The Houston Texans are elevating the veteran fullback and wide receiver to the active roster for Saturday’s contest against the Kansas City City Chiefs.
Beck, who initially started last season for the Texans, will have two more activations from the practice squad for the remainder of the regular season.
Wayne, who was called up for Week 12’s loss against the Tennessee Titans, will have one more call-up before having to be signed to the active roster.
In a corresponding move, the Texans have waived starting return specialist Steven Sims ahead of the matchup.
The Texans kick off from Arrowhead Stadium at noon CT. The game will be nationally televised on NBC.
Andrew Beck is back with the Houston Texans just in time to recreate his 85-yard kickoff return against the Jaguars.
Andrew Beck made special teams history last season when the Houston Texans traveled down to EverBank Stadium to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He now has a chance to do it again.
According to the team’s transaction wire, the Texans recently added Back to the practice squad. The former starting fullback could be elevated for three games from now until Week 16 before Houston would have to add him to the active roster.
Beck, who joined Houston last offseason after starting his career with the Denver Broncos, was expected to make the active 53-man roster before a calf injury limited him throughout most of the preseason. He was released and signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad.
The #Texans signed FB Andrew Beck to the practice squad and elevated DB Myles Bryant to the active roster. pic.twitter.com/PJw4X3vX3X
The Packers released him earlier this week, thus letting him join the Texans.
Last season, Beck finished with 11 catches for 55 yards and two touchdown receptions. He also rushed for five yards on three carries and a score.
Beck is perhaps best known for his epic 85-yard kick return for a touchdown against the Jaguars in Week 3. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he hit 20.3 MPH on the play.
The last fullback with a kick return touchdown was Jaguars’ Derrick Wimbush in 2005.
HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! Andrew Beck putting on for all the Fullbacks with this kickoff return touchdown for the Houston Texans. WOW! pic.twitter.com/QAxMB7S0Xj
QB Ben DiNucciworked out for the Saints. DiNucci was the Broncos’ third-string quarterback in 2023. New Orleans tried and failed to poach DiNucci from Denver’s practice squad last fall.
WR Kaden Davis worked out for the Colts. Davis has had three different stints with the Broncos, including two short stints on the practice squad this season.
WR Tre’Quan Smith was released from injured reserve by the Lions. Smith spent part of last season on Denver’s practice squad.
RB Tony Jonesworked out for the Texans. Jones went to training camp with the Broncos in 2023.
Tuesday was a relatively quiet day in Denver, but seven former Broncos players made headlines elsewhere.
The Packers released FB Andrew Beck from the practice squad. He was elevated three times to the gameday roster this season.
The Green Bay Packers released fullback Andrew Beck from the practice squad on Tuesday. Beck, a veteran who has been on the practice squad all season, is out of gameday elevations after appearing in Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans.
The Packers elevated Beck during each of the last three weeks. He played 15 snaps on offense and 17 on special teams in games against the Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Texans.
Beck helped fill the gap left when tight end Luke Musgrave went on injured reserve. John FitzPatrick is on the 53-man roster and is likely nearing readiness for snaps as the No. 3 tight end behind Tucker Kraft and Ben Sims.
Beck, now is his sixth NFL season, played five snaps on offense and seven on special teams during the Packers’ win over the Texans.
After exhausting his gameday elevations, keeping Beck on the practice squad made little sense.
The Packers elevated FB Andrew Beck from the practice squad for Week 7 against the Texans.
The Green Bay Packers elevated fullback Andrew Beck from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Week 7. The move was announced Saturday, making Beck available for Matt LaFleur and the Packers for the Sunday’s showdown with the Houston Texans.
Beck has been a gameday elevation each of the last three weeks for the Packers. The former Texan has played 10 snaps on offense and 10 on special teams.
Once again, it appears Beck will play a role behind tight ends Tucker Kraft and Ben Sims, suggesting John FitzPatrick — who was acquired late last week — isn’t ready to contribute in a meaningful way. Luke Musgrave is on injured reserve.
Beck, now in his sixth season, has played in 68 career games. Last season, he caught 11 passes for 55 yards, rushed five times for three yards and scored three total touchdowns while appearing in 15 total games for the Texans.
The Packers didn’t elevate a receiver, possibly a good sign for Dontayvion Wicks, who is questionable with a shoulder injury. The Packers also didn’t activate Jonathan Ford from injured reserve, so Colby Wooden — who is also questionable — might also be good to go for Sunday.
All teams are allowed to elevate up to two players from the practice squad each week. An individual player can only be elevated from the practice squad three times per season, so Beck is out of elevations. On Monday, Beck will revert to the practice squad. He would need to be signed to the 53-man roster to play for the Packers again this season.
The Packers have elevated at least one player during each of the first seven weeks in 2024.
Elevations by week
Week 1: RB Ellis Merriweather
Week 2: QB Sean Clifford
Week 3: QB Sean Clifford, CB Robert Rochell
Week 4: CB Robert Rochell, CB Kamal Hadden
Week 5: FB Andrew Beck
Week 6: FB Andrew Beck
Week 7: FB Andrew Beck
The Packers elevated FB Andrew Beck from the practice squad for Week 6 against the Cardinals.
The Green Bay Packers elevated fullback Andrew Beck from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Week 6. The move was announced Saturday, making Beck available for Matt LaFleur and the Packers for the Sunday’s showdown with the Arizona Cardinals.
Beck has been elevated during each of the last two weeks. The veteran played three snaps on offense and five on special teams during the Packers’ win over the Los Angeles Rams last week.
The Packers list Beck as a fullback, but he can play snaps as a move tight end if necessary. Luke Musgrave went on injured reserve on Friday, and while the Packers replaced him on the roster with John FitzPatrick, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to fit into a role right away. Beck was used as a blocker on three plays last week.
Beck has played in 67 career games. He has 25 catches for 214 yards and three touchdowns, including career-highs of 13 catches and two touchdown catches last season over 15 games with the Houston Texans. The Packers signed Beck to the practice squad on Aug. 30.
The Packers did not elevate a cornerback, suggesting Jaire Alexander (questionable, groin) is good to go for Sunday. Robert Rochell had been up — either via elevation or signing — during each of the last three weeks.
All teams are allowed to elevate up to two players from the practice squad each week. An individual player can only be elevated from the practice squad three times per season, so Beck has one elevation left. On Monday, Beck will revert to the practice squad.
Elevations by week
Week 1: RB Ellis Merriweather
Week 2: QB Sean Clifford
Week 3: QB Sean Clifford, CB Robert Rochell
Week 4: CB Robert Rochell, CB Kamal Hadden
Week 5: FB Andrew Beck
Week 6: FB Andrew Beck
The Packers elevated FB Andrew Beck from the practice squad for Week 5 against the Rams.
The Green Bay Packers elevated fullback Andrew Beck from the practice squad to the gameday roster for Week 5. The move was announced Saturday, making Beck available for Matt LaFleur and the Packers for the Sunday’s showdown with the Los Angeles Rams.
While listed as a fullback, Beck will likely give the Packers another option at move tight end with Luke Musgrave (ankle) questionable to play Sunday after missing practice all week. If Musgrave doesn’t play, the Packers will have Beck, starter Tucker Kraft and backup Ben Sims available.
Beck has played in 66 career games. He has 25 catches for 214 yards and three touchdowns, including career-highs of 13 catches and two touchdown catches last season over 15 games with the Houston Texans. The Packers signed Beck to the practice squad on Aug. 30.
This is Beck’s first elevation for the Packers. He wears No. 47.
Beck went undrafted out of Texas in 2019. The Packers had Beck in Green Bay for a 30 visit ahead of the draft.
All teams are allowed to elevate up to two players from the practice squad each week. An individual player can only be elevated from the practice squad three times per season, so Beck has two elevations left. On Monday, Beck will revert to the practice squad.
Elevations by week
Week 1: RB Ellis Merriweather
Week 2: QB Sean Clifford
Week 3: QB Sean Clifford, CB Robert Rochell
Week 4: CB Robert Rochell, CB Kamal Hadden
Week 5: FB Andrew Beck
Andrew Beck, along with two other players, are starting off the year on the PUP list.
One Houston Texans starter will not be on the field Thursday for the first training camp practice.
The Texans have placed fullback Andrew Beck on the team’s physically unable to perform (PUP) list after failing their physicals Wednesday, according to the NFL’s transaction wire. Houston also placed linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips and cornerback D’Angelo Ross on the PUP.
According to KPRC2 Sports, Beck has been dealing with a calf injury that’s kept him out of minicamp and OTAs. He’s expected to be cleared before the start of the regular season and could miss only a few practices depending on the rehabilitation process.
In 15 games last season, Beck caught 11 passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned an 85-yard kickoff for a touchdown in a win over the Jaguars.
Andrew Beck is working on the side and on the physically unable to perform list.
Fullback is an interesting position in general, but certainly for Houston’s offense given Bobby Slowik’s personnel. Troy Hairston could see first-team reps after missing all of the 2023 season with a back injury.
Hairston actually started 16 games for Houston in 2022, recording five catches for 19 yards. He also was effective on special teams.
The Texans also used tight end Brevin Jordan out of the backfield multiple times last season. While still a tight end, Jordan made headlines with his 76-yard touchdown reception against the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round while lined up at h-back.
Fellow tight end Dalton Keene, who spent most of the season on the practice squad, could also benefit from seeing reps at the position if he hopes to make the active roster.
Second-year defensive end Dylan Horton was placed on the non-football illness list. Horton, a former fourth-round pick out of TCU, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last year and missed the final month of the regular season.
He was hoping to return in time for training camp after finishing his final chemo treatment in May but still hasn’t been cleared by the medical staff entering Thursday’s practice.
The active/non-football illness list is reserved for players unable to practice for conditions or injuries not related to NFL games. They can be elevated at any time and will be counted as part of the 90-man roster.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud vs. Jim Schwartz’s Browns defense is one of the best matchups of wild-card weekend. Here’s how it could play out.
Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik comes from the Kyle Shanahan tree, so you know that he wants to fool your defense with personnel. Slowik had been a defensive assistant and passing game coordinator under Shanahan both in Washington and San Francisco, so if there’s a 49ers-ish tint to what the Texans are doing, don’t be surprised.
One thing you’ll see from the Texans is explosive passing plays out of heavier personnel. It’s a Shanahan staple, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniels (Shanahan’s former run game coordinator in San Francisco) draws on it as much as anybody, and Slowik continues that trend. Rookie sensation C.J. Stroud has 62 explosive passing plays in the 2023 season, and 22 of those plays have come out of 12, 13, 21, and 22 personnel — with multiple tight ends and/or running backs on the field.
Why is this effective? In preparation for his team’s wild-card matchup with the Cleveland Browns’ outstanding defense, Slowik got into why he likes to run things the way he runs them.
“That was very intentional coming into the season that we did that,” Slowik said when asked why ne needs his personnel looks to be interchangeable. “Obviously in San Francisco that’s kind of how that offense was built. I was lucky and fortunate enough to be there kind of when that evolution happened and we really started getting different pieces like that with guys that could play multiple positions. Really, you just see how freeing it is as someone who has to game plan, as a play caller, but also, it’s freeing for the quarterback. Just being able to know, ‘Wherever I distribute this ball, on my four reads on this play, I trust and I love all these dudes. I want to get all of them the ball.’ That’s really important.”
Dec 24, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik smiles before the game against the Cleveland Browns at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Slowik also deploys different guys in different positions because it makes things easier for the quarterback, giving him more pure progression reads against match-style coverages.
“I feel like a lot of it now, more across the NFL, there’s more just zones and different versions of zones, in particular soft zones where you can’t always determine where the ball’s going when teams are doing that,” Slowik said. “So sometimes – I think that’s part of why a lot of NFL teams have gone to so much pure progressions where you just go from one to two to three because it just simplifies that whole process and at some point you know you have to get a completion, and you can’t always determine who that’s to. I know for us, that’s why we coach how you handle yards after the catch, how you handle transition, how you handle when the ball is thrown to you in eight yards or less, how we’re making the most of those opportunities and getting the most yards, getting vertical on that stuff.
“We coach that a lot, namely because those are the teams that it’s really hard to game plan against when you can’t pin-point where the ball is going and the quarterback has to go and distribute it all the way across the field. That would be the No. 1 thing to me.”
One thing Slowik knows he’s likely to see from Jim Schwartz’ Browns defense is single-high coverage. The Browns have played middle-of-the-field-closed coverage at a 64% clip, most in the NFL. Now, Schwartz loves to mix that up with different looks and inverted coverages, but you know what you’re going to get there. The task for Stroud, who missed Houston’s Week 16 loss to the Browns with a concussion, is to wade through all of that with the personnel he has. And that’s tough, because the Texans are missing a lot of their top receivers right now — Nathaniel “Tank” Dell is out, and Noah Brown and Robert Woods are questionable.
Fortunately, Stroud still has world-beater Nico Collins. And this is where the matchup could tilt in Houston’s favor.
Per @robertmays and @Nate_Tice of The Athletic Football Show, the Browns have faced 143 snaps of 12 personnel this season. They've put eight defenders in the box against on 90 of those snaps.
Another bit of good news for the Texans is that Stroud has absolutely annihilated single-high coverage this season. Against Cover-1 and Cover-3, Stroud has completed 141 of 228 passes for 2,054 yards, 1,335 air yards, 11 touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 105.4 – only Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson have higher passer ratings against MOFC coverage this season. Stroud is great at challenging single-high with crossers underneath, and quick-to-intermediate out routes to displace cornerbacks playing to the numbers.
And it’s not just Collins. Stroud can find openings against anybody with heavy personnel, as he showed on this 26-yard pass to fullback Andrew Beck against the New York Jets in Week 14. It was a hard crosser underneath the Jets’ Cover-3, and another example of a great defense a step behind what Slowik drew up, and what Stroud executed.
Explosive plays out of heavy personnel. A Shanahan staple, a Mike McDaniel non-negotiable, and @HoustonTexans OC Bobby Slowik is killing defenses with it, too. pic.twitter.com/Ue9NCeQdJv
Remember that Mays/Tice statistic regarding how the Browns stack the box as a default reaction to heavy personnel? Schwartz is smart enough to know what his own tendencies are, and how it might be time to switch things up.
CLEVELAND, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 24: Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns looks on during the first half in the game against the Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
“Obviously a rookie, but has command that goes beyond usually the scope of a rookie,” Schwartz said this week of Stroud. “Decisive with the ball, accurate passer, buy some time time, makes big plays down the field. I think when it’s all said and done, the fact that he’s passed for as many yards as he has without turning the ball over is really impressive for a young guy. Usually the cost of doing business if you’re going to throw a lot of yards is you also turn the ball over a lot. It’s been impressive what he’s been able to do. We’re going to have to play tight coverage. We’re going to have to stay after him in the pass rush. We’re going to have to limit run after the catch because he does a good job of giving his guys opportunities to run after the catch, including Nico Collins. That’s one of the things he does best.”
Pair that with Slowik’s quote about why he aligns his passing structures against match stuff that limits YAC, and you have fodder for an amazing matchup.
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep into this fascinating matchup.
New "Xs and Os with @gregcosell: The @Browns have played more single-high coverage than any other team this season. C.J. Stroud of the @HoustonTexans has annihilated single-high coverage all season long. This one is going to be FUN. pic.twitter.com/YGy7yeavhn
Several former Broncos will face off against their former team on Sunday, including fullback Andrew Beck and running back Mike Boone.
When the Denver Broncos go on the road to face the Houston Texans this week, they will see some familiar faces.
Texans fullback Andrew Beck, who played for the Broncos from 2019-2022, has one rushing touchdown and one kickoff return for a touchdown this season.
Houston running back Mike Boone, who played in Denver from 2021-2022, has five carries and seven receptions this season. Boone has also returned four kickoffs.
Texans tight end Eric Saubert, who played for the Broncos from 2021-2022, is yet to catch a pass this season. Houston backup quarterback Case Keenum, who played in Denver in 2018, has only appeared in two games, completing two passes.
The Texans also have a former member of the Broncos’ coaching staff in tight ends coach Jake Moreland, who held that role in Denver last year.
Earlier this year, Houston also rostered former Broncos cornerback Darius Phillips and ex-Denver tight end Eric Tomlinson during training camp, but Phillips and Tomlinson failed to make the Texans’ 53-man roster this summer.
Beck, who has 236 snaps on offense and 128 snaps on special teams this year, will likely have the biggest role among ex-Broncos players this weekend.
