumthin.

[Arky]

Video - Clowney speaks

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14 observations from Monday's #TexansCamp

John Harris
Texans Analyst

As Sunday was a day off for the squad, many players squeezed in a trip to the movies, got some rest or got much needed sleep. Or in Christian Covington’s case got some Game of Thrones reading done. But, the time off was much too short as the team got back on the field on Monday in shorts and jerseys, welcoming back a couple of familiar faces on each side of the ball.

Here are a few things from today’s workout.

1. Everyone had been anticipating the arrival of OLB Jadeveon Clowney and by everyone, I mean nearly every TV and Hard Knocks camera followed his every move during the early part of practice. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d see this day when it was announced in November that he was having microfracture surgery. But, consider the work he put in to get back to this point and the work that Geoff Kaplan and his training staff to motivate JD to keep pushing himself. It all paid off to get him back into camp at this point. But, it’s going to be slow going and that’s by the team’s design. JD feels ready but as I’ve said a few times, it’s a marathon, not a sprint, so he’ll get the call in due time.

2. He wasn’t the only one to return to the practice field today. Akeem Dent worked out with the team for the first time since the win over the Jags in early January 2015. A lower leg injury kept him out of workouts until today and his return only serves to muddy up the ILB waters. In a good way, of course. So, Clowney and Dent returned on Monday; it was a good day.

3. Not to be left behind, the offense saw the return of Ryan Griffin to the tight end group. He had a stellar week of practice prior to getting nicked up in Richmond, so here’s hoping that he can pick right up where he left off.

4. I noted in my game observations that the 49ers long run of the night was unfortunate, but correctable. One aspect that I know riled up secondary coach John Butler was that the receiver cracked on the safety and it appeared that safety Eddie Pleasant had no idea it was coming. Sure as shootin’, what was the first thing I heard today when the Texans defense did their walkthrough this morning? “CRACK!” Audible and heard all the way to the sideline where we were standing. Message. Received.

5. Players throughout time have made the transition from being a special team stalwart to key offensive or defensive contributor. As such, the special teams reps often get pushed off to another player. Not so for Alfred Blue. He’s the first guy in line for all the special teams reps, even though if the season started tomorrow, he’d be the starting running back. As a former coach, I notice little things like that and love it.

6. Standing near the end zone, watching practice with former Texas A&M and Dallas Cowboy great Dat Nguyen, quarterback Ryan Mallett dropped an absolute dime right in front of us to Damaris Johnson, with Kevin Johnson draped all over him. Dat is visiting from San Antonio where he co-hosts the afternoon show on our ESPN San Antonio affiliate with Jason Mannix. As such, this was his first look at the quarterbacks and he remarked after that throw what a gem that was. I look forward each year to get to watch practice with Dat to hear what he thinks. He was impressed with Mallett today.

7. I looked down during 1-on-1s with RB and linebackers and as soon as I did, Chris Polk made a one hand catch and made it look easy. The linebacker covering him, I can’t recall, I think it was Max Bullough perhaps, just stared at him as if to say “you didn’t just do that, did you?”

8. Rookie Kevin Johnson flashed a few good moments on Saturday night and his confidence seems to be growing by the day. He had multiple pass break ups on the day and his breaks on the ball were outstanding. He ran a few routes for the receivers and it seems he brings his juice to the ballyard every single day. He never seems to be at a loss for energy and excitement.

9. Kourtnei Brown’s performance on Saturday night will make him a guy to watch in camp this week. He got the coaches attention and it appeared his confidence shot through the roof.

(more at link)

[Keith]

Originally Posted by WMH

Clowney made it back on the field today, without a knee brace. That's pretty impressive.

I'm not sure this can be understated if the rest of camp for Clowney proceeds accordingly. This franchise has often over-promised and under-delivered on injured players. Clowney is returning from a serious surgery, and it still remains to be seen how close he can return to pre-injury form, but this is at least beyond encouraging for our otherwise justifyingly cynical fanbase.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by Keith

I'm not sure this can be understated if the rest of camp for Clowney proceeds accordingly. This franchise has often over-promised and under-delivered on injured players. Clowney is returning from a serious surgery, and it still remains to be seen how close he can return to pre-injury form, but this is at least beyond encouraging for our otherwise justifyingly cynical fanbase.

Yep. Watched some videos on the website of him cutting during some drills. Didn't look limited at all.

[barrett]

The biggest thing to me is I know how hard he must have worked in his rehab. That work ethic and maturity was a question mark for him. Even though he will likely never be the same athletically, he may be a similar player from the personal growth and increased ability to work.

[WMH]

From PFT:

Texans sign veteran defenders Quintin Demps, Fili Moala

Posted by Darin Gantt on August 19, 2015, 8:58 AM EDT
T.Y. Hilton, Quintin Demps
AP
The Texans needed to fill in some blanks with veterans, and brought back a familiar face.

According to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans have signed safety Quintin Demps and defensive end Fili Moala.

Demps spent three seasons with the Texans (2010-12), and played the last two years with the Chiefs and Giants. Upon leaving the Texans the first time, he turned in a pair of four-interception seasons, and gives them good depth behind Stevie Brown and Rahim Moore.

Moala, a former second-round pick of the Colts, spent last year on injured reserve with a torn ACL.

[Arky]

31 observations from Wednesday's #TexansCamp

John Harris
Texans Analyst

We finally reached THAT stage in training camp. I call it Groundhog Day: Training Camp style. It feels like we’ve done this all before. Practice. Sun. Interviews. Observations. Rinse, lather and repeat, right? It also means that the regular season is one day closer and, more importantly in the interim, Saturday night vs. the Broncos is right around the corner. Or, so it seems. The team was in full pads again on Wednesday in front of another loyal and loud crew of fans. So, here are some observations from the day’s work.

1. The Texans signed two players prior to Wednesday’s workout - former Texan Quintin Demps is now a current Texan and former Colt Fili Moala was signed to the defensive line. Rookie TE Mike McFarland was placed on IR.

2. Demps made a splash in his first workout as he made an outstanding interception late in practice on a goal-line drill. He shared kickoff return duties during practice. He had four interceptions each of the past two seasons with Kansas City and New York, respectively.

3. An intriguing story line on Tuesday night’s Hard Knocks episode was Charles James talking with rookie safety Corey Moore. James’ passion for playing the game was evident, but his point to Moore was, essentially, that Moore needed to communicate with him consistently. James implored Moore to work better together. It was, to me, one of the most important moments of Hard Knocks. Of course, one of the first things I heard on the practice field today was secondary coach John Butler yelling out “TALK!” to his players. It was a point Bill O’Brien made to me at halftime with mostly young players on defense in the second half; he wanted to hear them communicate and talk to one another.

4. Today was Ryan Mallett’s day with the first offensive group and he started the day strong. He dropped a beautiful dime in the back of the end zone for a TD early in practice and a few of his other touch throws on the day were on the money.

5. When Mallett and the offense were backed up in the “going out” drill, he threw two darts - one to TE C.J. Fiedorowicz and one to Cecil Shorts III. That got the ball out of the shadow of their own goal line and a definitive win for the offense.

6. Brian Hoyer’s first throw out of the end zone was a check down to J.L. Grimes in the flat and he was met by ILB Akeem Dent, who has been back in practice this week. Dent let up just a bit at the last minute but, in the game, it would’ve been a highlight hit for sure.

7. The NFL is a different beast than any other level of football, but it’s amazing, even comforting in some sense, to hear this coaching staff harp on some of the most basic aspects of football. One in particular is the ability to play low. Starting in Pop Warner football as a seven-year-old, players hear all the time “low man wins.” That doesn’t change at any level, but I heard three different defensive coaches, within minutes of one another, all mention “pad level”, “bend your knees”, “play lower”.

8. This isn’t a cut and paste from the past few days/weeks, but Garrett Graham is still open. However, I did see someone finally stop Graham - Brian Cushing. The team’s ILB locked up Graham as he started across the middle and wouldn’t let him go. Graham tried to break free to no avail. That’s about the only way anyone’s been able to cover Graham.

9. Speaking of Cushing, he also had a pass break-up as he covered TE Ryan Griffin out in the flat. Oh, this was after Cushing threw up his breakfast during the team’s individual period. I guess he doesn’t agree with JJ Watt and Vince Wilfork that breakfast is the best meal of the day. As a side note, there’s no debate that breakfast or brunch is the best meal of the day. Anyone that wants to argue with me...well, take it up with my muscle - Watt and Wilfork.

10. Speaking of Griffin, later in the same 1-on-1 drill, he ran a go route on a safety up the sideline and made a fingertip catch in the North end zone. I hope we get to see a significant amount of Griffin on Saturday vs. the Broncos.

11. Blitz pickup has quietly become one of my favorite drills to watch in camp and not just because there’s a chance of a Cushing-Alfred Blue tete-a-tete. But, there’s serious competition between the RB and the ILB. The first rep of that drill, rookie LB Benardrick McKinney came screaming through and WHAM...he got met and stoned on the spot by Blue.

12. One rookie that has made steady improvement is TE Khari Lee. I’ve mentioned him the past few days and he continues to impress. It’s a difficult position to try to make this roster but the rookie has put some quality tape together lately. He ran a double move as a perimeter receiver today and just roasted one of the defensive backs. His blocking has improved to a point where TE coach John Perry is finding positive things to say about it as opposed to earlier in training camp.

(more at link)

[WMH]

Jayson Braddock ‏@JaysonBraddock 7m7 minutes ago
Arian Foster Update:

Arian has been in Houston working out & expectations are for him to return to the field in some facet by week 2-4.

[WMH]

O-Line Depth Addressed, would expect additional shuffles on the final 53.


PDS ‏@PatDStat 3m3 minutes ago
#Texans dealing a 7th round pick for Broncos T Chris Clark (6-5, 315). Been with the Broncos since 2010. Played at Southern Mississippi.

[WMH]

John McClain ‏@McClain_on_NFL 30s31 seconds ago
Texans cut Labhart, Witzmann , White, Bonner, A Adams, Ankrah, Neild, Davis, McLeod. Cliett to IR. Five more to go.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by WMH

John McClain ‏@McClain_on_NFL 30s31 seconds ago
Texans cut Labhart, Witzmann , White, Bonner, A Adams, Ankrah, Neild, Davis, McLeod. Cliett to IR. Five more to go.

Ankrah is a bit of surprise (to me). I think the next batch of cuts (post Dallas game) have better odds to get a practice squad offer....

[Nconroe]

Originally Posted by Arky

Ankrah is a bit of surprise (to me). I think the next batch of cuts (post Dallas game) have better odds to get a practice squad offer....

Im sure a bunch more surprises coming. Perhaps some of these guys to practice squad.

[Nconroe]

Seems pretty competitive at LB,

Getting to 75, on profootballscout saw this. One of the four transactions, the release of punter****Will Johnson****was reported****yesterday****after the club made its first series of cuts.

Here, via Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (Twitter link), are the Texans’ other four moves:

Cut:

LB****Jeff Tarpinian

Waived/injured:

TE****Anthony DenhamS****Terrance Parks

Placed on reserve/non-football illness list:

T****David Quessenberry