Brooks Reed returns to practice, has “good shot” to play

[Goodwrench3]

http://bit.ly/XKTRnl


Good news for us.He'll be important in playoffs!

[MEGA SWATT]

just heard that on sports radio - that is good news.

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by Goodwrench3

http://bit.ly/XKTRnl


Good news for us.He'll be important in playoffs!

Awesome news, I have been very underwhelmed with Mercilus thus far.

[Doppelganger]

Originally Posted by Goodwrench3

http://bit.ly/XKTRnl


Good news for us.He'll be important in playoffs!

Need last year's playoff version to return: stout against the run and a great blitzer. I would put him at ILB to help shore up the interior. Barwin and Mercilus stay at the OLB spots with Braman coming in to relieve.

[TimeKiller]

Wow, this seems soon but if he's feeling up to it, I see no reason to hold him out. He needs as much field time as possible before the playoffs.

Definitely could use his edge-setting/run stopping abilities against Peterson.

[gtexan02]

I wonder if we could put Reed or Barwin in the middle and keep the other one with Mercilus on the edge

[Rey]

Originally Posted by gtexan02

I wonder if we could put Reed or Barwin in the middle and keep the other one with Mercilus on the edge

I think you'd be very disappointed with that line up.

[wolf123]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

Awesome news, I have been very underwhelmed with Mercilus thus far.

You've been underwhelmed with the rookie who is 2nd on our team in sacks in limited reps but the starter who has produced no pass rush is awesome?

[wolf123]

Originally Posted by Rey

I think you'd be very disappointed with that line up.

Why is that Rey? You think Brooks can't play the inside or what is your reasoning?

[Brisco_County]

Mercilus has been showing signs of steady development. No reason to declare any disappointment. Not every player can come out like a Brian Cushing.

[House of Pain]

Hopefully Brooks can go back to being our most athletic LB and can situationally patrol the middle of the field. Maybe if we have to take the Pats/Pack on again, the middle of the field won't look like our secondary in 2010.

POSI VIBES BRO

[mussop]

Originally Posted by Rey

I think you'd be very disappointed with that line up.

I don't. I believe reed has played a few snaps inside this year. Why not get your 4 best LB's on the field at the same time. You see OL coaches doing this all the time.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by wolf123

Why is that Rey? You think Brooks can't play the inside or what is your reasoning?

No. Brooks Reed cannot be a full time ILB IMO. At least not rigt now this late in the season.

If you want to move him their after the season and let him be a full time player there, ok. Maybe.

But I think if you put Reed in the middle of the field on a full time basis right now he'd get eaten alive. It's a whole different world in there. You have got to worry about the entire field. You have bullets flying at you from both sides. I think unless they dumbed the defense way down he'd struggle vs the pass and run.

Can't remember when, but one of the defensive coaches said they saw Reed as an ILB when they drafted him...So they think he can play in there. I'm not sold on him doing it full time, but I'd feel a lot better about it if they gave him an entire off-season to work at it.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by mussop

I don't. I believe reed has played a few snaps inside this year. Why not get your 4 best LB's on the field at the same time. You see OL coaches doing this all the time.

I've seen Sharpton and B. James line up and rush from outside, but I don't think they should be OLB's full time...

You want to mix it in as a package, fine. But if you put Reed in at ILB for extended periods of time or as a full time player there at this point in the year I think that is going to fail...JMO

[IDEXAN]

Great news having Reed back !

[CloakNNNdagger]

"Limited" practice on a non-contact practice day does not tell you much as far as his preparedness to go Sunday. "Full" practice today (the appointed contact practice, IF it is scheduled at all this week) MAY give us a better idea.......but, for a recovery from significant groin strain, by no means assures his return for real-time game heavy load duty.

Keep in mind, we may be more falsely encouraged by a "Full" practice label at this point in the season. Why? Because we don't even know if today's practice, normally scheduled to be full-contact, is in fact going to be full-contact. Remember the new NFL rules dictating full-contact practice. The rules limit each team to 14 practices in full pads during the regular season, 11 of which must come in the first 11 weeks of the 17-week season (only 3 left for the last 6 games). So at this tail time of the season, we don't really know (unless the Texans specifically release the information) if there will be ANY full-contact during any particular week.

I thought it might be worthwhile to bring this up, as this set of rules/circumstances playing out is easily forgotten by the end of the season, but none-the-less important to a team's health and injury strategy finishing up the year.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Rey

I think you'd be very disappointed with that line up.

I don't. I'd love to see Reed at ILB.

Again, he's not Cushing, but I think our team is missing that presence in the middle, that threat to run up the middle put a hurt on the QB. I think it will open everything up for the other guys.


In all honesty Rey, I'm grasping at straws here. Our trump card was to get Merci more playing time & move Barwin to the strong side. I thought that was what we needed to get our pass rush going & it hadn't happened.

We're not going to go out & find better players, so the only thing we've really got is to move these guys around. Reed is not "ideal" for the ILB spot. But I don't think any of our guys ever was...... not for a 3-4 ILB. Cushing is the best we've got at that position, but he's not ideal, I don't think.

But I like Reed better in coverage than Barwin & I like him attacking the line, shedding blockers better than Dobbins & James.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

Our trump card was to get Merci more playing time & move Barwin to the strong side. I thought that was what we needed to get our pass rush going & it hadn't happened.

It's no secret that I'm not a huge fan of what Merci brings to the table, but he has something that Reed nor Barwin have when it comes to pass rushing....quickness...

Sadly, he's the best outside rusher we have had right now although I keep hearing Barwin is about to put it all back together again...

If JJ Watt keeps playing like he has and Antonio stays kind of steady, they can mask that problem....against teams like the Colts...

When it comes to better teams we are probably going to struggle because there are rare times when those top QB's take sacks and we need to be able to capitalize when they hold the ball too long...

I'm fine with having Reed play in the middle on a limited basis. Give him some simple assignments..rush him up the middle...Whatever...

What I don't want to see is...OK Reed...You're a MLB now.

[Big Lou]

I just hope they are bieng careful. This game is important, if we can control the game and its winnable I think you throw just about everything at them, because if you do, you can rest a lot of guys for a couple of weeks, and in the process get some second string guys some playing time in a real game situation, which would be huge at this point.

However we need Brooks, Joseph, and the like healthy for the playoffs. This will be a thin line to walk. This is the side of coaching that its hard for us to see because we don't get the real scoop on injuries, how players are responding, and we can't see the practices and how players are performing. I hope Gary and Wade have thier "Strategery Hats" on this week.

[Big Lou]

Could you imagine if we had Cush, Reed, Shrapton, Dobbins, (and I guess you could throw James in there) all healthy?

I know all teams are dealing with injuries, but it sure would have been fun to see these guys healthy and playing. I hope Cush coming back next season seals up some of the cracks that have formed in this defense.