Every year under head coach Bill O'Brien, the Texans have held joint practices with another team in training camp.
In 2014, Houston hosted the Falcons and traveled to Denver to practice with the Broncos. In 2015, HBO's Hard Knocks captured the Texans and Redskins facing off in Richmond. Last year, the Texans opened up the preseason against the 49ers and joint practices in Santa Clara. Then in Week 2, the Saints arrived in Houston early for practice with the Texans at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
"We, obviously since I've been here, we've had a lot of joint practices," O'Brien said Wednesday. "We get so much out of that. It breaks up the monotony of training camp. You're able to see your own players against different schemes instead of seeing the same scheme, day in and day out. You're able to see how other teams do things. You're able to see how your roster compares to another team's roster, and vice-versa. I think it's great for our scouting staff to be able to watch another team up close like that."
This year, the Texans will also practice against the New England Patriots for the first time. O'Brien, who coached under Bill Belichick for five seasons, adopted much of his coaching philosophy and routine from his time in New England.
"The competition level is great," O'Brien said. "The coaching staffs that we've worked with – now with Coach (Bill) Belichick coming up here in August and Coach (Sean) Payton later on – they're great coaching staffs to work with. We practice in a very similar way. We have a similar practice format, so everything meshes pretty well, and we're excited about doing it."
The Texans and Patriots will hold two joint practices at The Greenbrier on Aug. 15 and 16 before returning to NRG Stadium for their Week 2 preseason game.
The Houston Texans Training Camp presented by XFINITY will begin on Wednesday, July 26. The 2017 training camp marks the first time in franchise history that the Texans will hold camp outside of the city of Houston.
