GregR_2
Footballguy
Attended the August 3rd morning Texans practice. They didn't even require tickets at the gate to get in. However, they are opening up two additional practices they are having with the Saints which will require tickets, August 19 and 20 from 8:30-10:45. To get tickets, go to HoustonTexans.com to download them.
Players were in shoulderpads and shorts, so not full contact.
1st string offense
Nothing too unexpected, Schaub at QB, AJ and Walter at WR and Owen Daniels at TE. Dreesen was in on 2 TE sets, and David Anderson was the 3rd WR, normally in the slot though at least one formation AJ went in the slot and Anderson went outside. Slaton and Chris Brown took most all of the snaps with the first string. Leech was the only FB I recall.
2nd string offense
Orlovsky at QB, Andre Davis and Jacoby Jones at WR. Moats and Arian Foster at RB. WR Darnell Jenkins played the slot. Didn't note the TEs.
3rd string offense
Grossman at QB. Mike Jones, Glenn Martinez, Mark Simmons at WR, couldn't tell you who were the starters and who was the slot. Jeremiah Johnson was in at RB some, though I think Moats and Foster may have taken snaps there too.
1st string defense
Connor Barwin seemed to alternate between 1st and 2nd string on defense. I didn't really note who was at DT, though Cody was in at one point with the 1st string. LBs were Adibi, Ryans and Cushing. Reeves and Fred Bennett at CB, with Ferguson and Wilson at safety. Glover Quin was out with an injury (more later) and Brice McCain took his spot as nickel CB. I believe Okoye is out with an injury.
Punt return: Jacoby Jones, Andre Davis, David Anderson, and WR Darnell Jenkins were the only ones to return punts. Jacoby and A. Davis both had nice returns. Anderson and Jenkins let too many balls hit the turf, and Anderson was doing a poor job reacting and getting to the ball if the kick was a little short.
Injury: CB Glover Quin had 3 interceptions in camp already going into today. He was in the first activity but then was injured. I didn't see what happened, but he was over on the trainers table with what looked like a cold pack around his knee and/or upper shin. He walked around with it on but was visibly limping, then later was standing on the sidelines without it but didn't go back in. Disappointing, he was one of the guys I really wanted to watch closely after hearing Gil Brandt said he would be one of the league's biggest surprises this year.
Wildcat: I don't know if this was a real package they will use, or if it was done to test the defense, or was just for the fans or so word will get out the Texans are doing it and teams will maybe plan for it, but they ran one wildcat play with WR David Anderson at QB. It was a handoff to Moats who took it about 20-25 yards for a TD.
Running backs: Slaton was impressive. He had an outside run in 9/9 run drills that would have gone for a TD. Made a lot of nice cuts and was finding the hole well.
Chris Brown had an up and down day. He had some nice runs and ran tough, including some TDs in the red zone drills. He also fumbled. He had a nice blitz pick up on a strong safety blitz.
Ryan Moats had a pretty solid practice. There were a couple of runs where he was swallowed up, mainly the O-line's fault, but in general he was finding holes and moving the ball.
Arian Foster looked very good to me. I can see where the Eddie George comparisons come in. He has a very similar style. Good size and speed, and I thought he was doing a very good job of one cut and go. I'll hedge this by first saying that I'm a Foster dynasty owner so was cheering for him, but I could see him ending up the backup to Slaton, especially if/when Chris Brown gets his season ending injury. I did not really get to see him in any blitz pick up though. The times I tried to watch for it he released into a receiving route. I wouldn't draft him in a redraft, but I'd keep an eye on him as camp and the season progress.
Jeremiah Johnson I really didn't see much that caused me to make a note about him. I was hoping to see some of the Slaton-like shiftiness he's said to have, but didn't see it.
All of the RBs in general caught pretty well out of the backfield. There were a few miscues but not many... Foster had one he didn't catch though he had a guy draped on him so I don't know that it's fair to call it a drop. Slaton and Schaub were on a different page at one time and Schaub threw it about 5 feet behind him.
During 11 on 11 scrimmage at the end, there were quite a few plays with the RBs split out wide.
QBs: Schaub didn't look all that great to me today. He was under a fair amount of pressure. Not necessarily sacks, but he didn't have a lot of room to step up as the D was pushing the O-line back in his face, and he almost always had either Mario or Barwin behind him already to where he didn't have much room to scramble. He did ok in general, but a lot of check downs and sometimes I thought he held the ball a little long. It wasn't a bad day, but I'd have been happy if he'd looked better.
Orlovsky looked ok though he threw a deep interception. He and Andre Davis in particular were hooking up well. I hadn't realized he was so tall. 6'5", he seemed to be able to see the field pretty well over the line.
Grossman also looked decent though nothing special. I will say this for him though... every time I've gone to a Texans training camp the last few years, it's been very noticeable the huge difference between the 1st string and the 3rd string QBs like Alex Brink. This year, all three of the QBs looked capable.
Receivers: AJ had a slow start but during the 11 on 11 scrimmage he had a lot of catches, with many of them coming in traffic or when he was tightly covered.
Kevin Walter may have had a catch today but if so I don't remember it (or I confused him with Owen Daniels).
Daniels had quite a few catches, many of them after Schaub didn't find anyone open in his progression.
Dreesen had a great deep catch for a TD if he got his feet in, diving and being hit while he caught it.
I didn't really note James Casey at this practice, so can't tell you how he did.
Andre Davis had a very good practice. A lot of catches, including one juggling catch going to the ground as he was hit, and he nearly pulled in a deep leaping catch with good coverage.
Jacoby Jones had a few catches but was less impressive, and I think one of the coaches was getting on him for at one point, maybe for his route.
David Anderson seemed like he was always running a curl or otherwise sitting down in a spot in the zone. He had a few catches and did ok.
The 3rd string WRs didn't really stand out much. I recall Martinez had a nice catch.
D-line It seemed like they were getting a decent push, though not a lot of plays I felt would have been obvious sacks if it was a real game. Mario and Barwin were switching sides a fair amount. Mario sniffed out and shut down a screen play to Slaton. There was a play against the 2nd string where I thought Barwin probably would have had a sack if he didn't have to protect the QB. I didn't really note a lot of the DT's play.
Linebackers: Cushing had an interception on a deep pass by Orlovsky. I was watching the line play so didn't see if it was underthrown or a bad read, or just a good play by him. There was one play where Slaton lined up at wideout with Cushing in coverage. Unfortunately Schaub threw it pretty quick to the other side of the field... Slaton was on a go route and I would have liked to have seen how long Cushing could have stayed with him. I thought Slaton was just starting to get a step on him when he pulled up as the ball was already thrown to the other side.
I didn't really note much special from the linebackers in general. Cushing was playing up on the line a fair amount, and I recall him blitzing one play but getting picked up. I had meant to try to pay some attention to both Adibi and Diles, but didn't end up watching them closely enough.
Secondary: The 1st string secondary did a better job than I expected. The offense was completing passes, but there was tighter coverage than I'm used to seeing at a Texans practice. Normally Andre Johnson looks like no one is even on him, but most of his catches were made with someone right on him and were more a case of Schaub having the confidence he could throw it to him anyway, than because AJ was wide open.
Rookie Brice McCain who was filling in at nickel had a couple of nice plays, including good coverage on Andre Davis on a deep route (that was the one Davis almost made a circus catch despite the coverage), and also good coverage on Andre Johnson one time when he kept position in front of AJ on a deep pass so McCain was the only one who had a chance at the ball and had a shot at a pick though he didn't bring it in.
I didn't really note a lot in particular from the safeties. Saw some safety blitzes and playing up near the line, but no one stood out to me in particular.
General impressions: I think the defense looked improved, especially in the passing game. Better coverage in general and better pressure on the QB. However, I think the offense was outplaying the defense in the running game. The top 4 RBs all had a pretty good day in general. Now granted it wasn't full contact and so what might have been a tackle at the line might end up looking like a nice gain when the defender can't actually tackle the RB, but still, I thought the RBs were doing very well at finding holes and doing a cut and then heading upfield hard. The offense turned the ball over 3 times (2 fumbles, one by Chris Brown, don't recall the other, and an INT by Orlovsky) and had to run laps after practice as a result.
Listened to an interview with Andre Johnson on the drive home. He confirmed my impression that the secondary is playing better, said in the past it wasn't as much work for him to get open as it is now.
I'll end this with my normal caveat. This one was one practice out of a whole training camp. It could have just been a good day or bad day for any given player that might be at odds with how he normally does. So take from this what you will, but remember it's a very, very tiny snapshot of what the coaches get to see over the long term.
Players were in shoulderpads and shorts, so not full contact.
1st string offense
Nothing too unexpected, Schaub at QB, AJ and Walter at WR and Owen Daniels at TE. Dreesen was in on 2 TE sets, and David Anderson was the 3rd WR, normally in the slot though at least one formation AJ went in the slot and Anderson went outside. Slaton and Chris Brown took most all of the snaps with the first string. Leech was the only FB I recall.
2nd string offense
Orlovsky at QB, Andre Davis and Jacoby Jones at WR. Moats and Arian Foster at RB. WR Darnell Jenkins played the slot. Didn't note the TEs.
3rd string offense
Grossman at QB. Mike Jones, Glenn Martinez, Mark Simmons at WR, couldn't tell you who were the starters and who was the slot. Jeremiah Johnson was in at RB some, though I think Moats and Foster may have taken snaps there too.
1st string defense
Connor Barwin seemed to alternate between 1st and 2nd string on defense. I didn't really note who was at DT, though Cody was in at one point with the 1st string. LBs were Adibi, Ryans and Cushing. Reeves and Fred Bennett at CB, with Ferguson and Wilson at safety. Glover Quin was out with an injury (more later) and Brice McCain took his spot as nickel CB. I believe Okoye is out with an injury.
Punt return: Jacoby Jones, Andre Davis, David Anderson, and WR Darnell Jenkins were the only ones to return punts. Jacoby and A. Davis both had nice returns. Anderson and Jenkins let too many balls hit the turf, and Anderson was doing a poor job reacting and getting to the ball if the kick was a little short.
Injury: CB Glover Quin had 3 interceptions in camp already going into today. He was in the first activity but then was injured. I didn't see what happened, but he was over on the trainers table with what looked like a cold pack around his knee and/or upper shin. He walked around with it on but was visibly limping, then later was standing on the sidelines without it but didn't go back in. Disappointing, he was one of the guys I really wanted to watch closely after hearing Gil Brandt said he would be one of the league's biggest surprises this year.
Wildcat: I don't know if this was a real package they will use, or if it was done to test the defense, or was just for the fans or so word will get out the Texans are doing it and teams will maybe plan for it, but they ran one wildcat play with WR David Anderson at QB. It was a handoff to Moats who took it about 20-25 yards for a TD.
Running backs: Slaton was impressive. He had an outside run in 9/9 run drills that would have gone for a TD. Made a lot of nice cuts and was finding the hole well.
Chris Brown had an up and down day. He had some nice runs and ran tough, including some TDs in the red zone drills. He also fumbled. He had a nice blitz pick up on a strong safety blitz.
Ryan Moats had a pretty solid practice. There were a couple of runs where he was swallowed up, mainly the O-line's fault, but in general he was finding holes and moving the ball.
Arian Foster looked very good to me. I can see where the Eddie George comparisons come in. He has a very similar style. Good size and speed, and I thought he was doing a very good job of one cut and go. I'll hedge this by first saying that I'm a Foster dynasty owner so was cheering for him, but I could see him ending up the backup to Slaton, especially if/when Chris Brown gets his season ending injury. I did not really get to see him in any blitz pick up though. The times I tried to watch for it he released into a receiving route. I wouldn't draft him in a redraft, but I'd keep an eye on him as camp and the season progress.
Jeremiah Johnson I really didn't see much that caused me to make a note about him. I was hoping to see some of the Slaton-like shiftiness he's said to have, but didn't see it.
All of the RBs in general caught pretty well out of the backfield. There were a few miscues but not many... Foster had one he didn't catch though he had a guy draped on him so I don't know that it's fair to call it a drop. Slaton and Schaub were on a different page at one time and Schaub threw it about 5 feet behind him.
During 11 on 11 scrimmage at the end, there were quite a few plays with the RBs split out wide.
QBs: Schaub didn't look all that great to me today. He was under a fair amount of pressure. Not necessarily sacks, but he didn't have a lot of room to step up as the D was pushing the O-line back in his face, and he almost always had either Mario or Barwin behind him already to where he didn't have much room to scramble. He did ok in general, but a lot of check downs and sometimes I thought he held the ball a little long. It wasn't a bad day, but I'd have been happy if he'd looked better.
Orlovsky looked ok though he threw a deep interception. He and Andre Davis in particular were hooking up well. I hadn't realized he was so tall. 6'5", he seemed to be able to see the field pretty well over the line.
Grossman also looked decent though nothing special. I will say this for him though... every time I've gone to a Texans training camp the last few years, it's been very noticeable the huge difference between the 1st string and the 3rd string QBs like Alex Brink. This year, all three of the QBs looked capable.
Receivers: AJ had a slow start but during the 11 on 11 scrimmage he had a lot of catches, with many of them coming in traffic or when he was tightly covered.
Kevin Walter may have had a catch today but if so I don't remember it (or I confused him with Owen Daniels).
Daniels had quite a few catches, many of them after Schaub didn't find anyone open in his progression.
Dreesen had a great deep catch for a TD if he got his feet in, diving and being hit while he caught it.
I didn't really note James Casey at this practice, so can't tell you how he did.
Andre Davis had a very good practice. A lot of catches, including one juggling catch going to the ground as he was hit, and he nearly pulled in a deep leaping catch with good coverage.
Jacoby Jones had a few catches but was less impressive, and I think one of the coaches was getting on him for at one point, maybe for his route.
David Anderson seemed like he was always running a curl or otherwise sitting down in a spot in the zone. He had a few catches and did ok.
The 3rd string WRs didn't really stand out much. I recall Martinez had a nice catch.
D-line It seemed like they were getting a decent push, though not a lot of plays I felt would have been obvious sacks if it was a real game. Mario and Barwin were switching sides a fair amount. Mario sniffed out and shut down a screen play to Slaton. There was a play against the 2nd string where I thought Barwin probably would have had a sack if he didn't have to protect the QB. I didn't really note a lot of the DT's play.
Linebackers: Cushing had an interception on a deep pass by Orlovsky. I was watching the line play so didn't see if it was underthrown or a bad read, or just a good play by him. There was one play where Slaton lined up at wideout with Cushing in coverage. Unfortunately Schaub threw it pretty quick to the other side of the field... Slaton was on a go route and I would have liked to have seen how long Cushing could have stayed with him. I thought Slaton was just starting to get a step on him when he pulled up as the ball was already thrown to the other side.
I didn't really note much special from the linebackers in general. Cushing was playing up on the line a fair amount, and I recall him blitzing one play but getting picked up. I had meant to try to pay some attention to both Adibi and Diles, but didn't end up watching them closely enough.
Secondary: The 1st string secondary did a better job than I expected. The offense was completing passes, but there was tighter coverage than I'm used to seeing at a Texans practice. Normally Andre Johnson looks like no one is even on him, but most of his catches were made with someone right on him and were more a case of Schaub having the confidence he could throw it to him anyway, than because AJ was wide open.
Rookie Brice McCain who was filling in at nickel had a couple of nice plays, including good coverage on Andre Davis on a deep route (that was the one Davis almost made a circus catch despite the coverage), and also good coverage on Andre Johnson one time when he kept position in front of AJ on a deep pass so McCain was the only one who had a chance at the ball and had a shot at a pick though he didn't bring it in.
I didn't really note a lot in particular from the safeties. Saw some safety blitzes and playing up near the line, but no one stood out to me in particular.
General impressions: I think the defense looked improved, especially in the passing game. Better coverage in general and better pressure on the QB. However, I think the offense was outplaying the defense in the running game. The top 4 RBs all had a pretty good day in general. Now granted it wasn't full contact and so what might have been a tackle at the line might end up looking like a nice gain when the defender can't actually tackle the RB, but still, I thought the RBs were doing very well at finding holes and doing a cut and then heading upfield hard. The offense turned the ball over 3 times (2 fumbles, one by Chris Brown, don't recall the other, and an INT by Orlovsky) and had to run laps after practice as a result.
Listened to an interview with Andre Johnson on the drive home. He confirmed my impression that the secondary is playing better, said in the past it wasn't as much work for him to get open as it is now.
I'll end this with my normal caveat. This one was one practice out of a whole training camp. It could have just been a good day or bad day for any given player that might be at odds with how he normally does. So take from this what you will, but remember it's a very, very tiny snapshot of what the coaches get to see over the long term.
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Just snagged him again this afternoon in the Footballguys IDP staff league. Wooo Hooo!
was planning on going to this thursdays open practice but will just hold out for those. anybody else going to the saints open practices?
2 of the 3 leagues I've drafted him in are dynasty leagues, and I have him on 4 year contracts - the other is redraft but he's one of my backups (not one of the 3 starters) - I hope to start him this season sooner rather than later, however. Thanks for your observations!
