It’s been a wild couple of weeks around here, and around the country. Hurricanes, an assassination attempt, an inordinate number of celebrity deaths, national and local. It’s been a lot, man. Normally, we would have to wait another ten days or so for Texans training camp to get here to quell our psychological wounds. However, this summer, Christmas comes early, with the Texans’ road to the Super Bowl (fingers crossed) beginning this week.
Like a shotgun at the beginning of a long race, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter fired off this tweet this morning on X:
Go time, indeed, and if you care to get even more excited, here is a follow up factoid from the erstwhile Schefter, regarding Texans QB phenom C.J. Stroud:
If that doesn’t get you excited, then congratulations to you for being a corpse who is actually able to open a website and read words. If you are appropriately excited, and wish to get the basics on Texans training camp, then read further, because here are the answers to some frequently asked questions:
When do the festivities kick off?
As Schefter outlined above, the players already came back into the building on Wednesday, but the first practice is Thursday morning, July 18, beginning at 9 a.m. The first few practices will probably be without pads. SportsRadio 610, which includes me, will be covering practice live for the first two weeks of the preseason.
When can fans check things out in person?
If you’re a fan, DO NOT SHOW UP on July 18th to see practice. The first practice open to fans will be on Tuesday, July 23. Now, here is another “don’t” — DO NOT SHOW UP on July 23, or any of the other seven practices open to fans without a ticket in hand. The tickets to the open practices were given out a couple weeks ago, and they went fast. All of the practices are sold out. All practices open to fans begin at 9 a.m., except for Sunday, August 11, which will take place at 4:30 p.m.
Why is there a HUGE gap in practices here in Houston early in August?
The Texans, as you probably know, will be playing in the annual Hall of Fame Game, kicking off the preseason for the NFL, on Thursday, August 1, in Canton, OH. The Texans’ next preseason game is the following Friday in Pittsburgh, so rather than come all the way back to Texas, only to turn around and head north again, the team plans to stay in Ohio, and practice the week of August 4 in the Cleveland area. They’ll return from Pittsburgh the subsequent weekend, and begin practicing in Houston at the aforementioned evening practice on August 11.
When does the roster get cut down to regular season size?
After the practices and games wrap up, with the final event being a home preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, August 24, GM Nick Caserio and HC DeMeco Ryans will take the next couple days to trim te roster down to 53 players. The deadline to submit all of the cuts will be Tuesday, August 27, 3 p.m. local time.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
