I interviewed Rico after the practice & joked if he & JJ Watt could lead all pair of CBs in PBUs. He replied, "We might", serious as hell.
Player of the day from any of the teams made up of "2s" had to be Ricardo "Rico" Mathews. 3 pass breakups, all against the 1s. #Texans
Bouye & Harris both had back to back tight coverage plays that led to incompletions. AJ on Joe Adams & Harris on Lacoltan Bester.
XSF is ready made run blocker. Pass pro still needs tech improvement
Jonathan Grimes had a few solid inside runs today.
Jeoffrey Pagan and CJ Fiedorowicz was a matchup in 11 on 11 that I would pay to watch. Pagan won on a would be sack if play was live.
Back to the OL. This team needs Will Yeatman healthy! He's performed well. The concussion should be a minor setback.
2) I watched Fitz tech during the 30 yd throw. He really had to launch it with his whole body. Explains struggles vs protection issues.
2 notes on Fitz 30 yd "go" throw to Hop.1) Hop elevated & manipulated body lean to bring 2 feet down & in bounds. #Texans
Later Posey beat Mack on a contested in route & then leaves him on the 9. #Texans
DeVier Posey enjoyed having Elbert Mack (try) defending him today. Put a sick double move on Mack for an easy reception. #Texans
Case Keenum had another delay of game today as he was trying to make a read at the line. #Texans
Needless to say, Chris Clemons was able to secure an interception, easily. #Texans
The worst moment of the day, make that in my life of watching football, was when Keenum rolled left & threw the ball back right, down field.
Want to crush a young OT's confidence? Have him face JJ Watt multiple times, like Brice Schwab did today. I wanted to give the kid a hug.
On 1 rep today, Mercilus & Watt both won their edge rush & then slam into each other. Watt was the windshield, Whitney was the mosquito. #Splat
Last year, Andre Johnson & DeAndre Hopkins were Batman & Robin. This year, they'll look like Batman and errr, younger Batman. #Texans
Easiest way to describe who DeAndre Hopkins is for the #Texans this year, over last year, is to talk in superhero lingo, like my boys.
Clowney kept Kendrick Lewis laughing when they were off to the side during stretching & later entertained Foster & Joseph. #Texans
Impression of Jadeveon Clowney today. He was off to the side & his personality is so engaging. Vets seem enamored by him. #Texans
Myers asked each OL member on the series, what they saw & what led to their pickup of the defenders. He stays in sync w/ the unit. #Texans
The guy who impressed me the most today, was Chris Myers. He's truly the QB of the OL. After the TD to Hopkins, he huddled the OL up.
Newton seemed to be fine afterwards and only looked to be shaken up briefly. #Texans. Struggled at LT vs speed as well.
The impact looked fierce, but Newton finished the series off. After the series, he dropped to his knees & was checked on by the staff.
Derek Newton let Paul Hazel (listed 227lbs) blow by him, Newton follows in pursuit & has collision w/ Tim Jamison. #Texans
Derek Newton has look much improved at times, but I wanted to see him against speed on the edge today. I was disappointed, again.
A pass from Fitz' hand to Hopkins, hasn't hit the ground the last 2 days, until Chris McAllister's obvious (uncalled) PI vs Hopkins. #Texans
Ryan called out the Mike, set the WRs & had complete control over what the D showed him. Then threw a 30 yd "Go" to Hop, who makes TD catch.
Fitzpatrick is a vet QB, I expect him to pick apart a skeleton defense loaded up with 2s that are over-matched. No pressure in the pocket.
Fitzpatrick had a stellar day. Him & DeAndre Hopkins are clearly on the same page, but it was false eye candy, today, for Fitz. #Texans
On the flipside, the 2s OLBs (Ankrah & Groves) put a pass rush on the 1s OTs (Brown & Newton) that was non-existent. #Texans
It was nice to see a little peak behind the curtain of what this defense may look like at times in 2014. #Texans
Brooks Reed looked like a mad man out there, floating around, rushing from all over. I saw several overloaded lines that RAC ran at KC.
The team threw the young OTs into the water to sink or swim. Whitney & Brooks held their heads under until they drowned. #Texans
The 3s got minimal work today, but the story of the day was how brutal the 1s OLBs Whitney & Brooks were on the 2/3s OTs (Feiler / Schwab)
The scrimmage consisted mostly of the 1s (off) vs the 2s (def) & vice versa. They also sprinkled in different players to other units.
The most (painfully) apparent thing during the #Texans scrimmage today was the fact that there is no depth at OT or OLB.
Yeatman and Boffeli haven't been out to the field since they both walked to the cart and left on it a few days ago. They need Will back.
O'Brien said, that Yeatman should be back this week and that he had a concussion. Said that they're taking every precaution with him.
O'Brien mentioned other guys who aren't here right now, that could be options at LT as well, when healthy. I asked him about Will Yeatman.
O'Brien went on to say: "Yeah, Newton is an option. There are other guys that are options to." #Texans
"We always have a plan B. Right now there are a number of options, that's one of them." #Texans
I asked O'Brien if Newton was the Plan B left tackle if something were to happen to Duane Brown, his answer was...cont'd
Dunn ran some reps with the 1s in which Derek Newton went to LT & Clabo was the RT, at this point Ben Jones was the center. #Texans
OL coach Paul Dunn was really tinkering with the OL today during the scrimmage to see how he could stretch the depth there. #Texans
Mike Thomas and AJ Bouye both looked good on kick returns today. Alfred Blue was a stud lead blocker on kick returns & guided the returners.
Prosch had a cast on his hand. O'Brien said he'll be back sooner than you think. "As soon as he can be full contact, he'll be ready to go."
#Texans cont'd: Conor Boffeli, Lonnie Ballentine, Johnathan Joseph, Brian Cushing, Louis Nix, Anthony McClung, Kofi Hughes, & Brandon Brooks
Players who didn't practice at #Texans camp today: Jadeveon Clowney, Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, Kendrick Lewis, Akeem Dent, Will Yeatman..