O’Brien reviews roster from top to bottom on visit to Green Bay
GREEN BAY, Wis. — If Bill O’Brien had his way, there would be more joint practices than preseason games.
Since he was hired to be the Texans’ coach in 2014, O’Brien has been a strong proponent of practicing against other teams. Monday morning’s practice against Green Bay at the Don Hutson Center was a good example.
“It was great competition,” O’Brien said. “You're going against an excellent team, a well-coached team, a team that has a lot of good players. A lot of great situations came up. We see different looks, different schemes on both sides of the ball and on special teams, so it was really good.”
O’Brien and first-year Packers coach Matt LaFleur, who spent two years with the Texans as an offensive quality control coach under Gary Kubiak, had everything planned ahead of time. And based on their interviews afterward, both were mostly pleased with what transpired on Ray Nitschke Field.
Coaches control joint practices. Next week, Detroit comes to Houston for two days of practice before the second preseason game.
“One of the reasons you do it is you get
some good reps for all of your players,” O’Brien said. “You get some good reps against different competition and different schemes.”
The coaches were eager to see how a lot of their players handled themselves against opponents. They wanted to see new players like left tackle Matt Kalil, cornerback Bradley Roby, guard Tytus Howard, guard Max Scharping, cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr. and tight end Kahale Warring, among others.
“It’s always good to go against somebody different,” said defensive end J.J. Watt, a Wisconsin native who saw a lot of fans wearing No. 99 and shouting his name. “It’s good to not have to play against your own guys every day and get some good competition, obviously, against a good team.
“You’re seeing different looks, different ways they play things, all sorts of different things.”
Watt left practice after his groin “tightened up” and called it “precautionary.” He’s not expected to practice against the Packers on Tuesday and wouldn’t have played in the preseason opener Thursday night at Lambeau Field, anyway.
After the practice, Watt was surrounded by Wisconsin reporters wanting to find out how he felt about returning to his home state and practicing against his favorite team growing up. He was happy to accommodate them on everything from his favorite beer and food before getting serious about how much this trip means to him.
Speaking of Watt, this trip cost him the price of a new bicycle.
The Texans participated in the Packers’ tradition of riding kids’ bicycles from their dressing room across the parking lot and street to the Don Hutson Center. When Watt left the dressing room, kids were lined up with bikes to give the players so they could carry their helmets.
Watt chose the first kid he saw. He was wearing an Aaron Rodgers jersey. Watt was too big for the bike. It broke, so he carried it over his shoulder the rest of the way and promised to buy a new one.
The Texans worked on the Clarke Hinkle Field from 10 to 10:40 a.m. They went to the other side of the indoor facility to the Ray Nitschke Field, where the Packers work in front of fans who sit on bleachers on one side of the field and in the end zones.
The practice against the Packers lasted 1½ hours. What the coaches saw they liked, for the most part. O’Brien was asked about his offensive line.
“It was OK,” he said. “I thought our first group did OK. They competed. I think the second and thirds have a way to go, but I thought that our first team O-line did a nice job working together.”
That would be Kalil and Howard on the left side, Greg Mancz at center replacing the injured Nick Martin, right guard Zach Fulton and right tackle Seantrel Henderson.
After one more practice against the Packers, the Texans begin the preseason schedule. O’Brien hasn’t said who will play and who won’t but knows his team needs the work against the Packers.
“We work on a lot of different things,” he said. “We try to work on different situations that may come up, whether it’s a challenge situation, end of the half (or) end of the game.
“We want to get a good look at all the players. We’ll talk about that tonight and tomorrow, relative to how much guys will play and be as specific as we can about that to make sure we get a fair look at everybody on the roster.
“I think most everybody will play. How much everybody plays depends on how many reps they get here. I would say most of the guys that traveled will play.”
But not everyone. O’Brien and his assistants can watch all the healthy players in practice and then sit some starters while they look at rookies and veterans who need further evaluation.