Optimism won’t get franchise too far yet

I have been telling you that the Texans are changing — in a good way — so who am I to get in the way of old-fashioned optimism when everything is sunny, bright and new again?

Houston's NFL team is still undefeated.

Davis "Captain" Mills is a true third-round steal and will be better than Matt Schaub ever was.

Lovie Smith is going to be the best coach in franchise history.

The AFC South is still shaky, so who's to say the Texans can't capture their division, return to the playoffs and become the league's surprise team in 2022?

There's a realistic path for the Texans to start a new campaign with an encouraging 3-2 record.

Yes, cynics, 3-2 is encouraging when you went 8-25 the last two years.

These Texans also have a 50-50 shot of dropping their season and home opener, and eventually being 1-4 entering an early bye week.

But the unbridled optimism that has been pouring out of training camp daily?

The overflowing Twitter positivity that somehow has Mills looking like a 2022 AllPro, Laremy Tunsil locked in as a future Hall of Famer, Dameon Pierce already approaching Arian Foster status and Brandin Cooks wowing the local world as the next Andre Johnson?

I'll take the high road and simply state that the Texans haven't even played a preseason game yet, the first real game of the year is still more than a month away, and I'd believe in the Texans going 17-0 if they at least held a tough joint practice with an AFC contender.

Look, I've been there and done it. Constantly live tweeted training camp practices that

won't be remembered by the time that a sad November rolls around. Overpromoted and talked up Texans players who fall short when things get real and stats actually matter.

There are only 17 NFL games a season (when you don't make the playoffs) and there are technically eight months of nothing, so it's only natural to overhype everything about the biggest sport in America.

The second round of the draft is must-see TV. The combine is the Olympics. The schedule release is Christmas and Thanksgiving, combined.

But if I see one more tweet or hear another radio tease about Mills going an amazing 14-of-14 during passing drills — in early August, when the Texans' defense can't hit the quarterback and he's playing against the same defense every day — I'm going to lose my mind.

Cooks is on fire.

Derek Stingley Jr. has already proven he was worth the No. 3 overall pick.

The Texans' offensive line is vastly improved.

This team is going to be better than almost everyone predicted and the rebuild is almost complete.

I mean, what?

You know who has realistic, down-to-earth expectations for the Texans? The man who's actually in charge of fixing the team and eventually creating a contender.

General manager Nick Caserio, smartly, refused to discuss a potential win-loss record when camp opened. He also knows there's no concrete timetable to turning this thing around and the Texans still have a long way to go.

"I’m not in a prediction business or speculation business," Caserio said last Friday. "Our job is to kind of take it one day at a time, come in with the right attitude, work hard. I can’t measure progress, that’s not my job. You guys can have fun with that, about how many games we’re going to win, what games we’re going to win, who we’re going to play well against, who we’re not going to play well against. Our job is to come in each day, try to improve, try to have a good practice."

A good practice? According to social media, the Texans have been having the greatest practices in franchise history and a still-in-flux

roster is suddenly loaded with Pro Bowl talent.

I'll believe in the playoffbound Texans a little more when they start 3-2. Then win more than five games. Then beat Kansas City, Dallas, Las Vegas, Tennessee twice, Miami and Philadelphia.

The Texans are changing and that's a good thing.

But the rest of the NFL believes this will again be one of the worst teams in the league for a reason.

When the 2022 Texans lose a few games, reality will return and all of the early August tweets will look a little silly.

Just like mine did in 2017, when the back-to-back AFC South champs went an amazing 4-12.