It feels weird to type this, on July 29, but the Houston Texans embarked on a game week on Monday! Sure, it’s a preseason game that is about as “exhibition” as “exhibition” gets, the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, where I’d be shocked if any of the Texans’ prominent stars play a snap, but still! THERE IS A GAME THIS WEEK!
So, under clear skies and MUCH higher temperatures than we’ve experienced over the last several days, the Houston Texans took the field for their ninth practice of their 2024 training camp. Here are some of the key takeaways and plays we saw on Monday morning:
C.J.’s foot, no lingering effects
First and foremost, the best thing we saw in the early portion of the practice was C.J. Stroud running out from inside the indoor bubble after stretching exercises. If you are following practice on a daily basis, you know that Stroud had his foot stepped on by DT Foley Fatukasi on Saturday, and was moving somewhat gingerly for the remainder of the practice. Stroud’s foot might still be in some pain, but he wasn’t showing it in how he moved.
Defense wins again
For the third straight practice, the Texans’ defense got the better of the Texans’ offense, and that was across the first string, second string, and third string units. The biggest disparity right now is along the offensive and defensive lines, where the defensive front has had its way in practice. For the first string offense, they are obviously playing without Laremy Tunsil, who remains on the sideline nursing his surgically repaired knee, and it’s been a struggle for rookie Blake Fisher in his place. However, the interior of the line has been shaky, as well, the last couple practices. If we are looking at this with the glass half full, the Texans are going to have some VERY tough decisions along the defensive line, particularly on the interior, where they’re going to wind up cutting two guys who will get immediately picked up another team.
Other observations and notes
* Joe Mixon, Laremy Tunsil, Christian Harris, C.J. Henderson, and Case Keenum were out with injuries. Fullback Andrew Beck suited up for warm ups, but took the pads off shortly after that, and worked out on a side field.
* Right tackle Tytus Howard appeared to tweak something during the first set of 11-on-11 drills, and was talking to a trainer on the side field for several minutes. He eventually worked again with the first team in the last set of team drills.
* One of the few offensive highlights of the day was a Davis Mills to Xavier Hutchinson touchdown pass in team drills. Hutchinson is in the mix for one of the final receiver slots, and is going to make for some very tough decisions for Nick Caserio.
* Jahwar Jordan continues to show a ton of juice at the running back position, both running the football and in the receiving game. He continues to get reps at kick returner, as well.
* This was another practice where Stroud’s frustration was evident during team drills, so much so that he brought an iPad with him to the next set of drills to rewatch some of the plays. One thing we are still waiting for is a big breakout practice from Tank Dell. He was one of the huge stories of camp last year, and aside from a few random plays, we’ve not seen much from him.
* Rookie TE Cade Stover had a very athletic catch in the two minute drill from, I think, Tim Boyle.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
