Earl & Faggins Getting Reps with 1st Team

ESPN.com

^Notes:@ The Texans held FB Moran Norris (shoulder), K Kris Brown (concussion) and RT Todd Wade (knee) out of practice Wednesday, but all were expected to be ready for Sunday's game at Detroit. ... SS Glenn Earl, who has spent the last season working back from a knee injury last year at Notre Dame, got in several first-team practice plays Wednesday.


Very interesting, wonder if it means anything

Wow...could be good, could be bad. I don't know how sure I would be with two rookies starting in the secondary.

Basically, its' the teams way of staying prepared in case a player goes down. If Earl had not injured his knee, he would have been a pretty high draft selection for safety, thus the Texans taking a chance on an injured player. Don't look to deep into the practice reps, except for preparation for possible injuries, backup time, and grooming to take someones place in the future!

I have never been a big Eric Brown fan. Whenever I hear his name I always think of him falling on his face as Graham catches a TD pass from Brady. If Glenn Earl is better, then play him.

I suspect that is what the team is looking at. It was pretty painfull watching Brown get burned and they KNOW other teams will see the same thing. If Earl can get the job done, they will use him. Having three rookies on "D" though is more than a bit worrisome.

ya but we are not trying to get to the playoffs this year. 3 rookies on D, after a whole year of starting and playing together next year they will be the leaders on the team. Why start a 31 year old who probably wont be around next year.

If it weren't for the knee injury, Glen Earl would have been the first safty drafted and not Tylor.

Diehardtexan said:

If it weren't for the knee injury, Glen Earl would have been the first safty drafted and not Tylor.

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uh....no...Earl would have been the second saftey taken everybody knows that and Casserly even said so...

Yea, Sean Taylor is in a class by himself. If he played anything but safety, he would have been the first player taken.

Ya I guess I dont get the "rules" of the draft but he is hands down the best player in that draft. I dont get why the Chargers had to take Eli, I always thought it was best player available I mean Taylor is a guaranteed pro bowler instantly. How could you not want that on your team regardless of the position he plays?

What if Glenn turns into a 2004 DD. Wouldnt that be awesome, another 4th rounder that wasnt expected to do much comes in and wins ROY. If that happened I would kiss CC for his amazing draft knowledge, the chances are a million to one but that would be pretty sweet.

No one is guaranteed anything in the NFL. The list is monsterous and full with top picks that never made it. And in reality, only after one game, you have still to keep a close eye on the rooks even one as talentad as Sean Taylor. So no dead lock guarantees can be granted just yet. I'll admit, he is good but who really knows.

As for Earl, I think that the Texans saw Antonio Gates catching everything in site with no answer from Brown. Maybe Earl can provide something that Brown cannot. Earl will be the starter next year and perhaps the practice move is a way to prepare him for the eventual switch. Earl may even move into the position as soon as the coaches see that his knee has fully recovered.

Cant complain though, either one of these two Strong Safties is a tub load better then Matt Stevens. Imagine what the Chargers would have done to us if he was still in the secondary starting rotation. That guy couldn't tackle a laundry basket.

glenn earl was said to be a lot better in pass coverage than brown from the beginning...every nfl analyists has predicted that at some point in the season earl would take over the starting SS job...and after the san diego game why not...brown is a veteran in this league and he couldn't stop a TE?...i could understand him getting out jumped or out played for a ball but to have trouble coveraging a TE...come on brown...DB's are supposed to be some if not the fastest guys on the field...and atleast faster than your average TE...bottom line if earl can learn the defense and atleast stay on his man better than brown then start him

Gates isn't your average TE. When teams play against Todd Heap, Tony Gonzales, Shockey (when healthy), etc. they put more than just safeties on them. If you watched the Sunday night game between the Chiefs/Broncos you'd notice that the Broncos put Champ Baily on Tony G for some plays because Shannahan's logic was that Tony G is their best reciever and he needed to be covered by their best CB.

I haven't really watched Eric Brown play that much and already consider him a weak spot. To me he is a Matt Stevens type of player but a little more talented...basically he's just filling the position until the Texans find something better. I don't think he was ever the long term solution at SS, just no one else challenged him for the position.

I would welcome the change now IF Glenn Earl is deserving of the spot...no need to delay progress, the sooner we get a long term solution the better.

Other teams could see that glaring weakness in the defense. Capers needs to get another player up to speed so that the oposition will have something to think about.

guy346...gates maybe an above average TE but putting him in the same class as tony g, heap, and shocky i think is a little premature...the main point i was trying to get accross is that typically any type of DB, safty or corner, should be faster than a TE no matter what skill level...and that brown should have atleast been able to run with him on the routes...but most of the game gates had about three steps on our SS...which is just sad

keyfro said:

guy346...gates maybe an above average TE but putting him in the same class as tony g, heap, and shocky i think is a little premature...the main point i was trying to get accross is that typically any type of DB, safty or corner, should be faster than a TE no matter what skill level...and that brown should have atleast been able to run with him on the routes...but most of the game gates had about three steps on our SS...which is just sad

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I understood your point, but if Gates were an average TE he would be able to be covered by a LB. Gates is more of a recieving threat than most TEs. I listed him among the likes of Heap, Tony G, and Shocky because of they're all better recieving threats. You can even include guys like Billy Miller, Ricks, etc. that are all able to burn a LB in coverage. Coverage isn't soley about speed though, agility also plays a key role in it. Gates ran good routes, and Brown's liability is coverage. That is no secret, but it's not soley Brown's speed that makes him a liability in coverage. I believe someone noted earlier that Brown has a tendency to bite on play action, and the second he takes a false step towards the line it puts him at a disadvantage against any TE, FB, HB, WR etc. San Diego simply exploited Browns weakness, and I don't see how putting Earl, a rookie, in would help alleviate the problem. He would be in a similar position as Robinson, but would be without all the practice/training camp/ preseason reps that Robinson had. He'd be just as likely to bite on the PA as Brown early on, and he likely wouldn't show dividends until mid to late season at earliest. I think he'll supplant Brown by next season, but I don't want to push the panic button quite yet.

Here's another link to some info about the Faggins/Earl situation. Looks like Capers doesn't believe that Earl will be taking Brown's place anytime soon since he's just now practicing at full speed.

ESPN

I wonder if Marlon McCree could play some SS??? I don't know how he is in run support, but he looked pretty good as a FS last year.

RTP2110 said:

I wonder if Marlon McCree could play some SS??? I don't know how he is in run support, but he looked pretty good as a FS last year.

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Interesting question actually--McCree is a converted LB from college and in his time with the Texans has laid some decent licks on folks--much better in coverage than Brown, but still don't think he will be as good in run support. With a game like the upcoming one where there is no proven runner it might not be a bad idea to let him give it a try--against a run heavy team give Brown the go. Just don't know how hard it is on the players to move in and out of the starting lineup and whether that would over balance slight perceived benefits.