Training Camp: Day 3

[jerek]

Some more personal observations from the sideline after attending the Sunday morning practice.

It's hot. Seriously. If you weren't there, I hope you were somewhere air conditioned. I was sweating in the shade. A lot of players continue to deal with dehydration/heat exhaustion.

Mario Williams was taking the entire O-line to school. In the one-on-one drills he was pretty much having his way with just about everyone. He looked really solid in the 7/7 11/11 drills as well. He seems very focused and is very much in learning mode, very hungry to be even better. Was great to see.

Seth Wand is struggling right now. He looks very unsure of himself, and was getting beat badly and repeatedly. Even Babin, who I do not think of as being that strong or possessing very good moves, got by him with ease on multiple reps. Sherman subbed him out of the first team multiple times. IIRC Spencer was taking some first team reps today at LT.

Moulds practiced but look like he was holding back; didn't take a lot of reps. The perks of being a veteran, I guess. He looks good though, pretty much what we expect and even hope he'll be; a strong, big, sufficiently fast receiver who runs good routes and has great hands. Teams will be hard pressed to double team AJ this year with Moulds on the opposite side.

Walter looks like a good 3rd WR. He's tall and got sure hands and will be good across the middle and on out routes.

Carr looks like he's doing well right now. They are running a lot of slant routes (Andre is going to slaughter the opposition with that this year) and short routes across the middle, including to Putzier. The playcalling still looks like an absolute 180 from last year; a lot of mixed formations and a lot of receiving options, lot of bootlegs and rollouts and PA's. I notice they are focusing a little more on shorter routes and in Carr making the quick, right read and getting rid of it; so far he is handling it well and still looks quite sharp.

Our O-line is getting absolutely dominated at this point. In fairness, I think our D-line is going to be a top-5 unit in the league this year; Weaver, Williams, and even Payne at DT and Babin/Peek at DE are going to make an amazing unit. As far as our O-line, it's way too early to hit the panic button; there are a lot of rookies getting reps and this is a unit that needs time to really play together and gel under their new coach. Just that FWIW (which IMO is not that much, at this point) they are struggling as a unit right now. Flanagan looked best in the 1/1 drills, and Wiegert looked alright as well.

N.D. Kalu caught my eye a couple times. He looked good in the 1/1 drills and got a lot of reps at, IIRC, at DT in second team. I still didn't catch DeMeco too much.

Robaire and Peek were absent today. I've heard rumor that Robaire was simply being treated for heat exhaustion and will be back soon. D-Rob sat out (as did Davis) but D-Rob was walking with only a very slight limp; I think he'll be back pretty quickly.

Buchanon looked much better; he is being much more physical and aggressive. He made a very athletic INT while covering AJ and looks like he is gaining confidence. Hoke is working a lot with him.

Rosenfels looked pretty good in 11 on 11, what little I saw of him. Doesn't have much of an arm but is pretty accurate and seems to find the open guy.

C.C. Brown looked really good today. He was great in coverage and was tackling really well. There wasn't a lot of full-on tackling drills today but he was frequently in good position and getting a good wrap-up, hitting low and strong.

Chris Taylor fumbled once and had a droppped pass IIRC, but he still looks great with the ball in his hands. Seems decisive and very fast vertically.

I'll post more as I think to add it, but that's what's fresh on my mind for now. This is probably the last session I'll go to until next weekend, since I unfortunately work a 9-to-5 and am short on PTO right now. I'm sure AJ and possibly Coach C and anyone else who might have been there will have something to contribute as well, and I'll be happy to try to answer any questions.

[Maddict5]

excellent summary..how did tj do in the 1 on 1's

[aj.]

Wali Rainer injured his left knee or ankle and had to be carted off at the start of 9 on 9's. He couldn't put any weight on it, and it didn't look good. Went down in a heap during pursuit on an off-tackle right. Stayed on the ground a long time and you could tell it wasn't good. Ticks me off since he was one of my favorites early in camp... a leader of the LB corps. Shows just how fragile the careers are of a NFL player. I'll consolidate my notes and put something up later.

It was the first time in full pads outside the bubble so hearing the 'pop' of the pads made it seem real and much more instense.

AJ is a man among boys out there.

Wand false starting on the second play of 11 on 11 was not good. Wand and Spencer were getting chewed on by Sherman a couple of times.

P Buc actually had a good practice for a change.. He had several tight coverages - some on AJ.

John Walker and Chris Taylor continue to impress.

Fans are not happy about this Field 2 and Field 3 stuff.

Good summary jerek, agree on a lot of it. The DL better be one of the best in the league because a) it's probably one of the highest paid units in the league, and b) I'm not real bullish on what's lining up behind them, especially in the secondary.

[jerek]

Originally Posted by Maddict5

excellent summary..how did tj do in the 1 on 1's

TJ looked like he was about to fall over dead ... don't know if he's just out of shape or dealing with the heat ... probably both. Today's heat was absolutely oppressive; hot and very humid. I didn't watch the second team as much, and that is who he was running the 1 on 1's with. In the 11 on 11 he worked mostly out of the second unit, but both Peek and Robaire were gone, so not sure where he would factor in if all were healthy.

The scuttlebutt that I was able to pick up on is that TJ is still struggling motivation wise and doesn't really have his head in the game at this point. I've heard this from multiple team sources and it was my general observation in just watching him today and yesterday. As far as critiquing his actual performance, the problem is, without tape review (which I don't have access to), I can really only pay attention to any one or two players at a time, and so I am paying attention to a particular group of them that I am specially interested in. FWIW I didn't notice him much one way or the other today, but I wasn't watching for him either.

[TexanFan881]

Did anyone happen to notice if Dexter McCleon was there and if so how he did?

Thanks again for the training camp updates. I really appreciate it.

[aj.]

TJ was TJ. No first team reps. Shared second team reps with Alfred Malone.

[aj.]

Originally Posted by TexanFan881

Did anyone happen to notice if Dexter McCleon was there and if so how he did?

Thanks again for the training camp updates. I really appreciate it.

Yes he was there. Wearing #20. Worked a lot of man against David Anderson and other backup WRs. Rusty as you might expect but he looks like he's stayed in shape at least while he's been on the sofa.

[chuckm]

Originally Posted by aj.

Fans are not happy about this Field 2 and Field 3 stuff.

one of the security guards said something to us about the field nearest the stands being torn up the day before so they wanted to let it recover .... I dunno, it looked pretty good to me ....

[jerek]

Originally Posted by chuckm

one of the security guards said something to us about the field nearest the stands being torn up the day before so they wanted to let it recover .... I dunno, it looked pretty good to me ....

That's the official reason for musical fields; preservation of grass. I worked landscaping and that is a "legitimate" reason from standpoint of taking care of your facilities.

[aj.]

Originally Posted by chuckm

one of the security guards said something to us about the field nearest the stands being torn up the day before so they wanted to let it recover .... I dunno, it looked pretty good to me ....

I heard that too. There's really no other explanation. They had most of the 9 on 9 and 11 on 11 (the fun stuff) on Field 1 Friday, then Field 2 Saturday, and Field 3 today. So it looks like they are just rotating through the fields. The goalpost on the 50 yard line of Field 1 was something I hadn't seen before. I talked to several people from the Texans who couldn't tell me why they were doing it that way this year, but grass preservation seems logical. It sucks a bit from a fan standpoint though.

[Wolf]

hmmm what is up with TJ is he taking his medication or I wonder if he has changed medication?

[RTP2110]

Wow, what a hot day out there. Here's a few things I notced today:

Looking of the roster, we have to be the only team in the NFL with two guys named Wali.

Andre Johnson was fantastic again. He caught every pass thrown to him (that I saw) and beat his man almost every time. He looks poised for a great year.

Phillip buchanon looked really good today, he is playing alot more physical than I've ever seen.

Kubiak isn't afraid to call anyone out at any point in time. I clearly heard him yell across the field, "Owen Daniels, wake up son! Let's go!"

I think it was aj. who mentioned it yesterday, but this team is actually having fun while out there practicing. The LB's really get going when they split up into groups. There's alot more players encouraging each other and things of that nature going on. After the first team offense was sent off in the scrimmage, I heard Carr from 50 yards away, "Very nice guys, very nice" he then pointed out 89 and gave a, "Good job Jeb!" Carr is at least trying to be the vocal leader Kubiak is looking for.

Yea the whole rotating fields ordeal is a royal pain. But if what I think is right, is right then this is how it would line up.

Mon 1, Tue 2, Wed 3, THU 8/3 Field 1, FRI 8/4 Field 2, SAT 8/5 Field 3 Oh well, the bleachers are nice, but there's nothing like standing 15 yards away from Kubiak during 11 on 11 full scrimmages.

[chuckm]

after one play during the 11-11, Sherman screamed at Wand "Seth make something happen"! Babin abused him at times in the 1-1 drills ....

[HJam72]

Originally Posted by chuckm

after one play during the 11-11, Sherman screamed at Wand "Seth make something happen"! Babin abused him at times in the 1-1 drills ....

I'm not feeling good about Wand right now. If he doesn't show something at LT this year, I don't think he ever will.

[aj.]

Originally Posted by jerek

TJ looked like he was about to fall over dead ... don't know if he's just out of shape or dealing with the heat ... probably both. ..........

The scuttlebutt that I was able to pick up on is that TJ is still struggling motivation wise and doesn't really have his head in the game at this point. I've heard this from multiple team sources and it was my general observation in just watching him today and yesterday. .

Texans Chick are you reading this? How irresponsible....a fan said something negative about a football player. You're a lawyer. I think a defamation of character case is in order.




(sorry jerek, just a continuation of some fun on the same subject - different thread)

[valleytexfan]

excellent info guys, all of you did a great job for the rest of us that can't be there in Houston!!! THANKS!!!!

[southtexan]

Could anyone please tell me what "IIRC" means?

[vtech9]

Originally Posted by southtexan

Could anyone please tell me what "IIRC" means?

it means..."If I Remember Correctly"

[southtexan]

Originally Posted by vtech9

it means..."If I Remember Correctly"

Thanks

[HJam72]

Originally Posted by southtexan

Thanks

No, you're s'posed to say...."TYVM".