Some encouraging news on Brooks!

[CloakNNNdagger]

(on if RG Antoine Caldwell isn’t available then having G Brandon Brooks play) “He’s made progress. He’s made a lot of progress. He’s a better player now than he was when we left camp. He’s lighter. He’s worked really hard at his trade. We’re probably not going to know until he gets thrown in the spot, that type of thing. Is that this week? I don’t know. He’s disappointed he’s not part of what’s going on right now. He hasn’t been suiting, and that’s a good thing. That means he’s working hard to get ready to play.”

link

[Playoffs]

Next man up!

[Insideop]

I wonder how many pounds he's lost? I know they wanted him to lose some weight to improve his endurance, but to me, he never looked "over weight" or out of shape in the photos and footage I've seen of him.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Insideop

I wonder how many pounds he's lost? I know they wanted him to lose some weight to improve his endurance, but to me, he never looked "over weight" or out of shape in the photos and footage I've seen of him.

At the combine, he weighed in at 346. He was told to lose weight before OTAs. He came in at 352. Kubiak was upset. They wanted him at 330.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

link

How is not suiting up a good thing? If he was working hard, would he not be in uniform getting some plays? I think Brooks is in Kubes dog house for eating too much kibbles and bits. Gary is throwing him a bone but with little meat on it.

Brooks and Posey need to bring it next season.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by badboy

How is not suiting up a good thing? If he was working hard, would he not be in uniform getting some plays? I think Brooks is in Kubes dog house for eating too much kibbles and bits. Gary is throwing him a bone but with little meat on it.

Brooks and Posey need to bring it next season.

With Caldwell already playing with a bum ankle after playing through bilateral high ankle sprains last year, Brooks is obviously Kubiak's next man up and will likely be used sooner than later.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

With Caldwell already playing with a bum ankle after playing through bilateral high ankle sprains last year, Brooks is obviously Kubiak's next man up and will likely be used sooner than later.

Yep, I want him on the field & against Jets may be good for him. He has had time to get into NFL shape.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Insideop

I wonder how many pounds he's lost? I know they wanted him to lose some weight to improve his endurance, but to me, he never looked "over weight" or out of shape in the photos and footage I've seen of him.

Agree, he didn't look overweight in all the games I watched him play in college and he didn't look overweight in PS either.

But if he can keep it down further, he will be all the better on cut blocks, on pulls and on the second level.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by badboy

How is not suiting up a good thing? If he was working hard, would he not be in uniform getting some plays? I think Brooks is in Kubes dog house for eating too much kibbles and bits. Gary is throwing him a bone but with little meat on it.

Brooks and Posey need to bring it next season.

Make him more hungry?

Errrh, bad choice of words!

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by badboy

How is not suiting up a good thing?

Not suiting up wasn't a good thing. His being pissed off about not suiting up was a good thing.

[GP]

He has to develop a mean streak like Duane Brown possesses.

The game might be too big for him right now, so he has to flip a switch and own the moment if he gets it. My fear is that he has the size and the basic skill set...but lacks the snap-to-snap killer instinct due to his age and inexperience in the NFL.

IF he can find that inner badass, he is going to straight up MAUL opposing linemen. Teams would freak out if they had to face a line of Duane Brown, Wade Smith/Jones, Myers, Jones/Brooks, and Newton. That's almost criminal.

[Wolf6151]

CND, Thanks for the story and link. That's some excellent news. I'm glad to hear that Brooks sounds mad about not suiting up and sounds like he's got a good work ethic going on so that he can get out there. He'll make some mistakes in the beginning but that's just part of learning and growing into the position. Hopefully he can get some playing time soon and get those rookie mistakes out of the way this year because I firmly believe that Brooks is the future of the RG spot for the Texans.


I just wish I had as much confidence in Newton at RT. We'll see.

[kiwitexansfan]

That is pretty exciting, with Jones, Caldwell and Brooks that is a good guard rotation for when we don't resign Smith.

[NastyNate]

Originally Posted by GP

He has to develop a mean streak like Duane Brown possesses.

The game might be too big for him right now, so he has to flip a switch and own the moment if he gets it. My fear is that he has the size and the basic skill set...but lacks the snap-to-snap killer instinct due to his age and inexperience in the NFL.

IF he can find that inner badass, he is going to straight up MAUL opposing linemen. Teams would freak out if they had to face a line of Duane Brown, Wade Smith/Jones, Myers, Jones/Brooks, and Newton. That's almost criminal.

Why would they freak out about a rookie guard? Seriously GP, your logic is so flawed here.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by NastyNate

Why would they freak out about a rookie guard? Seriously GP, your logic is so flawed here.

???

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by kiwitexansfan

That is pretty exciting, with Jones, Caldwell and Brooks that is a good guard rotation for when we don't resign Smith.

Smith is signed through 2013. Caldwell will be a FA after this season.

Originally Posted by GP

He has to develop a mean streak like Duane Brown possesses.

The game might be too big for him right now, so he has to flip a switch and own the moment if he gets it. My fear is that he has the size and the basic skill set...but lacks the snap-to-snap killer instinct due to his age and inexperience in the NFL.

You do realize that you are just making stuff up, right? Brooks has been criticized by Kubiak for weight and stamina. Not his make up. A total fabrication.

[welsh texan]

I'm excited for the future about these kids on the oline, it seems as if when the likes of Myers and Briesel came in they had to do almost all of their learning on the job as starters.

We've got the luxury of letting these guys sit and learn and throwing them out there as the coaching staff want. It can only be a good thing.

I know Newton is getting some stick right now but lets just remember this guy was a 7th round pick playing tackle in the NFL, it seems the coaches may have favoured Butler to start this season due to experience, so lets give the guy a chance to develop. I'm sure we'll be drafting at the position in the offseason anyway to keep the production line moving.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by Insideop

I wonder how many pounds he's lost? I know they wanted him to lose some weight to improve his endurance, but to me, he never looked "over weight" or out of shape in the photos and footage I've seen of him.

He didn't look out of shape, but when you are that big you will get fatigued faster than if you lose some weight. 330 is plenty big enough.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by GP

He has to develop a mean streak like Duane Brown possesses.

The game might be too big for him right now, so he has to flip a switch and own the moment if he gets it. My fear is that he has the size and the basic skill set...but lacks the snap-to-snap killer instinct due to his age and inexperience in the NFL.

IF he can find that inner badass, he is going to straight up MAUL opposing linemen. Teams would freak out if they had to face a line of Duane Brown, Wade Smith/Jones, Myers, Jones/Brooks, and Newton. That's almost criminal.

You realize he is known for his physicality and aggressiveness right?

Hard to show that when you aren't sure if what you're doing.

[Insideop]

Originally Posted by Rey

He didn't look out of shape, but when you are that big you will get fatigued faster than if you lose some weight. 330 is plenty big enough.

Yes, I realize that, but how much has he lost? Is he staying in the "doghouse" because he isn't losing the weight, or has he lost the weight and it's just a numbers game now with Jones and Caldwell ahead of him? To me, he has more upside than Jones because of his athletic ability and size, but was behind Jones in actual development as a player due to Jones playing in the SEC and Brooks playing at Miami (Ohio). My guess is we won't see him this year unless there is an injury situation, like Caldwell now, or we wrap up the division early and Kubes starts playing a lot of the 2nd and 3rd string late in the season.