Changing of pace important for Texans offense

On offense, the Texans want to be fast. And slow. And operate out of a huddle, as well as a no-huddle. "I believe in mixing it up," head coach and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien said. "Speeding it up, slowing it down. Huddling, no huddling. I know that kind of sounds like an all-everything answer, but I think our guys really understand our offense now." Tempo, and the improvement of it, is very important to O'Brien. He's now the play-caller in 2017, and his trigger man is quarterback Tom Savage. Being prepared to change the pace from time-to-time is a key."We’re always working on every different kind of tempo that there is, just to kind of get used to it so nothing really throws us for a curveball in the game," Savage said. "Knowing Bill, I think that’s just what we’ve been working on, is just all the different types of tempo. We always just have to be on our toes, ready to go.” Ultimately, they both agree that scoring more touchdowns is the goal. As an offense, the Texans struggled to do so in 2016, scoring an average of just 1.5 per game. Only the Rams scored fewer last season. Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been enthused by what he's seen so far in camp. "The offense has been doing great," Hopkins said. "We’ve been doing what we wanted to do – come out here and move the ball around the way we want to move it around. Tom and I and all the other receivers, they’ve been doing good. I definitely see an improvement in this whole group, not just the wide receiver group.” Savage, Hopkins and the Texans will practice again at The Greenbrier in West Virginia on Wednesday.