The Houston Texans took to the field on Wednesday, late morning into early afternoon, once again this week, as head coach DeMeco Ryans continued his attempt to test the mettle of his team and, as best he can, simulate a regular season game week, when practices are typically in the middle of the day.
On Tuesday, Ryans was pretty open about the fact that most of the team held up pretty well, but there were a few exceptions. For what it’s worth, the list of players available to practice didn’t change one bit from Tuesday to Wednesday, so whatever may have negatively impacted some of the players during Tuesday’s workout, it didn’t carry over to Wednesday.
The story of Wednesday’s practice, though, was newly acquired wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who caught everything in sight, from the 1-on-1 red zone drills to the four 11-on-11 sessions, it was Diggs Day out at Texans camp, so let’s start there:
Diggs Destruction
We all know the stories about how things ended with Stefon Diggs and his previous two employers, the Vikings in 2019 and the Bills this past season, and I can’t guarantee anything about how it will end here. What I do know is that Diggs has been the Texans’ best player in camp, among their best leaders in camp, and he and C.J. Stroud have an undeniable connection, on the field and off the field. The “on the field” part was on full display on Wednesday, with Diggs catching everything in sight, regardless of who was covering, and regardless of the route he was asked to run. The highlight was a 70 yard bomb from Stroud that left several defenders in th dust. The Diggs trade is all glory so far, and here is Bobby Slowik with the latest voice attesting to that:
Rising rookies
For a team with a deep roster of veterans, and no first round picks in the draft this past spring, the Texans are going to have their fair share of rookie contributors. CB Kamari Lassiter is set to start at cornerback. Tackle Blake Fisher has filled in finely when Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard have been out. Safety Calen Bullock was running with the first dime defense unit at Wednesday’s practice. Finally, TE Cade Stover is firmly in the mix to get his fair share of snaps, likely in two tight end sets. The latter two, in particular, Bullock and Stover, seem to be flashing every day in practice. This is a great job by GM Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans in identifying talent and fit.
Practice notes
* Here are the names of those working out off to the side, not practicing — CB Jeff Okudah (hip), WR Noah Brown (shoulder), TE Teagan Quitoriano (calf), RT Charlie Heck (plantar fasciitis), LB Christian Harris (calf), WR Ben Skowronek, DE Will Anderson Jr. (Ankle), DE Denico Autry, DT Tim Settle (calf).
* RB Joe Mixon, back from an injury of his own, is getting more and more incorporated into the offense, both running and receiving. On Wednesday, they split Mixon out wide a couple times, and also had him running angle routes out of the backfield. Aside from one drop, it looked good. Mixon is a beast.
* John Metchie III had a good day! It’s been a while since I’ve been able to type that, but he made some plays in 11-on-11, and had a nice catch in the back corner of the end zone in 1-on-1 drills, beating Jalen Pitre.
* One name I didn’t mention among the rookies above was 6th round pick RB Jahwar Jordan, mostly because he is on the bubble to make the team, but he had an outstanding catch and run in 11-on-11 that would have been a huge gain and set up a goal to go situation inside the five yard line.
* Among the plays made defensively on Wednesday — Myles Bryant had a diving interception of a Case Keenum pass, and Henry To’o To’o had a pass break up over the middle late in practice. With Harris injured again, To’o To’o should get some snaps with the starters on Saturday. That will be one to watch.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
