John Harris and Marc Vandermeer are live on 95.7 The Fan at 10am and 6pm every day during training camp. Listen and subscribe to Texans All-Access on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
The training camp days are dwindling. After Monday's workout at the Houston Methodist Training Center, the Texans won't have an outdoor practice, potentially, until Saturday. Tuesday's will move inside Reliant Stadium. Wednesday's practice is a pregame walkthrough and then the game with the Los Angeles Chargers is on Thursday night. Friday is a day off and then finally back to practice on Saturday. Now, whether that's outside or not, it doesn't matter, the fact remains that we're getting closer. The workouts are narrowing down as we head toward September 13's opener against the Buffalo Bills at Reliant Stadium. So, with that as a backdrop, let's dive into my Harris Hits from Monday's practice.
The defense stayed on a heater from Saturday night's practice, but the story of the day will be WR Tank Dell taking team drill practice reps with the offense. I walked down to the north end of the practice field just after I was finished with our radio show and I saw him lined up ready to roll. I did a double take to make sure it wasn't a walkthrough period and it was not. He took a couple of reps and on the second one caught a ball from QB Davis Mills that he turned up into the end zone.
That first period, a red zone period, was a good one for the offense. Tank had his touchdown. Furthermore, the best run of the day took place when rookie RB Noah Whittington sped around the right corner for a TD. That was one heck of a run, following one heck of a block from C/G Evan Brown, who put a defender on his wallet.
It also included a WR Jared Wayne TD catch from just inside the red zone. QB Davis Mills saw Wayne behind the corner and in front of the safety and placed the ball perfectly in Wayne's belly for a beautiful touchdown.
Other than that Whittington TD, the offense didn't find much running success. The first run of the day was shut down as DE Danielle Hunter put on a clinic, shocking and shedding a blocker to make a TFL. It's an underrated part of Danielle's game because he's such a creative and fun pass rusher to watch. But, he can dominate the edge in the run game on every down too.
During the second half of the first team session, QB C.J. Stroud did an excellent job throwing hot to his RB Woody Marks to avoid a free blitzer. The defense brought one more than the offense could block, which puts the onus on Stroud/QBs to get rid of the football timely and the Texans leader did just that on this play.
Two plays later, Stroud scanned and found rookie TE Marlin Klein on a crosser for a catch-and-run TD. The rookie from that school up north had a similar touchdown on Saturday on a fourth down play. Man, he can pick 'em up and lay 'em down…in other words, he's VERY fast for a man his size.
A couple of plays later, QB Graham Mertz targeted Mr. Reliable, aka Jared Wayne, but CB Jaylin Smith knocked that pass away for a PBU.
The next play was a win/win situation, well, a lose/lose situation as well. Yeah, let me explain. On the snap, DE Jadeveon Clowney won quickly and decisively on the edge and would've sacked Mertz, but Clowney ran by the QB to allow the play to develop. So, win for the defense, loss for the offense. But, Mertz kept the play alive and threw a beautiful ball to the corner of the end zone where TE Cade Stover extended himself to make a wonderful catch for a TD. So, win for the offense/loss for the defense.
S Reed Blankenship is such a great fit in this defense because he can do so many different things. One way that he fits is his strength/placement in the run fit. On the first play of the second team session, he fit a run perfectly from his S spot to hold the offense to no gain.
Now, it's key to note that the rest of practice was spent working on third down situations of all types. Third and short, medium and long…so it is hard for the offense to get much going, especially against this group of angry and violent defenders.
After Blankenship slammed the door shut on a run, DE Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter had a two man party, meeting at the QB, as they have done together for so long. They arrived at the same time too, which is a party MUST.
Two plays later, rookie CB Collin Wright made ANOTHER BIG play. I was shielded so I couldn't see where C.J. Stroud wanted to throw the football, but I saw the defenders on the sideline and on the field react positively and looked up to see Wright had come down with another pick. He just keeps getting better.
DE Dylan Horton wasn't completely 100% to start camp, but he seems to be hitting his stride. He had a great rush a few plays later when he looped inside and got into the face of Davis Mills for a "sack".
On the last series of that second team period, Stroud attempted to find TE Dalton Schultz, but LB Henry To'oTo'o stuck his hand into the fray and forced a PBU. On the next play, CB Derek Stingley Jr. was all over his WR to force an incompletion. I'm not convinced that the defense gave up any more than a total of 15 yards in that entire period. Sticky coverage. Dominant up front. That was a "I'm HIM!" period for the defense.
After forcing two incompletions, the defense finally got its forced turnover. Stroud checked down to RB David Montgomery and the Texans RB turned upfield to pick up some YAC. But, LB Azeez Al-Shaair threw a wicked Peanut Punch on the ball and forced it loose. That was a heck of a play by Azeez.
It took another four or five plays, but the offense finally got on track when C.J. Stroud read the blitz and found an open WR Nico Collins. That was really good quarterbacking.
In between those plays, LB Wade Woodaz nearly came up with a pick but his hands failed him. He had gotten in position underneath a crossing receiver. When QB Davis Mills threw that ball, I don't think he thought that Woodaz would be able to even get close to his receiver, but the rookie LB accelerated into the throwing area, but couldn't hang on for the INT.
A few plays later, Stroud stepped up in the pocket to avoid the fierce rush and put a ball between the 1 and the 2 on Nico Collins' jersey for his best completion of the day. He ripped that fastball after stepping up in the pocket and Nico made sure to not let that one get away, making the catch.
Fittingly, the last time the Texans played at Reliant Stadium, DT Tommy Togiai finished the game with a flourish. This time, on the practice field, mind you, Togiai did it again with a clean sack as he whipped whatever IOL was in front of him in a quick minute. That was quicker than quick and he got to the QB free and clear as a result.
Okay, that's going to be it for today. We'll see you tomorrow from Reliant Stadium, the site of tomorrow's Day #11 of Texans Training camp. See ya then!!
