For many rookies, the learning curve in May and June is quite a bend.
For Justin Reid, it was a lot straighter than most.
The safety stepped right in during organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp, and showed an ability to communicate effectively and adjust to the rigors of pro football.
"He's been good as relative to being out here in the OTA tempo that we're in," head coach Bill O'Brien said. "He's been smart, good communicator, studies tape. Really a guy that works very hard at his craft. It's been impressive so far."
Reid, a third round pick in this year's NFL Draft, did and said all the right things. When asked about winning a starting job, he kept the focus simply on improvement.
"What we're doing right now is we're just trying to get better every day," Reid said. "The preseason is still a long way away. We still have to go to Greenbrier and we have to prepare for camp for those weeks. Then, when the preseason games come, we have a competitive room."
Fellow safety Tyrann Mathieu, who played with Reid's older brother Eric at LSU, was impressed by what he saw the last two months from the rookie.
"I think he has great potential," Mathieu said. "He reminds me a lot of his brother, although his brother's a little bit bigger than him. But he's very smart, very sharp, and you can see his range and his ball skills as well. It's good to have a guy like that."
Even though Reid hasn't been here long, the Stanford product explained what he's excelled at in his time as a Texan.
"Being able to make the calls on the field to check the adjustments," Reid said. "Being able to get – as a safety, you have to be the quarterback of the defense. You have to get the corners, the linebackers, you have to give them calls and signals to get everybody lined up and on the same page. I feel that I've done a good job of that so far."
Reid and the Texans are off until the start of training camp in West Virginia, which is July 26.
