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Texans Training Camp 2008

Just a note to the guys about the deep balls being underthrown. Sometimes the underthrow is by design. When you have a WR like Andre that is such a beast, most DBs do not have a chance going up for a ball against him.

When the DBs have deep position, the QB will underthrow the ball so the WR can try to out jump the DB or knock the ball to the ground. I know Kubiak uses this method, because he was trying to teach it to Carr.

How do you underthrow a slant Mr. Kubiak?
 
Gibbs' "nuggets of genius" are not for the faint of heart. Even when plays looked successful, he found something to yell about. And when they weren't successful.... whoa...

Yeah, me and a buddy kept an eye on him for a while during Sunday's practice. The guy's like a pissed off Energizer Bunny. It got to the point to where all we could do is laugh about it. I don't think there was 1 Olineman of the group that didn't face the wrath of Gibbs at one point or another.

My first name is Eric and when Winston missed the blitz from the rt side (forgot who it was), Gibbs screamed "Eric, $%#@" I thought I could've shat myself.

:texflag:
 
It's been about 4 hours since practice ended and there is no news yet?

I know, right! Didn't anybody go to the practice this morning? I guess switching to the morning practice's is a conflict for people's work. I know it was for me.

Anybody??
 
I went to practice today. MW was just lighting it up. He was strong and fast coming off the edge. Green and Taylor had some really nice runs along with Steve S. McCoy had another nice day so did AJ not much again from JJ or AD. AD caught some. D Brown was able to provide some holes for the RBs. ES did ok as well at LT. Gabe Long looked really good. Leach did good. Molden did well again. Fred W. did not practice I don't know why. Matt threw well today.
 
Oh, I forgot. To quote 76 Texan, "The water boys did a great job of running with the water.":whip:
 
Oh, I forgot. To quote 76 Texan, "The water boys did a great job of running with the water.":whip:

Thanks for the run down Gary.

Heck, I'd be a water boy if it meant I'd be on the field with the team. Hmm, I think I might do that when my kids graduate College. :thinking:
 
Sorry guys and gals, a few things need to be taken care off.
I thought Andrew would give a report already.
Or some other fans who were at the practice.
And Andy was there as usual to take all the pictures.
I've always wished he would have a digital recorder with him to provide some caption to the photos.

Give me a moment, and I will get to it!
 
Today I want to watch the linemen first (I've always believe in the war in the trenches.)

1. Okam and Brown slim down a good bit from what I can see.

2. During the linemen drill, the D won it today.

3. Goal line situation, the O-line won it, however.

4. I wasn't able to watch the full 11 in total, maybe Andrew can give more insights there, for he was in the bleachers and I was in the endzone working slowly up.

5. Good showing by the RBs overall (without Chris Brown), so it meant good job by the O-line.
 
The D sure did win the battle today and number 64 was hit in the noggin and had to leave but then he came back. What was wrong with Chris Brown?
 
Thanks for all of the updates, everyone! They just announced on 610 that tomorrow's morning practice is open to everyone, even if you don't have tickets.

The D sure did win the battle today and number 64 was hit in the noggin and had to leave but then he came back. What was wrong with Chris Brown?
Back spasms, according to HT.com
 
The linemen drill.

Pitts was most solid on the Oline. There was nobody who can get pass him on this day.

Bull fighting out there between two Longhorns as Okam got a hold of Studdard (whether by the chest or by the throat - as another observer said that might have been the casse) and shoved him back.
Studdard was definitely in pain as he moved off to the side to recollect himself. 5-7 yard away, surely you can see it. Studdard was alright though, he came back 4-5-6 minutes later.

They were teaching Okam how to shred the double team right through the middle. And he applied it on the next drill.

The veteran O-linemen were OK-solid for the most part, but they all were tested.

On the Dline, Bulman looked good, I can see why they consider having him on the outside some.

Cochran, Jesse Nading, Gabe Long made their case.

The reserved Oline didn't look too good, I'm a bit worried about the depth at center.

I don't know if we can count off Zgonina, however old he is.
 
I noticed a lot of work on the running game. There was a good portion of the tc scrimmage time devoted to working the run. Green looked good, as did Walker.

They also worked Slayton on kickoff returns. I thought he looked pretty good.

Remember my user name and take my report for what it is worth. BTW, it was nice meeting some more board members today. I got to sit with Obsiwan and Painekiller. And thanks to Gary (who EVERYONE knows) for the tickets.
 
Everybody's favorite man, chipping in on today's practice.

Three players who are flying under the radar but are having excellent camps: running back Chris Taylor, defensive lineman Earl Cochran and receiver David Anderson.
Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, the two-best players on the team, continue to impress the heck out of me. Johnson has been catching everything in sight. Williams toys with linemen like a lion toying with a zebra. I can't wait for September when these two play for real.
One coach asked me to perhaps limit my constant praise of rookie cornerback Antwaun Molden. Okay, coach, let's see how I can put it. The kid is outstanding. He makes big plays in every practice. How's that? I could have called him extraordinary. I can't wait to watch Molden develop.

The more I watch Frank Okam, who is 6-5, 337, the more I like him. He moves well. He's extremely intelligent. And he's working hard. Now I'm wondering was it poor coaching last season at UT or did he just take off too many plays? Perhaps it's the coaching of Jethro Franklin and Frank Bush. Perhaps he'll hit the wall, or, when they play for real, he'll go back into his shell. Right now, Okam is a beast, but can he keep it up?

http://blogs.chron.com/nfl/2008/07/random_ruminations_on_training.html
 
I went to practice today. MW was just lighting it up. He was strong and fast coming off the edge. Green and Taylor had some really nice runs along with Steve S. McCoy had another nice day so did AJ not much again from JJ or AD. AD caught some. D Brown was able to provide some holes for the RBs. ES did ok as well at LT. Gabe Long looked really good. Leach did good. Molden did well again. Fred W. did not practice I don't know why. Matt threw well today.

Gary pretty much hit all the high points.

Chris Brown, Fred Weary, J.Jones, and Scott Jackson rode the exercise bikes for the 1st part of practice. As Gary said, Brown and Jones weren't a surprise. Jackson and Weary were. I could be that Weary is one of the vets that Kubiak said won't have to participate in every practice.

Gibbs was still in total Napoleon form again today, barking at everyone after almost every play. I did see something interesting; I saw Ephraim Salaam giving him lip in return. And Gibbs laughed about it. Its like when the Joker laughs. Its an eerie thing to witness and no good can come from it.

Back to seriousness... Boyd took the reigns with the third team and looked good at times. I think that guy has more zip on his ball than anyone this side of Schaub.

The O-line appeared to get the better of the D on most running plays. The RBs didn't get hit until they were at the LB level. Speaking of RBs, Walker and Green looked good again today as did Slaton. Slaton got to the edge on the defense on one play and kicked in the jets and no one on our roster could have caught him. Taylor played RB, FB, and even practiced as a KR. By the time they got to 11-on-11s Taylor looked to be dragging. To his credit, Taylor did everything he was asked.

Overall, I think the D-line got the better of the O-line on pass plays. At least when Mario was in. As Gary said, Mario was a beast all day. Cochran looks like he could step up and take ND's spot as Mario's backup. Weaver was a non-factor in the pass rush. Didn't see much of the DTs because of the way the ZBS works. Its just one big mass of humanity flowing right or left and it was hard for me to tell who was beating who in the trenches.

They did red zone drills today. I don't think the O scored but once or twice when the ball was placed at the 20. But they scored fairly repeatedly during the goalline drills. I don't know whether to be encouraged about the O or discouraged about our D where that is concerned.

Won't make it tomorrow but I will Thurs. evening.
 
They focussed alot on punt returns and on the running game today. YOU ARE VERY WELCOME GLASSHALFULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Gary pretty much hit all the high points.

Chris Brown, Fred Weary, J.Jones, and Scott Jackson rode the exercise bikes for the 1st part of practice. As Gary said, Brown and Jones weren't a surprise. Jackson and Weary were. I could be that Weary is one of the vets that Kubiak said won't have to participate in every practice.

Gibbs was still in total Napoleon form again today, barking at everyone after almost every play. I did see something interesting; I saw Ephraim Salaam giving him lip in return. And Gibbs laughed about it. Its like when the Joker laughs. Its an eerie thing to witness and no good can come from it.

Back to seriousness... Boyd took the reigns with the third team and looked good at times. I think that guy has more zip on his ball than anyone this side of Schaub.

The O-line appeared to get the better of the D on most running plays. The RBs didn't get hit until they were at the LB level. Speaking of RBs, Walker and Green looked good again today as did Slaton. Slaton got to the edge on the defense on one play and kicked in the jets and no one on our roster could have caught him. Taylor played RB, FB, and even practiced as a KR. By the time they got to 11-on-11s Taylor looked to be dragging. To his credit, Taylor did everything he was asked.

Overall, I think the D-line got the better of the O-line on pass plays. At least when Mario was in. As Gary said, Mario was a beast all day. Cochran looks like he could step up and take ND's spot as Mario's backup. Weaver was a non-factor in the pass rush. Didn't see much of the DTs because of the way the ZBS works. Its just one big mass of humanity flowing right or left and it was hard for me to tell who was beating who in the trenches.

They did red zone drills today. I don't think the O scored but once or twice when the ball was placed at the 20. But they scored fairly repeatedly during the goalline drills. I don't know whether to be encouraged about the O or discouraged about our D where that is concerned.

Won't make it tomorrow but I will Thurs. evening.
I saw some passes Matt that could not have been thrown much better and they were not caught.
 
Sorry I din't have a chance to meet y'all.

All the RBs looked good.
Green with good spring in his legs. He looked darn good.
Walker doing what he does best and that is finding the hole.
Taylor was quite impressive. At this point, I really don't know who we should cut to make the 53-man roster as far as RB goes.
And Slaton was running inside, too!

A good, very good fair share of the successful running plays were to the left, where we were standing in the back of the endzone.

Not much in the passing game.

Well, yeah, Jacques Reeves had good coverage on Andre Davis on that one play, as tight as I've seen Reeves in coverage, so maybe there's hope there!:cool:
 
thanks again for all you guys posting your reports about training camp. It is appreciated from those of us who can't make it.
 
It is always good to have an RB that runs to the in and outside on your team. Walker did drop a pass that he should have made but no big deal. LOL.
 
I hope the group of RB, especially Ahman, can atleast give us one good year. And give us time to find our feature back next year.

And I officially given up on Chris Brown. Sorry, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.
 
I hope the group of RB, especially Ahman, can atleast give us one good year. And give us time to find our feature back next year.

And I officially given up on Chris Brown. Sorry, you are the weakest link. Goodbye.

Word to this. Chris Brown is looking to be the odd-man out this year.
 
I guess I can throw in my very small amount of cents hell i'll even throw in 2 of them. sorry so late but I just woke up. I worked nights and went to the practice after work. so here we go
first off thank you to gary and painkiller for making sure I had tickets

- Gibbs called for lineman on a 2 on 2 drill and had D. Brown and C. Pitts practicing with first squad for about a a minute when D. Brown kept getting beat almost every play. He yelled at D. Brown and E. Salaam went in and kinda held his own. Salaam wasn't as easily beat but he's not near as strong either. He held his block but was on his heals most of the team trying to catch his balance.

-OL these are my favorite guys right here. Anyone who ever watched the Xmen knows who beast is. He's a big furry blue guy that is highly intelligent. That being said Most all of them looked like that. From what I could tell there is a battle here for a starting position that could be epic.

*LT I think right now should be E. Salaams and let D. Brown sit back and watch and learn a few games untill hes' ready.
*LG looks to be pretty much owned by a slimmer more athletic C. Pitts. He did fairly well excepting one or 2 reps.
*Center position my memory fails me and I don't remember the guys name but he lookd "decent" On the one and one drills he held his own most of the time but got beat horribly by a fluffy T. Johnson who gave him a slap on the shoulder pads and knocked the center off balance who immediately got pissed and was ready to go again.
*RG all I can say here is wow. I've never seen the depth and a battle for a starting position at this position before. Briesel I guess is his name looked pretty good and Weary whose backing him up looked like he's after that starting position bad. Not sure if he's ready but it doesn't seem like he's too far off from regaining control
*RT E. Winston is a giant of a man and honestly held his own almost every single play. Even when he was beat he was still not really beat. He was able to use his speed and knowledge of the game to reset and block the guy in front of him. Dare I say it but could we have a probowl lineman?

*TE I didn't pay too much attention to them just because I didn't think to. Heres what I did notice: Owen Daniels looks a little bigger and looks like he knows how to deliver a good block. Not entirely sure he's completely remember how to catch a ball though. There was one play with a TE who caught a ball during the end of practice and got a pretty good hit and heald on to the ball surprisingly, I want to say it was dressen? I could be wrong though.

The rest of the offense I guess I can put in another category.

-QB I wasn't exactly super impressed today. Sorry in advance to anyone wanting to know info on 3rd and 4th string I didn't look at either. Schaub looked like he was making good decisions and getting the ball out quick. The problem with him getting the ball out so quick is that it hardly landed on target or sometimes even close. The same could be said for Sage who just slightly more accurate. I think Schaubs problem could be cured by just having a little bit more repetitions.

-RB I was highly impressed at RB. Slaton looked alot bigger than I remember him in college and could possibly be more than a 3rd down back. Ahman Green looked hmmm whats the word, hmmm good . . . no no ummmmm ohhh yeah Fing GREAT. He looked strong, powerfull and FAST. (I am going to start praying now. " Dear god, Please keep A. Green Healthy). Ok, moving on. My favorite running back due to him being the long shot is D. Walker. He looked "good" not great but good. He didn't have Ahmans speed burst or power or size but he did have something Ahman didn't. He had a lower center of gravity and was able to find holes when there didn't seem to be any. I think D. Walker could be something special.
-FB V. Leach isn't going any where. As far as Taylor I'm going to just say that I didn't really pay attention to him or didn't see him one or the other.

-WR
* A. Johnson - best we have no change. He looked good. Big, strong and fast.
* K. Walter - didn't see him on many plays but when I did he looked decent and looks to be more of a short yardage receiver who can take a hit. Basiclly the guy that catches for around 10 yards and then gets lit up.
* A. Davis - He made a few good plays and had a couple mistakes. He got owned by Reeves on one play.
* there was one WR on special teams that looked decent. I guess he's a draft pick or something. Anyways he looked like he had potential.

I think thats all for offense?

I'll start with some Defense now.

DL first string looked good, second and thirds string showed flashes. Mario like always looked like a beast and Amobi looked like him and Mario are learning to really work well with each other. Everyone on the DL looks like they kinda slimmed down excepting Travis Johnson of course. # 92 who if I was actually not just waking up I could actually remember his name looked like he could be something special. Also maddox looked fairly quick off the ball, thinner and more athletic.


Other than the DL I didn't honestly see too much more as far as the LBing unit and the secondary.
The only thing I saw was towards the end of practice and that was when Reeves made a great block on A. Davis. Sorry folks I am sure that someone else can fill in this section
 
On the drills Brown did get beat but he provided some holes when both sides faced off against each other.
 
Thanks for the update Andrew!

RT E. Winston is a giant of a man and honestly held his own almost every single play. Even when he was beat he was still not really beat. He was able to use his speed and knowledge of the game to reset and block the guy in front of him. Dare I say it but could we have a probowl lineman?

I can totally see Winston making the Pro Bowl. This OL has proven they can pass protect by only allowing 22 sacks last year, but now it's time they get recognized for their run blocking as well. Once that happens, I can almost guarantee Winston makes a Pro Bowl this year.

# 92 who if I was actually not just waking up I could actually remember his name looked like he could be something special. Also maddox looked fairly quick off the ball, thinner and more athletic.

#92 was Zgonina who I really like having on the team. He brings a lot of experience and leadership which this young DL needs.
 
"My favorite running back due to him being the long shot is D. Walker. He looked "good" not great but good. He didn't have Ahmans speed burst or power or size but he did have something Ahman didn't. He had a lower center of gravity and was able to find holes when there didn't seem to be any. I think D. Walker could be something speial"

i couldnt agree more, except for maybe the just good part. from what i could tell he seem to always come up would a nice run. for those who said darius would be the odd man out. dont think so. especially if c. brown continues to be to hurt practice.
 
Thanks for the update Andrew!



I can totally see Winston making the Pro Bowl. This OL has proven they can pass protect by only allowing 22 sacks last year, but now it's time they get recognized for their run blocking as well. Once that happens, I can almost guarantee Winston makes a Pro Bowl this year.



#92 was Zgonina who I really like having on the team. He brings a lot of experience and leadership which this young DL needs.

no problem, Zgonia looked like a freak. If he has more than just show muscles he can be something special. Then again I thought that last year too and never saw anything come of it.
 
First off, great to meet the local celebs this morning. Not much to add to the reports of Gary and Andrew (Your Welcome).

Only a few things to add, Studdard had a play where he decked the DT with a huge hand punch. But on the next play he was toasted by the same guy.

During the battle of the beast, OL vs DL drills, the offense won some and the defense won some. What does that mean, the players are really battling. 2 on 2 was fun to watch the stunts.

After the OL completed there unit drills, I watched the players and Gibbs interact. A funny site considering Gibbs is kinda short and these guys are huge. Gibbs and the players where cutting up and you could see they had a chemistry. Pitts seems to be becoming a more vocal leader and Winston is having a great camp.

UDFA to watch - Nading had another solid day.
 
"My favorite running back due to him being the long shot is D. Walker. He looked "good" not great but good. He didn't have Ahmans speed burst or power or size but he did have something Ahman didn't. He had a lower center of gravity and was able to find holes when there didn't seem to be any. I think D. Walker could be something speial"

i couldnt agree more, except for maybe the just good part. from what i could tell he seem to always come up would a nice run. for those who said darius would be the odd man out. dont think so. especially if c. brown continues to be to hurt practice.

the reason I put good and not great with d. Walker is he had some Ron Dayne tendancys. When he could have stayed on his feet and got some more yards he opted for the fall forward for 2 or 3 yards. While thats fine if you only need a few yards its not fine when a hole is wide open and you can get another 20 yards. I think he's doing good and I hope to see him improve. I've always liked his Klingon abilities and hope he can someday find a starting role on this team.
 
the reason I put good and not great with d. Walker is he had some Ron Dayne tendancys. When he could have stayed on his feet and got some more yards he opted for the fall forward for 2 or 3 yards. While thats fine if you only need a few yards its not fine when a hole is wide open and you can get another 20 yards. I think he's doing good and I hope to see him improve. I've always liked his Klingon abilities and hope he can someday find a starting role on this team.

Gibbs got on him about that Sunday morning. I could actually hear Gibbs from the stands telling (yelling) Walker "Don't go down like that; you gotta run thru those hands! You gotta run THRU those hands!"

Gibbs in action is something to see. I think the press is lucky that he doesn't talk to them. He'd have McClain doing pushups for every stupid question before the interview was over.
 
Gibbs got on him about that Sunday morning. I could actually hear Gibbs from the stands telling (yelling) Walker "Don't go down like that; you gotta run thru those hands! You gotta run THRU those hands!"

Gibbs in action is something to see. I think the press is lucky that he doesn't talk to them. He'd have McClain doing pushups for every stupid question before the interview was over.

This would be beneficial to McClain. ;)

But I'm probably going to TC this Saturday. Hope to hear a fired up Gibbs.
 
Could someone film a bit of video of Gibbs in action and upload it or something, would be awesome to experience :)
 
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