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I heard yesterday that Bennett had some injury that was keeping him out of the lineup, maybe it has cleared up and he is ready, but if that was the case, shouldn't he have gotten into the game Sunday? Or did he and I missed it?
I am sorry, but I feel like I have to triple check anything the Chronicle prints. When they make mistakes about simple things like the final score of games routinely, I am not going to trust their 'scoops'.
bennett has been down with a hamstring injury, but if i remember correctly he's moving past it and getting back into the pads at practices.
look, bennett has what it takes (including his relationship with dunta) to be a solid #2 guy. and from what i gathered listening to kubiak's 30 second clip about him kubiak would like to see him on the field if he's better than petey faggins. if reps is all that is keeping him off the field at this point then i would like to see him thrown out there from time to time so that everyone can see his progress or lack of. it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he's starting by the end of the season, and it would really help us focus all our money/draft picks towards making other positions of need better. an in house #2 cb would be amazing, and would turn this defense into a monster...
If Bennett can play, he should be an option. We have to stop the bleeding as every team will be ready to test that position.
It seems that if we know they are going to pick on that position, we should be able to "trap" them into some interceptions. Where is his help?
uh...if i thought bennett was an instant answer i would've expected to see him during the chiefs game...and i know i'm no doctor, but if kubiak is saying he's getting back to health and is in practices again i'll take it with a grain of salt but by no means am i going to ignore the head coach's (and probably some team doctors, who are doctors) opinion(s) on the matter.
i don't think it's out of his reach to be a better cb than faggins, who is looking bad every week regardless of his situation. and by no means am i saying leave him hanging out there to get rolled over. i'm saying put him in a few plays a game and watch his reactions and reads to see if he is, in fact, improving.
What Kubiak said was he wanted to get Bennett on the field but never said he would get him on the field in place of Faggins. That might happen eventually but Kubes will probably get him reps at nickel first.
Well, like someone else said, be very careful what you wish for if you want Bennett to replace Faggins.
And not even counting the hamstring, I took note of this when he referred to Bennett. Something very close to . . . "we need to get him on the field, but Bennett needs to "first, act like a pro, prepare like a pro, and practice like a pro".
I've heard him say those words before, when talking about someone else.
You can't trust the Texans talking about player injuries at all. He wants them to believe that if they work harder and prepare better that hamstring problems will go away.
But that is all smoke, mirrors and placebos. You'd like to think you can prevent hamstring injuries through hard work, but there isn't a proven scientific way to prevent them or heal them faster.
And it is misleading to suggest otherwise. But then again, he's trying to create a lockeroom of guys who play through pain. That's what they are doing in the NFL. So Kubiak will implore them all to work harder but in the meantime, that isn't going to fix Bennett's hamstring.
Well, Bennett may get time in the nickel defense, but it will be on the outside rather than the slot. Robinson, Fletcher, and even Faggins are more suited for the slot.WHEN Fred get's healthy and looks good in practice, expect to see them try him out in nickel situations. If he performs there, they might get him some time at corner.
Faggins getting constantly burned is what makes it seem like Faggins is getting constantly burned. Teams picked on D-Rob for about half the season his rookie year, but he turned it to his advantage and made them pay. All the stuff about draft position(as if THAT mattered) and him being a "natural" nickel back not withstanding, Faggins is just not up to the task. That being said, IMO, we don't really have a viable replacement at this moment, so it's up to Smith to devise gameplans/coverages/looks to protect that side of the field.When Bob Allen interviewed Kubiak on the news yesterday, they talked about Faggins. Kubes didn't dog on the guy at all (not that I thought he would) and actually gave him some props for all the passes being thrown his way. He knows that Faggins is being picked on due to the fact that Dunta is the opposite corner, thus it makes Faggins look like he is constantly getting burned. I think it's wishful thinking that we can have 2 shut down corners on this team. Maybe in a few years, but for now I think that it should be Faggins with some help over the top. One of those penalties he had in the game was complete B.S. and we all now it. That being said, he does need to clean up his game and be consistantly better that he has been.
That happens to him quite a bit cuz he's always trying to catch up and just flailing away with his arms as he stares at the receiver.Im pretty sure Bennett was drafted in order to eventually take the #2 CB spot away from Faggins. Just his height alone gives him an edge. THere have been a few times where if Faggins had been taller, the ball would just have ricocheted off his helmet.
But corner is a tough position in the NFL, and I expect it;ll be a while before we see him out there regularly.
Luckily, Trent Green has been pretty friendly at giving corners their confidence back. Unfortunately, Faggins usually gives it back to the QB.
We're just going to have to live with Faggins getting constantly burned. I know that's a tough pill to swallow,
so here is a glass of water to help you get it down.
"Devise gameplans/coverages/looks to protect that side of the field"? That's a double edged sword. Adjusting for a weakness only makes you weaker somewhere else from a secondary standpoint.
If you want to take Petey out of the picture, you're just going to have to disrupt the opposing QB. There is no easy fix here.
We should trade for DeAngelo Hall.
Teams do this successfully all the time. The Texans don't because they use a lot of man coverage, even though man coverage doesn't suit their palyers abilities. I'm still not overly impressed with Richard Smith and his ability to put his defense in a position to succeed. I agree that more consistent pressure on the QB goes along way in hiding defeciencies in other areas of the the defense.We're just going to have to live with Faggins getting constantly burned. I know that's a tough pill to swallow,
so here is a glass of water to help you get it down.
"Devise gameplans/coverages/looks to protect that side of the field"? That's a double edged sword. Adjusting for a weakness only makes you weaker somewhere else from a secondary standpoint.
If you want to take Petey out of the picture, you're just going to have to disrupt the opposing QB. There is no easy fix here.
Teams do this successfully all the time. The Texans don't because they use a lot of man coverage, even though man coverage doesn't suit their palyers abilities. I'm still not overly impressed with Richard Smith and his ability to put his defense in a position to succeed. I agree that more consistent pressure on the QB goes along way in hiding defeciencies in other areas of the the defense.
Faggins getting constantly burned is what makes it seem like Faggins is getting constantly burned. Teams picked on D-Rob for about half the season his rookie year, but he turned it to his advantage and made them pay. All the stuff about draft position(as if THAT mattered) and him being a "natural" nickel back not withstanding, Faggins is just not up to the task. That being said, IMO, we don't really have a viable replacement at this moment, so it's up to Smith to devise gameplans/coverages/looks to protect that side of the field.
EDIT: I didn't read all the way down before this post. Lucky took the words outta my mouth.
Petey AKA the new "P-Burnt", we just got rid of one last year with P.Bucannon!
You'd like to think you can prevent hamstring injuries through hard work, but there isn't a proven scientific way to prevent them or heal them faster.
Have you ever heard of a basketball player with a pulled hamstring?
They run backwards a lot - is that the miracle workout?
Yes. Happens all the time.
And so no. Nice thought though.
Teams do this successfully all the time. The Texans don't because they use a lot of man coverage, even though man coverage doesn't suit their palyers abilities. I'm still not overly impressed with Richard Smith and his ability to put his defense in a position to succeed. I agree that more consistent pressure on the QB goes along way in hiding defeciencies in other areas of the the defense.
If you listen to the Kubiak interview from yesterday (I'm thinking this is where MM is getting the Fred Bennett idea) Kubiak to me, doesn't really sound like he wants to move Bennett. I think this is just Manful being her usual self jumping the gun.
Well, I think with better and more cohesive safety play, he'll get better over there. I think some of the problems in the secondary are a result of such massive personnel changes... As that settles down, the entire secondary will respond. Once Petey knows where the safety help will be, he'll improve.
I would like to see him play in the nickel first before we just throw him out there in Faggins' spot.
Give him a few games to get back to speed & then if Kubiak likes what he sees we can try him out as the #2.
I dont think that getting him out there sooner rather than later is a good idea at this point, with him coming off an injury.
Maybe this is stupid [what else is new ] but isn't Von Hutchins fast enough to cover Faggins receiver over the top when Faggins plays closer up? Now, I'm talking about putting VH on that strong side, but we all know Faggins needs more help than D-Rob. Then, we move whoever our SS is to D-Rob's side and send CC Brown to go play tiddlie-winks or something.
Don't tell me D-Rob can't handle it.
If you're worried about the safety on Faggins' side stopping the run, just remember that we don't have that problem anyway. Demeco pretty much squashes that need. Also, maybe he might get hurt or something, but Von Hutchins has been known to lay the wood is his short playing time with us. I think we need to do something different. One way or another, Faggins needs to quit giving up all those short receptions--whether he gets help he trusts, or he sits down.
PS-I wouldn't even mind using Bennet or Fletcher at CB and putting "Petey" at safety on their side. I'm SICK to death of inadequate pass coverage on that side.
Secondary coach Jon Hoke hasn't given up on Faggins, but he concedes "Petey" probably needs to be at least temporarily plucked from the frying pan for the sake of his own mental health. The kind of penalties Faggins committed are often an indication that a player is veering toward panic mode.
"We just have to get him settled down," Hoke said.
Still, the best-case scenario for the Texans would be Bennett's proving worthy of the starting job opposite Robinson, a fellow former South Carolina Gamecock. At 6-0, 197 pounds, the fourth-round draft choice is bigger than both Faggins (5-10, 179) and Fletcher (5-10, 185). He's also a more proficient, punishing tackler - if not quite yet in the same league as the 5-11, 184-pound Robinson, who packs as much pound-for-pound wallop as almost any player in the NFL.
An accomplished sprinter in high school, Bennett is also faster than the two veterans. Although a lack of speed hasn't been a conspicuous problem for either Faggins or seventh-year pro Fletcher, most agree they would be more effectively utilized in the "nickel" and "dime" packages - if that's a luxury the Texans can afford.
While coach Gary Kubiak said, "We had a quarterback (Joey Harrington) play really good against us," he was reluctant to promise a lineup change. He refrained from saying Bennett would start.
"We think a lot of Fred," Kubiak said, "but in all honesty, in the last few weeks he hasn't been healthy with his hamstring, and he hasn't been (practicing). He did get back to work some Thursday and looked very good on Friday last week. Fred's got to learn to practice like a pro and prepare like a pro, and he's on his way to doing that. If we can get him healthy, we'd definitely like to get him some playing time.
"Where that's at, how we do that, we'll see. But it's also a matter of him stepping to the plate and showing he's ready to play."
Robinson would have mixed emotions about Bennett's replacing Faggins because he has cultivated special relationships with each. In his final year at South Carolina, Robinson threw his support behind the then-freshman Bennett, and he has grown close to Faggins in their three-plus seasons together in Houston.
While acknowledging Faggins is struggling , Robinson doesn't think he deserves to be benched.
"I don't think you sit guys down (for the kind of mistakes Faggins made)," he said. "I think you give us as a team the chance to correct it again on Sunday."
But Robinson insisted Faggins will handle whatever happens as a professional.
"I talked to Petey," he said. "He's always in good spirits. He's been through a lot in his life, so he knows what it takes to get back on the football field if they do sit him down."
Bennett is only a rookie.
So was Robinson when he nabbed 6 balls for us back in '04...
Right now Dunte and Bennett do not belong in the same sentence when comparing skills. We are hopeful for the B man,but for now hopeful is all it is.So was Robinson when he nabbed 6 balls for us back in '04...
Defensively I'm not at all impressed with Richard Smith. The front seven and Dunta have played well. Other then that I'm not really impressed with how this coaching staff has put the rest of the squad in position to succceed. But then again i'm reminded the current shuffle at the safeties and how this team really came together after what week 4-5 last year....which concidentally is about the same time our new safeties will be much more comfortable and i think the staff a lot more confidence. Miami could in total be a get well game for this team to come out play hard and see what we've got on both sides of the ball.
Of course i find it hilarious how quickly this board forgot how much this team struggled defensively without Faggins last year. There were even some Faggins get well wishes on this board.
Bennett is only a rookie.
So was Robinson when he nabbed 6 balls for us back in '04...