Lovie Smith has a to-do list.
After reviewing the video of Saturday night's preseason win over the Saints, the Texans Head Coach pointed out a few things his team did well: they won, they emerged from the contest without any major injuries, and the defense came up with three takeaways.
But Smith also pointed out areas for improvement.
"Some things we have to clean up, obviously, starting with the penalties," Smith said during a Monday morning press conference at NRG Stadium.
The Texans were flagged 11 times for 99 yards in the 17-13 victory. Only three teams in the NFL committed more penalties than Houston during the regular season in 2021. So cutting down on the miscues is very important to Smith.
The head coach also said he wanted his defense to score. The Texans picked off a pass and recovered a pair of fumbles.
Smith said the Texans defense needed to be better on third downs. The Saints were able to convert 6-of-14 opportunities. The offensive unit that began the game for New Orleans was successful on all three of the third downs faced, and the Saints scored their lone touchdown of the game on that opening possession.
Smith described what the team will do in preparation for the road preseason game at Los Angeles, which is a Friday night kickoff at 9 p.m. CT.
"How we're handling this week is we have preseason games, but still in a training camp mode for us," Smith said. "We're not going to start game planning the Rams until a little bit later on. Tomorrow we have a typical training camp, offense, defense, good-on-good day, and excited about that."
Tuesday's practice at the Houston Methodist Training Center begins at 8 a.m. CT.
