If fans were curious what the identity of the 2021 Houston Texans would be, offensive coordinator Tim Kelly provided a clear definition.
Kelly met with reporters after the team’s training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center and gave some clarity as to what they want the Texans to be in their 20th season.
“We want them to be tough, physical and smart,” Kelly said. “We want to be able to depend on them when it’s 140 degrees out here like it was today. We want a tough football team. That means coming out and being able to grind some of these tougher practices. Our guys have responded really well and put in a lot of work over the past couple of weeks to try and build that.”
When looking at the personnel of the team on offense, which features three Pro Bowl running backs in Phillip Lindsay, Mark Ingram, and David Johnson, it is unquestionable Houston will emphasize the run. On defense, with defensive coordinator Lovie Smith constantly preaching turnovers, it is unambiguous that the defense will play a big part in the identity of the team — and no one has ever characterized a defensive-led team as being finesse.
Although Kelly says the identity of the team starting to form throughout the first two weeks of training camp, the offensive coordinator knew they were going to be a physical team when he first interviewed with new coach David Culley about staying on in his current position.
Said Kelly: “He made it very clear that he wanted to make sure we had a very tough and physical football team. We’re going to do what we can to make sure this team reflects the image that he wants, and our guys are doing a good job of putting in the work to get that done.”
The Texans close out their three-game preseason slate against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday night at NRG Stadium.