Texans In-season Thread (1 Viewer)

[coolnerd]

From Profootballtalk.com...

HOUSTON IN HOT WATER OVER GREEN DEACTIVATION?We suppose it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that Texans coach Gary Kubiak might be in a little trouble for an injury reporting violation. After all, Kubiak was the offensive coordinator in Denver, and he learned at the knee of Mike Shanahan, who has been in trouble in the past for fudging the injury reports.Just last night, for example, the Broncos continued to list safety John Lynch as "probable" to return to the game, even after he was spectating with his pads off. But, in NFL parlance, "probable" means "virtual certainty." The only thing Lynch was virtually certain to do was not re-enter the game. Kubiak and the Texans might be in trouble over the manner in which the team handled running back Ahman Green in Week Eight against the Chargers. He was listed as "probable" (i.e., virtual certainty) for Sunday's game at San Diego with a knee injury. Green participated in practice on a limited basis on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, and fully participated in practice on Friday. Come Sunday, however, Green was deactivated.Per NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, the league office is looking into the situation. And we take that to mean that there was no Saturday downgrading of Green to questionable, doubtful, or out.Stay tuned.Meanwhile, this is as good as spot as any to share the Mike Shanahan in-game injury reporting definitions, which a reader forwarded to us last night during the Live Blog of the Packers-Broncos Monday nighter.Probable -- player is at the game.Questionable -- player is at the hospital.Doubtful -- player is deceased.Out -- player has been cremated (or he failed a lie detector about being dead).--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[ThePhillyKid]

This A. Green situation sucks.

I've been holding on to this guy all year, waiting for him to finally get over this injury and start performing.....and I got screwed this past Sunday.

I didn't even bother to check, only because everything I read all week was so positive with him practicing and being upgraded to probable.

 

[Eagle Eye]

Any word on Daniels' injury? MRI results?

 

[coolnerd]

Kubiak on the Texans injuries per houstontexans.com

Head coach Gary Kubiak(on his quarterback situation) “Well, our quarterback has a concussion, OK, and chances are he will not play this week. So we’re preparing as if Sage (Rosenfels) is our starter, and we’re going to get Craig Nall ready to be the backup. And maybe Matt (Schaub) might be in a position to be a backup or a third come game day, but we’ll have to wait and see.”(on the severity of QB Matt Schaub’s concussion) “I don’t know. I can’t answer that. I just know that he’s definitely had one and he had some headaches the day after the game and they’re monitoring the situation, putting him through many tests, but he’s going to keep up with us and we’ll see. He’s feeling pretty good today, I can tell y’all that.”(on the running back situation) “Where are we at today? OK, Joe (Adimchinobi Echemandu) did practice today. We were pretty light in practice, but he did practice full practice, so it looks like he’s making his way toward being OK. Ronnie (Dayne)’s fine, and then Ahman (Green), from now on, guys, he’s not going to practice on Wednesday. So when we come out here, I’m going to make him take Wednesday off. That’s me. And then we’ll work on Thursday and Friday and make a decision.”(on if he knows whether RB Ahman Green will start) “No, I feel good about the progress he’s made throughout the weekend, and he ran yesterday, but it’s just a total new plan that we’re on now that he will not participate on Wednesday and then we’ll start tomorrow. So for me to say he’s ready to go or he’s not ready would be wrong, OK? Let’s wait and see tomorrow and how he does.”(on how good it was to see WR Andre Johnson doing so much in practice) “It was very good. He means a lot to the team, just him putting on that uniform and coming out here. He took probably about 15 snaps. We’ll do more with him tomorrow and monitor him but when he comes back and puts on that uniform, it’ll mean a whole lot to our team.”(on if he’s shooting for WR Andre Johnson to return this week) “Yes, we’re shooting for this week, but we’re also going to be smart about this week. So we’ll have to see.”(on if it will be a typical game-time decision) “Well, I think it’s day-to-day. I think I may say something different to you every day. I think the progress today was good. He went according to plan, got his reps in. Let’s see. Let’s see how he comes out in the morning.”(on TE Owen Daniels) “He’s a little better than we thought. He did not do anything today, did not participate. We’ll see. He told me before practice he felt better about it today than he did yesterday, so we’ll see.”(on CB Jamar Fletcher) “And the last thing, let me tell y’all this because y’all are here – (Jamar) Fletcher, our corner, came in this morning (and) was not feeling well. He has appendicitis. He’s in the hospital; don’t know what quite yet they’re going to do. We may know some more this evening, but that’s why he wasn’t here today. Y’all would’ve heard that or figured that out sooner or later.”(on any personnel moves involving CB DeMarcus Faggins and CB Fred Bennett) “I’m sorry. You said DeMarcus (Faggins); you talking about Petey? OK, alright. Well, first off, they’re all going to play, and I’m going to answer that the same way. Fred (Bennett)’s playing a lot more at corner, OK? He’s going to play a lot more this week. Petey (DeMarcus Faggins)’s going to play in nickel. Petey’s going to play inside. He’s going to play corner when Fred’s out of the game. We’re going to need them all. They’re all going to play, OK, so that’s the way I see it. I look at all of them as starters, to be honest with you, OK, with as much three wide receivers and four wides that we get.”(on not labeling the situation) “No, I think we continue with what we’re doing, and that has been upping Fred (Bennett)’s play. And he’s earned the right to play some more and he’s going to play some more this week, but Petey (DeMarcus Faggins)’s going to be out there too in nickel, a starter in nickel, so nothing’s really changed from that standpoint.”

 

[Buckna]

Costly win against the Raiders, Dunta Robinson out for the season:

Robinson suffered a torn hamstring and what probably will be found to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament when he was making a tackle late in the first quarter.

Rough injuries, I saw it reported on the Texans messageboard that Robinson completely tore his hamstring off the bone. Not good news on what was one of our best defensive players and our only legit corner. Have to think corner becomes a major priority in the offseason.It was encouraging to see the O'line not give up a single sack for once. I wish Schaub could get that kind of protection. Okoye has 5 sacks on the season, making a bid for DROY!

 

[coolnerd]

It seems like every year the Texans are near the top (or bottom) in terms of injuires. Right now the team is only talking about the knee and surgery for that, but the possibility of more damage is a scary proposition for a team already searching for CBs.

 

[GregR_2]

From Profootballtalk.com...

HOUSTON IN HOT WATER OVER GREEN DEACTIVATION?...

Somehow I missed hearing about this last week.If there's any truth to monkeying with the injury report, I hope Kubiak takes it to heart as a lesson learned and doesn't ever do it again. The last thing I want to see is the Texans lower themselves to Shanahan or Bellichick's level. McNair has been a very stand up guy when it comes to ethics as far as I can tell from how he insists on high personality players. Hopefully if there is any truth to it he'll step in and squash this from happening again if Kubiak doesn't on his own.

 

[coolnerd]

Ahman Green to get 2nd opinion..per houstontexans.com

Green gets second look: The bye week for running back Ahman Green will begin with a trip to the doctor’s office. Green will get a second opinion on the sore knee that has been hampering him since Week 3.“We’re going to find out what’s really going on, why is it swelling all the time and giving me pain and discomfort,” Green said.The 10-year veteran has received three MRIs, all of which were inconclusive, prompting Green to ask the team if he could fly to Mobile, Ala. and meet with another athletic physician.“I’ll just be happy because then we’ll finally know,” Green said. “We’ll have our finger on the dot to see what exactly it is. When you’re out there kind of going blind in something in the dark, you don’t know what it is, you don’t know how to treat it and how to deal with it. So once we find the problem, then we’ll have a solution

Wasn't this the way that DomDavisNowWilliams' injury situation started?

 

[coolnerd]

Updates from Monday press conference...per Houstontexans.com

Head coach Gary Kubiak(on if the team found out anything new about RB Ahman Green) “No, it’s really just kind of what we thought it was and it’s basically going to be continuing to monitor what he can tolerate on the knee and how the reacts from day to day. We’ll keep the same plan. Our plan is for him to work a little bit on Thursdays, a little bit on Friday and be ready to go on game day. So that’ll be our plan, and if something alters that and he doesn’t think he can go then we’ll have to make adjustments from there, but that’s the way we’re going to treat it the rest of the year.”(on WR Andre Johnson) “He looks good. I think the best thing we did is not play him in Oakland. That was really hard not to do, but I think it was good for him. He looks like his old self right now, so everybody’s excited to see him back on the field.”(on having WR Andre Johnson back on the field) “Well, it means a lot. You can just tell the energy of the football team. Everybody knows when he’s out there, and he brings a work ethic to our football team that he’s always set the example, so just having him back’s a great plus for everybody.”(on if the news on RB Ahman Green is a best-case scenario) “Yes, I think it’s positive. We were hoping that he wouldn’t go down there and we’d find something that we didn’t know about, so I think it is what it is and it’s something that he’s going to have to fight through for the rest of this season. And then hopefully, the way we’re handling him and him just continuing especially taking this break right now, it helps him be there for us, because it’s obvious when he’s there for our football team we’re a lot better football team.”(on CB Dunta Robinson) “The surgery went well. He’s in Alabama. He will not be allowed to come back here for probably for 10-12 days. So the surgery was, when, Thursday I think, so he’s going to be there for a while. But he is doing fine and everything went fine.”(on if he has a long-term prognosis for CB Dunta Robinson) “No, I really don’t. I just know that he’s in for, this is a long-haul deal. I mean, this is going to take some time. It’s an ACL-plus and ACL’s an automatic six months, so this is going to be a major injury for him to overcome but he’s a hard worker and they felt good about the repair and so we’ll get him started rehabbing as quick as possible.”(on his third receiver) “André Davis is our third receiver. Andre (Johnson) goes to his spot, Kevin (Walter) stays at his spot, André Davis will work as a third, Jacoby (Jones) as a fourth and then it’ll be a decision whether we suit five guys up or not from now on, probably.(on if QB Matt Schaub is 100 percent) “Yes. He looked good. I think he looked like himself a little bit. Y’all know he practiced a little bit before we left on the break, and he’s felt well. I think the break did him some good, so all indications today that he’s fine. Actually, Sage (Rosenfels) is probably more beat up than he is, but they were both on the field today.”

 

[The Hank]

CoolNerd --

do you think that K. Walter is a viable pickup in a 16 team league? Im trying to gear up for the playoffs, need a WR on the bench and he is the best available.

I know A. Johnson is coming back, which will take off alot of pressure on him and could allow him to catch some more passes.

thanks!

 

[The Redbeard]

Does anyone know if Green practiced today?

 

[BustedKnuckles]

Does anyone know if Green practiced today?

Ahman Green-RB- Texans Nov. 14 - 5:17 pm et Ahman Green (knee) sat out Texans practice on Wednesday.Green is expected to return to work by Friday and play vs. New Orleans, but he'll be a risky option in a difficult matchup and because of the unpredictable injury he's dealing with. Ron Dayne could also see plenty of work.

 

[coolnerd]

CoolNerd --do you think that K. Walter is a viable pickup in a 16 team league? Im trying to gear up for the playoffs, need a WR on the bench and he is the best available.I know A. Johnson is coming back, which will take off alot of pressure on him and could allow him to catch some more passes.thanks!

Actually mildly surprise Walter is available in a 16 team league. He is the number 2, but the Andre Davis and Jacoby Jones will get time. Tough to say what that means with a healthy Johnson. If he is depth or an injury replace it makes sense to me.

 

[swirvenirvin]

Why wont Ahman Green just end this year and sit out

 

[coolnerd]

Ahman Green out. Seriously, so reminds me of Dom Davis' knee

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5307989.html

 

[Nate]

Kubiak mentions he's "hoping to avoid" having to put Green on IR: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports...nt/5315800.html

 

[djjosee]

Here I am ready to drop Joe Echemandu for anybody ... now, maybe it should be Green. I wish they would just IR the guy!

 

[coolnerd]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5340506.html

Chester Pitts arrested...as these thing go very

 

[coolnerd]

Kubiak on Schuab injury per houstontexans.com

(on injuries suffered in Tennessee) “I’m not going to go into what is exactly going on. I’ll let Kevin (Bastin, head athletic trainer) go into that. I think there is a little bit of hope for our quarterback. Matt’s (Schaub) may not be a season-ending injury. It is for Fred (Weary). I think it is for Chris White.” (on what happened to the injured players) “Matt (Schaub) dislocated his shoulder. That’s all I know at this point. Fred (Weary) has a broken leg. I’m not sure about the details. I just know that he is done for the season and Chris White is done for the year with a knee.”

 

[coolnerd]

Ahman Green on IR

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5360662.html

and Darius Walker to serve as Dayne's back-up...from chron also

Darius Walker era to begin Sunday

The Texans will activate rookie running back Darius Walker for the first time Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He will backup Ron Dayne at running back.

With Dayne still nursing a tender ankle, Walker could see a handful of carries this week. It's a big opportunity for him to prove that he can play at this level. Coaches won't just be watching his yards per carry, but they will be glued on him in pass blocking situations and seeing how well he can hold onto the ball when he gets hit. Expect to see Dayne line up in the backfield in most passing situations though. With Fred Weary on the IR, the Texans will need to use as many quality blockers as they can get.

Today at practice, Mike Brisiel took the majority of repetitions with the first team and Gary Kubiak named him the new starter. Rookie Kasey Studdard will try to shake off the jitters he had a week ago. He will still play. The Texans will rotate them at times during the game to see how each of them performs.

And, you have now officially seen the last of Ahman Green. Well, at least for this season. I assume everyone has already had time to cope with that disappointment...

Any predictions of how Walker will look? It won't be easy for him or Dayne this weekend, considering they will be running behind a line void of one of its strongest pieces. And, of course, they are playing against another one of the league's best defenses.

 

[GregR_2]

Ok, rambling final thoughts on the Texans 2007 season.

Overall as a Texans fan I have to be reasonably pleased with how things went. Getting to 8-8 is a big improvement from 2 years ago and being 2-14 and having a dearth of talent on the roster. Though I also temper that 8-8 with the knowledge that 1 of the games was against a team resting their starters. Yes, it counts, but obviously it also is a lesser accomplishment than beating the full Jags squad.

Have to love Mario's emergence as a force. Two of the biggest frustrations as a Texans fan were people slamming the Texans for taking Mario, and people judging Mario on his first season without taking into account the severity of the injury he played most of the year through. Seeing some heaping of helpings of Shut-the-####-Up go out that were so obvious they didn't need any I-told-you-so was a treat. Hopefully Okoye will have a stronger second half to the season next year... he made noise early but then other teams were doubling him and we didn't hear much from him after. I think the combo of Okoye and Mario can make it tough for teams to scheme against if Okoye can keep it going for a full season.

Overall though, it's a decent year with quiet optimism. 8-8 is not bad for a season where you lead the league in players on IR, where you lost QB and Andre Johnson for 6+ games on top of that, and where the 3 other teams in your division all are playoff bound teams. The WR position was an area of need going into the year, and suddenly it's such an area of strength I think the team needs to look at using more 4 WR sets.

But there are still significant holes to fill before this team will make the playoffs. Cornerback, left tackle, and running back are the most notable, though free safety could still use some help. Will Demps was a very nice surprise to get off the street and go to the Pro Bowl. He's quietly been a guy with a nose for the ball... if he could only catch some of the potential interceptions he had chances at he could have been something special.

Having Sage Rosenfels as a backup for Schaub has been ideal... the two are so similar they don't have to change up the gameplan when Sage goes in. But both QBs need to work on making better decisions. Turnovers were the bane of this team. They gave up an average of 9 points per game off turnovers, worst in the league. Some of those were just outright bad decisions, like the pick that Sage threw yesterday against Jacksonville when the DB was almost in front of Andre already when he threw the ball.

Very happy with the personnel moves this team is making. Finding guys like Andre Davis is what you need to do when you are have more holes than can be addressed with just the draft. I think if they can lock up Davis for 2-3 years, that trading or releasing Jerome Mathis will probably happen since he hasn't been able to stay healthy enough to be worth the roster spot.

The team should have some decent free agent money, and cornerback, O-line, and running back are all good areas to target. Dunta Robinson may never be the same player after the severe injury he suffered, and while I think Fred Bennett had a decent rookie season, we definitely need to add more talent there. Barring filling a hole with free agency, I'd like to see them take a corner in the 1st, an OT in the 3rd and a RB in the 4th (though I'd rather get a free agent RB since there are quite a few decent ones out there). Though I'd be happy with trading down in the 1st to pick up another pick as long as we can still get a decent corner.

On the coaching staff, it sounds like some of the candidates to replace Sherman will include Kyle Shanahan and departed UCLA coach Karl Dorrell, though there's really no indication of any favorite for the job yet.

Next year's schedule, unfortunately, isn't getting any easier. Most of our difficult opponents who are out of division are away games, while the easy opponents are home games. We're going to have to do well on the road next year to have a shot at the playoffs.