Tag: NFL Preseason Week 3

Texans CB Bradley Roby dealt with ‘slight concussion’ before the Buccaneers game

Houston Texans coach David Culley revealed why cornerback Bradley Roby was not available against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the preseason finale.

The Houston Texans didn’t get to see one last glimpse of cornerback Bradley Roby ahead of his one-game suspension to be served in Week 1 of the 2021 regular season.

Roby was slated to go for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on Aug. 28 at NRG Stadium, the preseason finale, but did not play in the game.

According to coach David Culley, Roby was dealing with a “slight concussion.”

“He had a slight concussion in practice prior to that, and we didn’t want to take a chance on him with that,” Culley said.

The first-year coach also indicated that Roby is “fine.”

Whether or not Roby is fine or not, he will have to finish out the last game of his six-game suspension handed down with five games to go in the 2020 campaign. The NFL determined Roby violated the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy and handed down the suspension.

In Roby’s last preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 21, he collected one pass breakup.

3 takeaways from the Texans’ 24-16 preseason loss to the Buccaneers

The Houston Texans showed a bit of their true colors in the 23-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the preseason finale.

HOUSTON — The Houston Texans’ two-game preseason winning streak came to an end during a 24-16 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Saturday night at NRG Stadium. The Texans had a difficult night taking care of the ball by committing five offensive turnovers against the Bucs — which unsurprisingly left first-year head coach David Culley a bit frustrated after the game.

“The first priority on offense is not to give up the ball, and we gave it up way too many times,” Culley said. “One is too many. It doesn’t matter how many you get on defense, when you turn it over on offense your chances of winning are very slim. And that was very disappointing, and that’s something we have been doing a good job of up until tonight.”

As the Texans look ahead to their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 12, here are three observations from Houston’s preseason finale against the Buccaneers.

Jags vs. Cowboys Player of the Game: Trevor Lawrence

Although it was against backups, Trevor Lawrence had a solid outing vs. Dallas despite being without four starting offensive linemen and his top-2 receivers.

With the need to get off to a fast regular season start when looking at the winnable games in the first quarter of the schedule, the Jacksonville Jaguars desperately needed to garner some momentum against the Dallas Cowboys. The first two preseason games were disappointments, no doubt, as the offense looked slow and lethargic, unable to get into a rhythm. With the news of Travis Etienne’s unfortunate season-ending injury still fresh, many fans started to think, “Here we go again.”

That was until Trevor Lawrence took the field in Dallas (albeit against their reserves). Lawrence exuded confidence and it showed in both his play and the offense. Lawrence was surgical, completing 11-of-12 passes for 139-yards and two touchdowns. His passer rating of 154.5 was indicative of his play as he made several beautiful throws, namely a 38-yard bomb down the sideline to Phillip Dorsett II.

A few plays later, Lawrence found a wide-open Pharoh Cooper for an 18-yard touchdown. Lawrence also found his tight ends early and often as James O’Shaughnessy and Chris Manhertz tallied four catches for 42 yards together. Lawrence’s third drive, however, was headlined by a familiar face, Laviska Shenault Jr.

Shenault looked as good as ever, carrying defenders down the field on a screen pass for a 20-yard gain. His strength and ability to get yards after contact makes him one of the best in the league as Shenault led all players in missed tackles last season.

Following a holding penalty that brought back a Carlos Hyde touchdown, Lawrence found Shenault again in the corner of the endzone for a beautiful 13-yard touchdown.

Coach Urban Meyer discussed his frustration with the offense’s pace of play and creativity. It seems offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell took the criticism to heart as the offense came out firing. The focus was on fast-paced play and getting the ball out fast, and it worked. The team looked much more comfortable and the scoreboard agreed.

Lawrence’s talent was on full display for all of the NFL to see, and he more than lived up to his first overall pick billing. If anyone is going to turn this franchise around, it’s this guy.

Texans S Justin Reid says he has ‘seen a lot of growth’ from the defense

Safety Justin Reid says that the Houston Texans defense has made some strides throughout the preseason.

Houston Texans safety Justin Reid likes what he has seen from the defense.

Although the Texans sustained their lone preseason loss of the exhibition campaign Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at NRG Stadium, Reid likes the energy on the defensive side of the ball.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth,” said Reid, who collected three combined tackles a special teams tackle in the 23-16 loss. “There’s a buzz in the locker room, there’s a buzz on the defensive side of the ball. That’s just excitement to go out there and play. Doesn’t matter what the situation is or anything like that. Guys were excited to go out and just play football.”

The Texans have a roster replete with players on one-year deals or expiring deals. There isn’t much security in their contracts. However, the players are in for the love of the game, according to Reid.

Said Reid: “It’s just a love for the game, a passion for the game that you see coming out. It’s just exciting to be a part of it. I love this system. It’s aggressive and lets us make plays and lets us make calls, so I’m having a ton of fun out there, having a blast just going out and playing football.”

The system the Texans defense has moved to is a Tampa 2 scheme with new defensive coordinator Lovie Smith. The former Chicago Bears coach from 2004-12 is preaching takeaways, and it manifested in the preseason with 10 —quite an accomplishment for a team that generated just nine through 16 games in 2020.

“You could just see what Coach Lovie Smith is preaching what means about getting to the ball, being aggressive, finding ways to get to the ball,” Reid said. “Everything is about the ball and it’s coming out on the tape so we have to take that with us into the regular season and continue to force turnovers to help our team win games.”

Houston kicks off the regular season Sunday, Sept. 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who managed a 34-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys in their preseason finale Sunday.

Buccaneers QB Tom Brady ‘happy’ Nick Caserio is the Texans’ general manager

Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady says he is pleased to see longtime New England Patriots personnel boss Nick Caserio as the Houston Texans’ GM.

HOUSTON — Nick Caserio and Tom Brady spent nearly 20 years together building one of the greatest dynasties in sports as members of the New England Patriots. Caserio held multiple roles within the front office while Brady entrenched himself as arguably the greatest quarterback in league history.

The duo experienced six Super Bowl titles together before Brady departed for Tampa Bay during Free agency in 2020. Nearly a year later, Caserio left New England to become the new general manager of the Houston Texans.

But Saturday night, the couple reunited on the field to share a hug and a lengthy chat following the Texans’ 23-16 defeat to the Buccaneers to close out their three-game preseason schedule at NRG Stadium.

“I’ve known Nick for 20 years, at least, maybe 21 years and just a great person,” Brady said during his post-game press conference. “Great football mind. Diligent, hard-working and very detailed. So I’ve really appreciated my time with Nick. He’s done a great job. Happy that he got an opportunity here.”

Caserio joined the Patriots as the team’s personnel assistant, one year after New England drafted Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. In 2008, Caserio received a promotion to become the Patriots Director of player personnel — a position he held until he joined the Texans in January.

In his first offseason as acting general manager, Caserio signed or traded for a bulk of Brady’s former teammates, who included Marcus Cannon, Kamu Grugier-Hill and Rex Burkhead. The three-time MVP winner said the Texans have several people within the organization he will be rooting for to succeed, but not when they are going up against the Bucs.

“We are all getting different opportunities as we get older,” he said. “So you know, you kind of put in the work and you get different opportunities at different times and it’s Nick’s first opportunity to really take that kind of sole position. Happy for him and wish him the best of luck.”

In his first season in Tampa Bay, Brady led the Buccaneers to a 31-9 Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in February. The championship win added to Brady’s elegant resume, as he won his seventh title and fifth Super Bowl MVP award.

Watch: Trevor Lawrence links up with Laviska Shenault for second touchdown vs. Cowboys

Lawrence linked up with Shenault for a touchdown in the Jags’ third offensive drive. That wrapped up his day and he finished the game 11-of-12 for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

Trevor Lawrence was a perfect 3-of-3 to start Sunday’s preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys, but didn’t want to stop there. After having to punt on the second drive, Lawrence and the Jags’ offense once again marched down the field through a six-play drive that ended with a touchdown to receiver Laviska Shenault Jr.

The touchdown pass, which was a 4-yard completion, wasn’t the only connection between Lawrence and Shenault of the third drive. He hit Shenault while on Dallas’ 23-yard line and the second year receiver was able to drag defenders for several yards. The following play resulted in a holding penalty by the Jags, so Lawrence linked up with Shenault for the play that followed their touchdown connection (a 9-yard reception).

Of course, that was all the staff needed to see and Lawrence was done for the day. He wrapped up his afternoon 11-of-12 for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a passer rating of 154.5.

Shenault, on the other hand, had three receptions (all on the aforementioned drive) for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Watch: Trevor Lawrence scores first preseason touchdown in opening drive vs. Dallas

Trevor Lawrence got off to a hot start vs. Dallas Sunday, completing his first three passes and marching the team down the field for a touchdown on the first offensive drive.

Despite being without three starters on the offensive line, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence had no issues moving the ball down the field in the team’s opening offensive drive against the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, he was perfect and went 3-of-3 for 62 yards and a touchdown.

The drive was highlighted by a beautiful 38-yard over-the-shoulder completion to Phillip Dorsett that put the Jags at the Cowboys’ 24 yard line. Then, three plays later, he linked up with Pharoh Cooper for an 18-yard touchdown after the veteran ran a double-move up the sideline.

The Jags went up 7-0 as a result and the score remains that way as the second quarter has started. Lawrence started the quarter 8-of-9, which is exactly the type of momentum fans wanted to see him garner before the regular season.

Texans QB Tyrod Taylor believes offense made progress against the Buccaneers

Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor thinks the offense showed progress in the 23-16 preseason loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

HOUSTON — The Houston Texans’ three-game preseason schedule came to an end during a 23-16 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night at NRG Stadium. The first half of the game may have been the most accurate description of what to expect from the Texans offense next season.

Houston opened up the contest struggling to find their rhythm in the passing game against the Bucs’ first-team defense. They registered 33 passing yards during the first 24 minutes, which resulted in the Texans trailing 16-2 at the half. With the loss, the Texans ended the preseason with a 2-1 record.

Presumptive starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor was under center for the Texans’ first three drives. And despite two punts and one turnover on down, Taylor believes Houston’s offense made progress against the Bucs despite their struggles.

“You have to take into consideration the practices that we get, the game-like atmospheres that we have in practice as well as the game,” Taylor said following the exhibition match. “I think that we’ve taken great strides, and it’s just about us putting everything into one and going out and executing when September 12th comes around.”

The best offensive drive for the Texans took place during their second series of the game.

With 10:12 left on the game clock during the first quarter, Houston’s offense embarked on a near 10-minute possession and logged 72 yards on 18 plays. They ran the ball 12 times during the drive, which accumulated 52 yards. David Johnson had the biggest gain of the series with a 21-yard rush to enter Tampa Bay’s territory.

The Texans drive came to a scoreless end due to a turnover on down deep in the red zone.

The most alarming element about Houston’s offensive problems was their inability to take care of the ball. The Texans committed five turnovers against Tampa Bay. Two stemmed from a fumble, while rookie quarterback Davis Mills threw all three of Houston’s interceptions.

“It’s very big to be able to stay in drives in this league,” Taylor said. “Ball, time of possession is definitely big. But more importantly, you want to come away with points. I think we were physical and we showed our physicality throughout that drive and we showed execution. We had an opportunity at the end and didn’t do so and that’s something to clean up and be better at moving forward.”

Taylor said the number of turnovers did not give the team the best opportunity to be successful against the Bucs — describing it as a shot in the foot. Despite their offensive issues, Taylor mentioned that he felt the offense improved in their blitz pickups, an area of play Houston struggled with during their previous game against the Cowboys.

After a slow start, the Texans’ passing game began to find their niche in the second half. Mills threw a pair of touchdown passes for 16 points on the night, connecting with rookie Nico Collins and journeyman Jordan Veasy.

Buccaneers top Texans 23-16 in preseason finale

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spoiled the Houston Texans’ chance at preseason perfection with a 23-16 win Saturday night at NRG Stadium.

The Houston Texans committed five turnovers as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spoiled the home team’s chance at preseason perfection 23-16 Saturday night at NRG Stadium.

Rookie quarterback Davis Mills completed 10 passes on 27 attempts for 106 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Mills also lost a fumble on an 8-yard sack in the fourth quarter from the Tampa Bay 26-yard line.

Starter Tyrod Taylor went 6-of-9 for 31 yards and rushed once for six yards. Taylor coughed up the football on a sack for a 5-yard loss in the second quarter.

Tom Brady started for the Buccaneers and went 11-of-14 for 154 yards and a touchdown. Blaine Gabbert was 4-of-10 for 26 yards. Rookie Kyle Trask completed 12 passes on 14 attempts for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Houston’s defense collected three turnovers in the game. Safety Terrence Brooks picked off Gabbert while cornerback Rasul Douglas and defensive end DeMarcus Walker each forced a fumble. Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill and defensive tackle Vincent Taylor each had a fumble recovery. For Taylor, it was his third of the preseason.

The Texans were without kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn. Safety Justin Reid handled the kickoffs, but did not get to attempt a field goal or extra point try. Houston was 2-of-4 in the red zone compared to the Buccaneers’ 1-of-3.

Houston has some optimism coming out of the final exhibition game. Houston produced 10 takeaways through three preseason games, which is one more than the Texans gathered throughout all of 2020 in a 16-game season.

Texans safety Justin Reid told Texans TV’s Drew Dougherty in a sideline report midgame that the turnover production will carry over to the regular season.

Tampa Bay will open the regular season hosting the Dallas Cowboys in the Thursday night opener on Sept. 9 at Raymond James Stadium.

The Texans will start the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium.

WATCH: Texans QB Davis Mills throws touchdown pass to WR Nico Collins

Houston Texans rookie quarterback threw a touchdown pass to another rookie, receiver Nico Collins against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Houston Texans’ twin third-round rookies finally connected for a score in the passing game.

Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday night, on a first-and-10 following linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill’s fumble recovery, quarterback Davis Mills threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins.

The scoring throw is the first of Mills’ preseason career. It is also sweet redemption for the two rookies, who weren’t able to connect in the red zone on a similar throw. The Texans’ drive stalled out at the Buccaneers’ 1-yard line.

Not this time.

Houston sports fans are hopeful this is the first of scores of connections between the two members of the Texans’ 2021 draft class.