Tag: nrg stadium

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.

[vertical-gallery id=53212]

Hurricane Laura 2020: Texans scrimmage to be held at NRG Stadium

The Houston Texans will move forward with their planned training camp scrimmage at NRG Stadium Thursday evening.

The Houston Texans are sticking to their original plan and will have scrimmage at NRG Stadium Thursday night.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans will have their scrimmage at their home venue after taking precautions due to the effects of Hurricane Laura, which swept through southeast Texas and upward into northwest Louisiana Thursday morning.

The scrimmage was up in the air on Wednesday as the club sent their staff and personnel home to work virtually with NRG Stadium shutdown at 2:30 p.m. that day.

Having the scrimmage on Thursday is important, according to coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, in getting the team ready for the regular season.

“I think it’s just that, 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,” O’Brien told reporters on 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.”

Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly will be calling plays in to quarterback Deshaun Watson, and first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver will be relaying plays to inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney. All of these components are key to getting Houston ready for their Sept. 10 opener at the Kansas City Chiefs.

[vertical-gallery id=53212]

Hurricane Laura 2020: Houston Texans to close NRG Stadium, work virtually

The Houston Texans aren’t taking any chances and have decided to close NRG Stadium and work virtually as Hurricane Laura makes landfall.

[jwplayer 0FeZEl4M]

The Houston Texans have been the paragon of safety and caution amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and handling hurricanes is in their wheelhouse.

Operating with the same abundance of caution that has netted zero positive COVID-19 tests since the start of training camp, the team has decided to close NRG Stadium at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday

“The @HoustonTexans will close the stadium at 2:30pm to ensure everyone gets home safely with the threat of Hurricane Laura looming,” Texans vice president of communications Amy Palcic tweeted. “The team will meet virtually on Thursday morning and reassess if it is safe to come back for the scrimmage scheduled for Thursday evening.”

Laura is expected to hit the mainland late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. The storm’s path is not expected to hit Houston, veering more towards to the east and traveling up the Texas-Louisiana border into Arkansas.

Coach and general manager Bill O’Brien doesn’t believe it will the same as Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston and south Texas hard in August of 2017, but will have its own unique effects.

“We’re on top of it and we’ll make a call when we have to make the call,” O’Brien said. “I think this one is different than Harvey, right.”

According to O’Brien, the concern the Texans would have from Laura’s effects would be damaging the practice bubble at Houston Methodist Training Center.

Hurricane Laura 2020: Will it affect the Houston Texans scrimmage?

Hurricane Laura is set to make landfall late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning. Will it impact the Houston Texans’ scrimmage on Thursday?

The Houston Texans plan to have their scrimmage for Thursday, although Hurricane Laura could have a say in the matter.

The Category 3 hurricane had sustained winds of 115 mph as of 7:00 a.m. with a potential for 140 mph later Wednesday. Laura is expected to be a Category 4 when it makes landfall late Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning.

Currently, coach and general manager Bill O’Brien and executive vice president Jack Easterby are looking at two different models on Laura’s projections.

“Now I’m looking at a European model and I’m looking at this other model and I’m like which model do you, I don’t even — one looks like it’s headed toward Louisiana and we’re on the west of it,” O’Brien said.

If Laura continues with a more easterly path as it relates to Houston, then the city should not feel any effects from the storm.

O’Brien and Easterby are working with team president Jamey Rootes and others to ensure they make the safest, smartest decision.

“We’re on top of it and we’ll make a call when we have to make the call,” said O’Brien. “I think this one is different than (Hurricane) Harvey, right.”

The concern with Laura, according to O’Brien is the wind, not the flooding, as was the case with Harvey in August of 2017. The wind factor could have an impact on the team’s practice bubble at Houston Methodist Training Center if Laura indeed moves that far west.

Texans’ Romeo Crennel wanted to coach football, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Houston Texans associate head coach Romeo Crennel did give much consideration to opting out of the 2020 season because he enjoys coaching.

The term “opt out” has become a familiar phrase in pro sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

NFL players have chosen to opt out of the season, especially if they are at a high level of risk to falling ill or have family members who could catch the novel coronavirus.

Houston Texans associate head coach Romeo Crennel is 73 years old and in the high risk category when it comes to COVID-19. However, the three-time Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator never considered opting out of 2020.

“The COVID, it has impacted everybody and all of us, but I’m a football coach,” Crennel said. “I’m in the game of football. So, when they say let’s play, even though I’m high-risk, I see what we’re trying to do to protect the players and the coaches with social distancing.”

The Texans have showed tremendous initiative in implementing steps to keep COVID-19 out of team facilities, and Crennel sees how hard the club is working to keep their workplace COVID free.

“I mean, they’ve got hand sanitizers all throughout the building,” Crennel said. “They clean it constantly. I feel like they’re trying to be proactive and protecting us that way. I feel like I want to give it a shot and see what happens and hopefully, knock wood, that it’s not a bad outcome.

“Hey, I’m in football just like you’re in football. You’ve been in it a long time. That’s what I know and I’m going to go with it.”

Like the 2017 season, Crennel is in a roving advisory role while a younger position coach takes over as defensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Anthony Weaver is adding the defensive coordinator role to his duties, and coach Bill O’Brien has Crennel helping Weaver with the transition.

“We have some young coaches on the defensive side,” said Crennel. “Anthony, I can help him because of my experience. So, that’s what I’m doing and whatever Bill needs me to do. Whatever way that I can help with the defense, I’m available to do that.”

Crennel wasn’t going to opt out of the season, and the Texans staff hopes to benefit from his presence in the building as they seek to defend their AFC South title.

[vertical-gallery id=53085]

Texans announce no fans for NRG Stadium opener versus the Ravens

The Houston Texans have announced they will not have any fans for the first home game of the season, Week 2 versus the Baltimore Ravens.

The Houston Texans announced Friday they will not have any fans in attendance for their NRG Stadium opener versus the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2.

Houston is slated to play their first home game of the season Sept. 20 against the reigning AFC North champions.

“We have made the difficult decision to not host fans at NRG Stadium in the month of September as we are committed to protecting the health and safety of our fans during these challenging times,” Texans President Jamey Rootes said in a statement. “Our fans provide the best homefield advantage in the NFL and we remain hopeful for their return to NRG Stadium once it is safe to do so.”

The Texans are looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the greater Houston area, which is currently at the highest threat level, RED. The club will keep tabs on a variety of metrics and other factors, along with consulting with local health authorities, to determine whether it is safe to allow fans.

With the next home game slated for Week 4 versus the Minnesota Vikings, the Texans presumably will have more time to fine tune their game operations to make for both a safe and functional environment. Remember: the preseason was canceled. There are no rehearsals to get the protocols correct at NRG Stadium.

If the Texans decide to host fans at home games later in the year, season ticket holders who made the decision to opt-in for the season will receive instructions about the ticket-purchasing process at that time, the team says. All NFL and NFLPA protocols are subject to change on a game-by-game basis and the club says they are taking the “necessary adjustments” to play games with fans and have it be as safe as possible.

[vertical-gallery id=52256]

Texans continue to report negative daily COVID-19 tests

The Houston Texans continue to report negative COVID-19 tests on a daily basis.

The Houston Texans are still on a winning streak, one that could determine their success when the regular season starts.

According to coach and general manager Bill O’Brien, the Texans have yet to log one positive COVID-19 test since NFL teams were allowed to open training camp. It isn’t just the players and coaches who are being tested every day, but staffers as well, up to 180 people total.

“So far, knock on wood, we’ve had zero positive tests, which is really good, especially with what is going on in Houston,” O’Brien said via the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson at his press conference before practice.

What is remarkable about the Texans’ streak is the team is located in a purported “hot spot” with infection rates on the rise in Texas and particularly Houston. What is also amazing is the Texans haven’t been duped by any false positives, as what happened with the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford.

[vertical-gallery id=52429]

What is Texans training camp like with new COVID-19 policies?

The Houston Texans have diligently implemented the NFL’s COVID-19 policies. It makes for a long day of training camp, but there are advantages.

Implementing and following the new NFL’s COVID-19 policies isn’t easy, but the Houston Texans have diligently followed them to the best of their abilities.

Peter King from NBC Sports took readers through a day in the life of the Texans now that the NFL has implemented COVID-19 policies to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Each day of training camp starts at 4:30 a.m. in the guest bedroom of Texans infection control officer Geoff Kaplan, who sleeps there to prevent possible spread of the disease in his own home. Kaplan awaits an email from BioReference Labs, the league’s testing lab, about the status of 180 Texans players, coaches, and staff. Are they free of COVID-19?

Coach and general manager Bill O’Brien arrives to NRG Stadium by 5:15 a.m. every day to undergo COVID-19 screening. Of course, it begins at 4:00 a.m. when he fills out a 17-answer questionnaire about his health over the past 48 hours. Along with his screening at the stadium, which includes the uncomfortable nasal swab test, O’Brien needs a confirmation email generated from the questionnaire to get into the building.

The 51-year-old’s day doesn’t end until 9:30 p.m. Every day is a long day of getting ready for the regular season while constantly having the effects of a pandemic in the back of your head.

The club takes a unique Texans approach to the policies. For instance, in how the position groups are broken up for testing, there’s green for rookies and first-year players, silver for defensive players who play special teams, Liberty White for veteran quarterbacks, non-special teams, and veterans of six-plus years, Battle Red for offensive players who play special teams, and then Deep Steel Blue for offensive and defensive linemen.

Defensive end J.J. Watt likes the new version of training camp that combines team facility work with also recuperating at home in one’s own environment.

“I mean, if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s somewhat nice from an actual football standpoint,” Watt told King. “Think about a normal training-camp day: You’re in the building from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. And you got a whole bunch of meetings. Now, we are very efficient in our meetings. We get things done.

“Nobody’s screwing around. Everybody’s locked in. It’s just really been good with our Zoom meetings. Just purely being in the comfort of your home doing your Zoom meetings, and not having to rush into the stadium early in the morning. It is a nice feature.”

As of Aug. 9, the Texans did not have any players who tested positive for COVID-19. Houston hopes that streak continues well beyond their Week 1 opener at the Kansas City Chiefs.

[vertical-gallery id=52256]

Bill O’Brien says Texans are still ‘a virtual team’

Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien says the team is still operating in a virtual setting at least 50% of the time.

The COVID-19 pandemic can’t go on forever. However, some of the innovations from the interminable lock down may become staples of regular life.

The NFL went to a virtual offseason with video conferencing galore in place of actual on-field practices. Even though humanity stands in the doorway between two “normals,” Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien can only look at the moment. He doesn’t know what the future of offseasons will look like; he can only point out how pro football is bending around a pandemic now.

“We’re a virtual team,” O’Brien told reporters on Aug. 6. “We will have a couple more face-to-face type meetings when we’re on a Phase 2 schedule, but we’ll still be Zooming for probably at least 50% of the day. Look, I think a lot of that probably will carry on into the future. I don’t know that, but it seems like that’s the way that it’s going right now.”

O’Brien is not a fan of video conferencing of any kind, not just Zoom. The 51-year-old coach prefers to stand in front of the entire team

“I think that the personal part of it when you’re in front of the team and in the squad room and all of that, that’s a big part of football,” O’Brien said. “But this is what we have to do to make sure that we keep the virus out of our building and out of our team. This is what we’re doing and we’ll see how it goes into the future.”

O’Brien’s strategy to work through the pandemic is to assemble a veteran team that can take care of business on the football field and stay professional outside the white lines, taking precautions not to bring COVID-19 into team facilities. Part of forming cohesion still has to be done in a virtual setting.

[vertical-gallery id=52256]

How do the Texans enforce social distancing in the COVID-19 pandemic?

The Houston Texans are using a special tracking device that players and staff must wear to enforce social distancing guidelines at team facilities.

Six feet apart: it’s the new athletic stance.

Social distancing is one of the ways to stop the spread of COVID-19, and health officials recommend at least six feet of distance between individuals. The objective is obtainable in regular life, but is a challenge in the NFL.

As pro football bends itself around a pandemic, the league has determined ways to come up with enforcing social distancing. For the Houston Texans, the answer lies in a proximity device called Kinexon, which weighs about half an ounce and can be worn on the wrist or around the neck.

“For each person, when they come in, they get their tracking device and it’s handed to them upon arrival right after they test,” executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby said. “They wear them all day. They wear them in their jerseys. They wear them around their necks, depending on where they want for comfort.”

The devices help keep players, coaches, and “really essential people to our operation,” out of the mix with individuals whose jobs aren’t yet critical to the business of football.

“If you get too close, they beep, which is really cool because it gives you an awareness of other people that may be around you,” said Easterby. “Also, if we do get a situation where we have an outbreak, we understand that it tracks who overlaps with who, so that we know specifically who we would have to quarantine.

“It’s an educational device. It’s also a warning device. It doubles as both of those things. So far it’s been working really well for us.”

The Texans do not have any positive COVID-19 cases on their roster as of July 31, and part of the reason has been because of the measures the club has taken inside their own facilities. As the old football adage goes: control what you can control.