A ‘want-to’ drive for big plays
Thomas brings high energy to just about every unit on special teams, seeking to keep unlikely career alive
Texans cornerback Tavierre Thomas was the first person to reach Desmond King after the slot corner’s 46-yard punt return during Houston’s first game against Green Bay. Thomas pulled up his childhood friend, smiled, and screamed: “You’ve got to score!”
Houston’s special teams thrived in a 26-7 victory at Green Bay. Ka’imi Fairbairn made all four of his field goal attempts. Cameron Johnston averaged 44.8 yards on four punts and pegged three inside the Packers’ 20. Tre Smith returned Green Bay’s only kickoff 23 yards. Houston’s punt coverage team limited two Packers to an average of 10.5 yards on two returns. Its kickoff team held the speedy Kylin Hill to an average of 19.3 yards.
Thomas was in the middle of it all. Well, all of it except the field goals. That’s the only special teams unit Thomas isn’t on.
“That’s the only one,” Thomas said after practice Tuesday. “I wish I could play that, but I’m too short. Too little.”
Yes, at 5-10, 205 pounds, Thomas is entering his fourth NFL season mostly because of his abilities on special teams. He’s a 25-yearold Detroit native who signed a two-year deal with the Texans after recording 28 total special teams tackles in the last three seasons for the Cleveland Browns.
Thomas knows his path to a lengthy NFL career is different from that of King, a 2018 firstteam All-Pro cornerback with the Chargers who signed a one-year deal with the Texans and is expected to start at slot corner.
Their paths split about a decade after their little league days, when King, a former three-star recruit, signed with Iowa. Thomas said he had a couple offers from Division I schools, but his ACT scores didn’t meet the academic requirements that would’ve allowed him to join King with the
Hawkeyes.
So Thomas walked on at Ferris State, a small Division II school in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he eventually became a two-time AllAmerica cornerback and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cardinals in 2018. Arizona cut him by September, the Browns claimed him off waivers, and, Thomas said, “ever since then, I never looked back.”
“Now,” Thomas said, “I’m here today going on year four.”
Texans general manager Nick Caserio finalized the franchise’s first round of cuts to the league’s mandated 85-player roster requirement Tuesday, and after Houston’s second preseason game in Dallas Saturday night, Caserio will need to cut the roster to 80 players by Aug. 24. The largest cut comes Aug. 31, when teams must limit their rosters to 53 players.
Thomas has made it beyond the first round of cuts, and his preseason performance (and his two-year deal) indicate he can be an asset on the Texans’ special teams. He recorded two tackles against the Packers, one on special teams.
“It’s just all about want-to for me,” Thomas said. “A lot of guys out there, they don’t want to do (special teams). You’ve just got to know your role and play it. No
matter what it is. If that’s my role, I try to perfect it in everything I do.”
He also has played well in practice, pushing Houston’s talented depth of wide receivers and challenging the quarterbacks.
Starter Tyrod Taylor tried to hum a sideline pass during a 7on-7 red-zone drill Tuesday, and Thomas tipped the ball with his left hand, then caught his own deflection for an interception. It was the defense’s second interception of the drill, and potential starting cornerback Vernon Hargreaves could be heard over a raucous unit of defensive backs saying, “I’m sick of celebrating!”
Thomas can provide some of the energy new defensive coordinator Lovie Smith wants to instill in a defense that produced a historically low nine takeaways last season, second fewest in the NFL since 1980.
“It’s great,” Thomas said. “Everybody playing together, having fun, making plays. When everybody makes a play, everybody just celebrates together. … So if everybody just continues to do their job and have fun while doing it, it’s going to be like that each and every day.”
Thomas has been celebrating on special teams, too, even when razzing King for not housing a punt after a long return.
“I had my good ole block,” Thomas said, grinning, shaking his head. “I’m trying to block all good for him, and he gets caught.”