The Houston Texans will do something against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their preseason finale that they haven’t done since Jan. 4, 2020, in the AFC wild-card against the Buffalo Bills: play in front of a full capacity stadium.
Although NRG Stadium won’t be as packed or as rocking for the third preseason game as it would be for a playoff game, the exhibition contest with the Bucs does mark a return to the real normal as the Texans’ home venue won’t operate at reduced capacity as it did throughout the 2020 season.
“I feel like it’s been two years since we had a crowd in here,” safety Justin Reid said. “So, it’s going to be a really sick experience to have the fans back in the crowd and be able to feed off the energy that they bring to the home field.”
Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly noted that he wants the players to give maximum effort in front of the home crowd.
“First and foremost, want to see our guys come out there and play hard,” Kelly said. “It’s going to be good to come out and play in front of our home fans and go out there and execute and really just let the offense work for them.”
Of course, playing hard at NRG Stadium means getting the finer details exact, which is key as the Texans have to cut their 80-man roster down to 53 men by 3:00 p.m. on Aug. 31.
Said Kelly: “In the preseason, it’s a little bit different than the regular season obviously, so we want to make sure our guys are able to come out here execute, play fast and go out and make plays.”
Texans fans are hopeful they will get to see the defense generate more takeaways as Houston led the NFL coming into the third week of preseason with seven turnovers.