To score points and shorten the game and score a lot of points and shorten the game. OC Pep Hamilton on his offensive goals
The Houston Texans wrapped up three consecutive days of padded practice on Wednesday and will gear up for a players' day off on Thursday. Here are four things from Day 5 of camp:
1. New number, who dis?
There were two new players at practice, WR Chester Rogers (6-0, 184) and LS Harrison Elliott. Rogers, who spent four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts (2016-19) and last season with the Tennessee Titans, was wearing No. 16 and getting work with the receivers. Elliott, in his first season out of Air Force, took over long-snapping duties with veteran LS Jon Week out for a personal day.
Rookie DB Tristan McCollum isn't new to the Texans, but did come off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. The Sam Houston State alum was wearing No. 39.
2. NFL Network on the sidelines
NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and James Palmer were on-site to cover Texans training camp Wednesday.
3. Player to watch
The Texans defense came up with a few takeaways in practice, including interceptions by DB Tremon Smith and LB Blake Cashman in team drills. Cashman, who spent the last three seasons (2019-21) with the New York Jets, signed as a free agent with Houston this offseason. While Cashman flashed on defense, Special Teams coordinator Frank Ross had expectations for him in his unit.
"Yeah, wouldn't say it comes out of nowhere from the special teams," Ross said. "I've had my eye on that guy for a while. Definitely an exciting player and hoping everything I can do to get him better. In a good situation, he'd be contributing for the Texan's special teams."
4. Pep's perspective
Offensive Coordinator Pep Hamilton gives great pre-practice pep talks…
But all knowledge comes from a bevy of experience. His offensive scheme has also been cultivated from stops in college football, XFL and the NFL.
"Well, I think if you look at the makeup of our staff, we have a depth of experience, but a diverse group of coaches with regards to our backgrounds," Hamilton said. "Having the opportunity to go back and coached college football as well as the time that I spent in the XFL, it gave us a good outlook, a different outlook on different ways to really stress the opponent. So, we'll see. We'll see when it gets to game day."
The Texans will hold their next training camp practice Friday at the Houston Methodist Training Center. Houston will kick off the 2022 regular season at home against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Sept. 11 at noon CT.
