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2022 OTA’s Mini Camp And Pre Season

IDEXAN

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Tampa and Miami just had joint practices. No matter where they did it, their climate is similar to ours. Its also ridiculous Houston doesn't use the elements to their advantage during the early schedule. The fans will adjust, but if you have a northern team in that blistering September heat and humidity, you gain an advantage.
The Texans used that tactic on the Steelers once years ago but as I recall the Steelers brought some air-cooled or water-cooled benches for there players while the Texans "braintust" had their guys play in the elements.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
The Texans used that tactic on the Steelers once years ago but as I recall the Steelers brought some air-cooled or water-cooled benches for there players while the Texans "braintust" had their guys play in the elements.
Not to mention how many fans were carried out of Reliant on a stretcher. I was in the shaded section and was plenty hot.
 

leebigeztx

Keep it Movin!
I was in the hot section and it was brutal. I found it humorous watching ladies makeup bake and then drip down their faces.
That can be a home field advantage, right? Ask those teams from up north what its like to play in Miami,Jacksonville or Tampa in September. Dudes cramping, exhausted.
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
That can be a home field advantage, right? Ask those teams from up north what its like to play in Miami,Jacksonville or Tampa in September. Dudes cramping, exhausted.
It wasn't in that game against the Steelers.

They seemed to relish kicking the Texans butts.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
The one stat that matters to the Texans in 2022
Mark Lane
August 13, 2022 11:56 am CT


The Houston Texans have plenty of stats from the 2021 campaign that they have to look at if they want to improve in 2022.

Take for example their 3.4 yards per carry and 83.6 rushing yards per game. Those totals were both the lowest in the NFL. If Houston can’t run the ball, how is second-year quarterback Davis Mills going to get a chance?

According to Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire, the one stat that matters is 51.4.
In the interests of improving a secondary in need, the Texans selected LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. with the third overall pick in the 2022 draft. And if they get the guy who in 2019 allowed 34 catches on 92 targets for 608 yards, 200 yards after the catch, five touchdowns, six interceptions, 15 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 51.4? That version of Stingley looked like a top-five pick, and he did it as the first true freshman to start on LSU’s defense in 34 years.
But over the next two seasons, injuries affected Stingley’s play, and that showed up both on tape and in the metrics. In 2020, he allowed 13 catches on 29 targets for 158 yards, 49 yards after the catch, one touchdown, no interceptions, five pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 73.6. Last season, he allowed two receptions on four targets for 36 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, no pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 128.1.
Stingley is back from the Lisfranc foot injury that cost him most of the 2021 season, and the Texans are ramping him up in training camp. Hopefully, this is the Stingley we see in the NFL.

The veterans have been impressed with Stingley throughout training camp.

“He’s very, very athletically gifted, but he’s also inquisitive,” receiver Chris Conley told reporters on Aug. 11. “He asks a lot of questions, and you can tell when he gets an answer and he picks something up, he’s on it. So he’s been playing extremely well.”

Texans fans will have to wait as Stingley won’t go against the New Orleans Saints in the preseason opener on Aug. 13.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
What to know in advance of Texans’ preseason opener vs. Saints
Jonathan M. Alexander, Brooks Kubena, Staff writers
Aug. 12, 2022


The Texans open the preseason at 7 p.m. Saturday against the Saints at NRG Stadium. It will be Lovie Smith's first game as head coach and the second season for quarterback Davis Mills. The Chronicle's Jonathan M. Alexander and Brooks Kubena take a look at what we should pay attention to. The conversation:


Which position battle has been most interesting?

KUBENA: Oh, it’s easily running back. There’s no position battle more important in training camp, since the Texans are trying to find their “home-run hitter” after last year's group was so historically inefficient. These limited-contact practices can be deceiving, but it seems like every day we talk to a player after practice, they have their own comments on how impressive Dameon Pierce has been. Many folks wanted Nick Caserio to spend a second-round pick on a running back, but we’ll start seeing Saturday whether he got himself a steal in the fourth. We know the stats. We know he had more rushing touchdowns last year at Florida (13) than the entire Texans backfield (8). We know he's a powerful downhill runner (which the Texans need). But I'm not sure yet whether he's hammered down all his pass protection responsibilities. I want to see him handle an all-out blitz. I want to see him move on impromptu routes. It's underrated. But Davis Mills was too often swarmed last year, which really restricted them from gunning the ball downfield.

ALEXANDER: I agree with you. That was one of the things offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton mentioned he wanted to see from the rookie — playing without the ball. Right now it looks like Marlon Mack is poised to start. But I like what I've seen so far from Pierce, and if I had a guess, I think he becomes a major contributor at some point and possibly wins the job. I like what fellow rookie safety Jalen Pitre said about him. “If you’re in his way, he’s going to run you over.” Before anything can happen, though, the Texans have to get this running game going.

What does Davis Mills have to do to be successful?

ALEXANDER: His teammates say he's a different player this season. He's playing with a lot more confidence and he seems to have a good command of the offense. While he's been accurate for most of camp, he did struggle in the last two practices. Credit the defense for getting after it. The concern I have about Mills is his accuracy on the deep ball. They haven't worked on it much in camp, and when Mills has attempted that throw, he's been off. At some point, he's going to have to stretch the field and air it out. What do you think, Brooks?

KUBENA: I don't have much question about Mills’ ability to throw deep as much as I do about how often he'll be able to do so. Mills’ 123.5 quarterback rating on passes of 20-plus yards was the highest in the NFL in 2021 (minimum 18 attempts). Problem was, their inefficient run game, inconsistent offensive line and limited receiving corps kept them from frequently letting it loose. Receivers averaged 4.7 yards after the catch when Mills was in the pocket, a rate that ranked 27th in the league. I'm not all that sold that Mills will have all that many more opportunities this year. Spread the Texans out five wide and think if that's a legitimate threat in the league. That's one of the on-field reasons why John Metchie III’s leukemia diagnosis is something the team must collectively overcome. His versatility as an inside and outside receiver would've really helped create the space necessary to throw downfield. Mills is a conservative quarterback. He doesn't force bad throws. He once remarked “you can't go broke taking a profit” when reporters asked him about his frequent checkdown passes last season. You might not go broke with checkdowns, but you ain't going to get rich, either.

What about Derek Stingley Jr.?

THE REST OF THE STORY
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
This preseason game has an additional reason for importance.

The countdown to the final roster cut down Aug. 30 begins. By then, all NFL teams must cut their 90-man preseason rosters down to a 53-man active roster. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, the Texans will have to cut their roster down to 85 players. They must then reduce their roster to 80 players by Aug. 23, and the final cut comes around just a week later.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Texans quarterback Davis Mills’ full potential wasn’t on display in limited preseason action

Davis Mills, whose improvement is pivotal to the future of the Texans franchise, didn't have a lot to work with in first preseason game against the Saints.
ByAaron Wilson
August 14, 2022

HOUSTON — It was never intended to be a real showcase for Texans quarterback Davis Mills to show off his strong arm or delvie deeply into the nuances of the playbook that offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton has installed.

By the sheer nature of preseason football, especially when there’s no competition for the starting job, the goals change. That’s by design For Mills, that’s why an unproductive pair of three-and-out series with a fairly vanilla strategy while playing without Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil and star wide receiver Brandin Cooks isn’t a legitimate cause for alarm.

Davis Mills, offense had underwhelming debut

Mills, whose improvement is pivotal to the future of the franchise and represents the bigger picture mission of the season for a rebuilding team, didn’t have a lot to work with. Mills threw just three passes, completing all of them for 14 yards and an 86.1 passer rating. His first pass went to Chris Conley, for a loss. He threw shy of the first-down marker on a third down.

And his third pass led up to his final three-and-out before being replaced by third-string quarterback Jeff Driskel, who threw three interceptions and also led the Texans to a comeback victory with a late touchdown pass to undrafted rookie wide receiver Johnny Johnson III. The grade for Mills: incomplete.

“I felt comfortable going out there and picking up where we left of with training camp,” Mills said. “Now we’re onto the real stuff, onto the games. I’m comfortable out there. Obviously, I would have like to put together some longer drives, but I mean, it felt like I handled everything well. We saw the defense and thought we executed well. Overall, we ended up with a win tonight. The whole team put together enough to get the win, and that’s all we care about.”

“Overall, I think we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit too much tonight. A lot of penalty yards. Those add up and put us in third-and-long situations that you don’t want to live in. I had to play out of that a lot last year, and it’s tough. So, we want to stay ahead of the sticks in that regard.”


Mills looked composed and smooth, but penalties and a lack of a running game with Marlon Mack in the game didn’t generate any big plays.

There were no real conclusions or revelations to be gleaned from his short appearance. He played fine with his usual sound mechanics. Situationally, the Texans’ offense just didn’t click, and they didn’t run their more intricate portions of the playbook.

The best takeaway surrounding Mills: he made it out of the game completely healthy, unlike New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson, who’s undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery for a meniscus issue.


The most exciting element of the night for the Texans’ offense was the performance of rookie running back Dameon Pierce, who used a punishing, downhill style to rush for 49 yards on five carries.

Texans followed a conservative approach

“As far as being conservative, yeah, it’s our first preseason game,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said. “And we’re going to play a lot of players. I don’t think the first preseason game is about tricking them an awful lot. We want to play kind of man-on-man football so we can get a good evaluation on a lot of players. I think we were able to do that. But we wanted to be more productive early on. Of course, that wasn’t a part of the plan. But as we grow, we’ll get better.”



THE REST OF THE STORY
 

leebigeztx

Keep it Movin!
Why not just go out and let him drive the ball down the field? It made no sense as if he's a vet and he doesn't need the throws especially after the last days report of practice.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
Why not just go out and let him drive the ball down the field? It made no sense as if he's a vet and he doesn't need the throws especially after the last days report of practice.
Agreed. Driskel was in no danger of season ending injury. At the very least, Mills & the first team should have gone back out to close the half.
 

TexansBull

Hall of Fame
Why not just go out and let him drive the ball down the field? It made no sense as if he's a vet and he doesn't need the throws especially after the last days report of practice.
Agreed. Driskel was in no danger of season ending injury. At the very least, Mills & the first team should have gone back out to close the half.
I get what y’all are saying, but at the same time didn’t that QB from the Jets go down with a no contact injury? Now he is out several weeks.

Flukes happen.
 

leebigeztx

Keep it Movin!
I get what y’all are saying, but at the same time didn’t that QB from the Jets go down with a no contact injury? Now he is out several weeks.

Flukes happen.
I'm not saying come out and take 7 step drop and 4 verts. I'm just saying like 5 step drive with a over route, deep in, or something.
 

JB

Innocent Bystander
Contributor's Club
I'm not saying come out and take 7 step drop and 4 verts. I'm just saying like 5 step drive with a over route, deep in, or something.
Wilson had a non-contact injury. I don't fault them for only playing him 2 series
 

Texansballer74

The Marine
I'm not saying come out and take 7 step drop and 4 verts. I'm just saying like 5 step drive with a over route, deep in, or something.
Why didn’t Trevor Lawrence play one snap in the HOF game? He didn’t play good last season and he’s not a veteran either. But with a new offensive coordinator and new offensive playbook, one would’ve thought he would play at least one series.
 

leebigeztx

Keep it Movin!
Why didn’t Trevor Lawrence play one snap in the HOF game? He didn’t play good last season and he’s not a veteran either. But with a new offensive coordinator and new offensive playbook, one would’ve thought he would play at least one series.
Because they get 5 preseason games vs 4 is what normally happens
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Gritty Texans rookie Kurt Hinish battling for roster spot

Kurt Hinish kept pushing and shoving, driving his legs until he got free from a block and chased down his former college teammate for a sack.
The Texans’ gritty undrafted rookie defensive tackle from Notre Dame tackled former Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book for an 11-yard loss during a 17-13 victory Saturday night at NRG Stadium.

The push from Hinish was emblematic of how the 6-foot-2, 300-pound Pittsburgh native has performed throughout training camp. He’s making his presence felt at the line of scrimmage and with his work ethic and study habits.

Hinish is making his bid for a roster spot, and he’s created a strong impression on the coaching staff.

“It felt great, it was even better than I thought it would, it feels like a million bucks,” said Hinish, who received $85,000 guaranteed from the Texans on his rookie deal after being overlooked by all 32 NFL teams during the draft. “It was a lot of preparation that went into that.”

No one played in more career games in Notre Dame history than Hinish, appearing in 61 games with 35 starts and recording 81 tackles, 20 for losses, 7 1/2 sacks and a forced fumble. A former All-Atlantic Coast Conference honorable-mention selection, Hinish ran the 40-yard dash in 4.96 seconds and bench pressed 225 pounds 31 times at the NFL scouting combine.

At Notre Dame, Hinish became known for his high-octane style and for painting his face for games. He had 10 tackles, one sack and two tackles for losses in a win over Navy last season.

And Texans coach Lovie Smith emphasized that Hinish is off to a fast start in the NFL.

THE REST OF THE STORY
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
Gritty Texans rookie Kurt Hinish battling for roster spot

Kurt Hinish kept pushing and shoving, driving his legs until he got free from a block and chased down his former college teammate for a sack.
The Texans’ gritty undrafted rookie defensive tackle from Notre Dame tackled former Fighting Irish quarterback Ian Book for an 11-yard loss during a 17-13 victory Saturday night at NRG Stadium.

The push from Hinish was emblematic of how the 6-foot-2, 300-pound Pittsburgh native has performed throughout training camp. He’s making his presence felt at the line of scrimmage and with his work ethic and study habits.

Hinish is making his bid for a roster spot, and he’s created a strong impression on the coaching staff.

“It felt great, it was even better than I thought it would, it feels like a million bucks,” said Hinish, who received $85,000 guaranteed from the Texans on his rookie deal after being overlooked by all 32 NFL teams during the draft. “It was a lot of preparation that went into that.”

No one played in more career games in Notre Dame history than Hinish, appearing in 61 games with 35 starts and recording 81 tackles, 20 for losses, 7 1/2 sacks and a forced fumble. A former All-Atlantic Coast Conference honorable-mention selection, Hinish ran the 40-yard dash in 4.96 seconds and bench pressed 225 pounds 31 times at the NFL scouting combine.

At Notre Dame, Hinish became known for his high-octane style and for painting his face for games. He had 10 tackles, one sack and two tackles for losses in a win over Navy last season.

And Texans coach Lovie Smith emphasized that Hinish is off to a fast start in the NFL.

THE REST OF THE STORY
Well. OK. Put him on the list of guys I want to succeed.
 

Speedy

Former Yeller Dweller
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Blacklock be a surprise cut to make room for the rookies that are playing hard and producing Booker and Hinish.
Wouldn’t be much of a surprise to me. Blacklock hasn’t done much since he’s been here. Another wasted 2nd rounder.
 
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