The Texans are gearing up for joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons beginning this week. Head coach Bill O'Brien has a list of things he wants to work on against Atlanta as Houston heads into the second week of preseason.
"I think anytime you have a chance to practice against such a quality opponent like the Atlanta Falcons it is going to be good for our team," O'Brien said. "They'll get here on Wednesday. We'll do a lot of things against each other situationally: First, second, third down, red area, two minute and backed up. We'll have a lot of different things to work on. I know Mike Smith, I've got a lot of respect for him, he's going to be great to work with. Our players will get better. Our team will get better from practicing with the Falcons."
Following Saturday's 32-0 loss to Arizona, O'Brien and the coaches spent the overnight plane ride home reviewing game film. They reviewed it all over again on Sunday morning. O'Brien plans to meet with the team Monday morning to go over his observations and make the necessary changes.
"You have to show it to them, so we'll meet tomorrow at eight," O'Brien said in Sunday's press conference. "We'll push practice back a little bit. We'll get together tomorrow morning at eight o'clock and we'll show them, you know, kind of the good, the bad, and the ugly and that's part of it. You have to show it to them and teach them what they did wrong and hopefully they learn from their mistakes and they can go out on the practice field and correct it."
With the Falcons arriving in two days, O'Brien is also finalizing his practice plan with Atlanta's head coach Mike Smith. Both have been in constant communication in planning this week's schedule.
"We've had four or five phone conversations since setting up these practices," O'Brien said. "But yeah, a lot goes into it. You know, kind of trading emails back and forth about practice schedules and how they do things and how we do things. It will be good. I believe the fans will enjoy it and it will be a good setup."
The Texans will hold joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons on August 13 and 14. Houston will host its preseason opener against the Falcons on Saturday, August 16 with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. on KTRK-13.
