TEXANS QB WATSON IMPRESSES
For once, coach really set at pivotal position
June football is serious football. In Canada. In the U.S., NFL players are running around in shorts trying not to get hurt.
The Texans wrapped up their offseason program Wednesday with their last on-the-field workout before they report to training camp in West Virginia in July. The good news is nobody got hurt.
Every snap counts, Bill Belichick says, and that is why we can say these practice practices — OTA and minicamps — have meaning.
The problem with the NFL offseason, for those who put stock into it, is we only hear about the positives.
If you follow the propaganda out of the Texans’ camp in recent weeks, life is all good. Very good, in fact.
Don’t debate it. The Texans have a solid roster. That’s why Bill O’Brien sounds confident.
The first time a coach says his team isn’t up to par at this point in the year would be a first. There aren’t a host of athletes walking around who could make an NFL team better, so the realization that you are who you are is easy to accept.
Observers are challenged with determining just how exaggerated the lies are. Tickets sales would take a dive if coaches and general managers spewed nothing but truth.
O’Brien did a June swoon by saying almost nothing but good things about Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, Brock Osweiler and Tom Savage.
Year after year, the Texans had a starting quarterback O’Brien claimed could get it done. Year after year, each turned out to be extremely replaceable.
Since he was hired before the 2014 season, O’Brien hasn’t had one starting QB who didn’t adversely affect his midsummer nights’ sleep pattern.
Yeah, in most of his previous years, O’Brien and the Texans knew who the starting quarterback would be, but they weren’t nearly as comfortable as they pretended to be.
Having Deshaun Watson, the Texans’ present and future at quarterback, running the show is a welcome change. His return from a torn ACL hasn’t been an issue.
“I know what he expects from me, and he knows what I expect from him,” O’Brien said in response to a question about the plus of having a set starting QB. “There’s a lot to be said for getting into more of a normal routine, no doubt it.”
O’Brien is more likely hinting he believes in Watson and the second-year QB’s growth.
Savage was with the Texans for a few years before he was named the starting QB. O’Brien hoped for the best, but knew what to expect from him.
It wasn’t anywhere near good enough.
Football in June doesn’t tell us what will happen in September, when the season begins, or in December, when the regular season ends.
Football in June isn’t really football, but it is a necessary element in preparation for the season.
“I think we accomplished a lot for what we were able to do out here — in the classroom, in the weight room and in the cafeteria,” O’Brien said. “The guys have really done a good job of understanding what we’re trying to get done, and I believe we’ve laid a good foundation for training camp.” That’s when it begins. “We’ve been going at this for nine weeks,” O’Brien said. “It’s really important for these guys to continue to, obviously, work out, stay in shape, work on the things that we ask them to improve on coming out of this camp. Eat right and just be ready to go on July 25th.”
Watson, who is coming off knee surgery, says he is good to go. And it appears that way if you see him working out after practice — when almost all of his teammates are gone — running, cutting and handling the oppressive heat.
With Watson at full strength, the Texans should field one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL.
And, no, that isn’t just June talk. jerome.solomon@chron.com twitter.com/jeromesolomon