Tag: Bill O’Brien

Observations from Houston Texans scrimmage at NRG Stadium

The Houston Texans held their first scrimmage of training camp at NRG Stadium. Here are a few observations.

The Houston Texans held their first scrimmage of training camp at NRG Stadium Thursday night.

The Texans were in danger of having the scrimmage postponed due to the effects of Hurricane Laura ripping through the Gulf Coast, but the storm raged east of the Texas-Louisiana border and away from Houston. As a result, the Texans were able to get in valuable work.

“I think you have to, without preseason games, in my opinion just for our football team, what’s best for our team is to have two of these scrimmages,” coach and general manager Bill O’Brien told reporters Aug. 25. “At least one of these in full pads where we warm up like a game, we treat it as much like a game as we possibly can. Coaches in the press box and kind of go through all that. Basically, the logistics of a game. We’re going to try to do it.”

They did it. Though NRG Stadium was devoid of fans, the setting had a game day feel to it, down to the players wearing actual uniforms instead of practice jerseys.

Of course, as big as the scrimmage was also who wasn’t in the scrimmage. According to Aaron Reiss of The Athletic, WR Brandin Cooks was not scrimmaging. Other “inactives” included DE J.J. Watt, WR Keke Coutee, ILB Dylan Cole, DE/OLB Jonathan Greenard, CB Phillip Gaines, FB Cullen Gillaspia, and WR Isaiah Coulter.

The Texans were wearing their blue pants, which is what they wore in both of their playoff games versus the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

Watson was also deliberate in his efforts to spread the ball around. The two-time Pro Bowler hit four different receivers, and went 5-for-5, according to KTRK’s Greg Bailey. It wasn’t the only perfect drive that Watson engineered, as he had another drive consisting of 4-for-4 for 69 yards and a touchdown pass to Kenny Stills.

Stills wasn’t the only receiver who had a good connection with Watson. Wilson from the Chronicle says that new addition Randall Cobb also managed to show off his cohesion with Watson.

The defense had their studs as outside linebacker Jacob Martin scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Reiss noted that safety A.J. Moore was omnipresent with 1.0 sack, two pass breakups, and an interception.

According to Bailey, new defensive tackle P.J. Hall went against the first-team offense and demonstrated he has something to contribute. The former Oakland Raider sacked burst through the offensive line and sacked Watson.

At the end of the practice, Stills led the Texans in a talk about social justice. Other Texans who led the discussion were Watt, Watson, and safety Michael Thomas.

With the 101st NFL season two weeks away, it is starting to feel a lot like football.

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