- Roster changes: For Texans 146 starts, 5200+ plays are gone from last season. (Raiders changes by comparison: 59 starts 3,300 plays are gone.)
- Max Scharping "was tremendous" today at RG and RT. Looks like he has a shot to win the RT job. "Max has got a punch. They tried some wide-9 technique on him and he was fine with that. Then they went heavy on him and tried to bull him and he was good with that. He just looks like a guy who will end up in the starting lineup."
- "Carl loves Watson", he looked very good today. "He threw a ball in the red zone ball today that was just perfect… It was coming in hot, too." "Excellent in the red zone, extremely accurate today." He’s not frantic out there, his ball is tight, his motion is compact, he can heat it up when needed.
- Kicker, punter, coverage units are not a concern.
- Texans first four opposing QBs on the road. Brees, Rivers, Mahomes, Luck. Those guys threw 153 TDs last year. Texans first four QBs at home: Foles, Cam Newton, Matt Ryan and Carr. And Brady is in there. Depth at CB is a big concern.
- "Two veterans brought up Lonnie Johnson to us today."
- "Quite a few players have brought up Carlos Watkins to us."
- Jahleel Addae is fitting in nicely. With Justin Reid this is a good big nickel team.
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Deshaun Watson on the TEs: JT "bigger, strider, physical, likes to jump, has speed." JA: "Smaller version of JT with more finesse", DF: "True Y, does everything right", KW: "freak athlete, big/tough/physical, can really fly, strong hands, can jump"… facing a big learning curve. Needs to get healthy, get on field to learn. "We can do anything we want to with the TEs."
DW on himself: "I’m healthy finally, feel good, not comfortable/always striving to get better." "Carl [Smith] has so much knowledge, experience you have to listen to him, he’s been doing it for longer than I’ve been alive." "I’m blessed and glad that Coach OB brought him here."
DW on his contributing to OL sack totals: "I’ve got to get rid of the ball, I can’t hold the ball, I’ve got to sit in the pocket when I need to, I’ve to throw the ball away. I’ve got to make this throw, this read. I’ve got to make this check. I’ve got to make the right Mike point. I got to throw my hots and sight adjust."
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Bill O’Brien on the front office: We have Chris Olsen, Matt Bazirgan, Jack Easterby… we spend a lot of time together after practice. We really do a good job of managing our time. We’re evaluating the roster, evaluating the league, and doing everything we can to improve the team. It’s a day to day effort. We keep the big picture in focus, Chris keeps us in line relative to the salary cap. He’s a smart guy, great demeanor really calm. He deals with the agents and things like that and the rest of us deal with the players.
OB on Focus has been on biggest red area problems: first is penalties, then sacks, then lack of execution from coaches and players. We spent a lot of time on that in the Spring and I think we’ve improved. Today was one of our better days in red area.
OB on Scharping/Tytus: Max is already mature, understands how to study tape, comes early/stays late, has a good future. They had a "good team meeting" with Tytus yesterday because he was just "okay" yesterday. "He’sprobably a little bit better today after the team meeting." "Tytus is a great kid, you’re coming from Alabama State to the NFL and we think he has a limitless ceiling. We’re excited about him and the work ethic he brings."
OB on Special Teams. Gilly: drafted for special teams production, awesome guy, still progressing. Deandre Carter: great kid, good on punt returns, solid guy. Trevor Daniels: Had an inconsistent year, we brought in some competition for him.
OB on Tater: "He’s awesome, brought a lot to the table." He’s really good in situations, he’s just really bright guy when it comes to situational football because of all of his experience. Good addition to the staff, good guy to have around, good demeanor. Really calm guy like Deshaun is more than me so that’s good to have in that room.
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JJ Watt on continuity up front: We have a lot of great chemistry, we can do a lot because we all know the system and we’ve been doing it for a while. We can communicate with just a look or a hand signal. Sometimes it doesn’t even take that, sometimes literally in the middle of a play you can just feel what a guy is doing and play off of that. Knowing that goes a long way, everybody trusts and knows each other.
JJW on his stance: I take a real low stance, it’s like loading a spring that how I load myself and then as they snap the ball it’s just vertical on a 45 degree angle out toward the OL. My hands come first to catch them right in the chest. Most guys go out, I’m coming up and out to get up underneath their pads. I keep my feet very square so I can go left or right or straight.
JJW on health: Feels good to be coming off a season like last year, to have a full offseason to train and get better because all you want as an athlete is a chance to get better. I really enjoy it, I enjoy practicing, and I think we have a really good plan. I love the game and I’m happy to be out there.
JJW on where he lines up: Depends on who you have with you, Whitney prefers being on the right, but I’ll move around a lot.
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Jonathan Joseph: "I’m feeling better this year than I did last year." Taking it year by year.