Penalties ramping up as camp continues
Texans coach David Culley was irritated by the number of costly penalties committed by the offense during Saturday night’s practice. He recalled three presnapSa penalties that hurt the most, including a flag that brought back a 65-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver
Brandin Cooks on an inside screen.
“I didn’t get out of it what I wanted,” Culley said of Saturday’s practice. “I wanted us to be mistake free from a standpoint of pre-snap penalties. That didn’t happen tonight. We’ve had fewer than we’ve been having, but one is too many, and our goal is not to be that kind of football team, and tonight it killed us three times on three drives. We can’t play football that way. We won’t play football that way.”
Culley said having officials present for what was essentially a full-pads scrimmage was “tremendous” and reinforced the warnings he’d been giving players throughout camp. The Texans were one of the fewest penalized teams in the NFL last season, ranking fourth with an average of just five penalties per game. Culley said penalties have been ramping up recently when players get tired.
“A lot of the penalties that happened today been happening in practice, but there’s no official here so they don’t believe me,” Culley said. “I feel like if me, being a referee, they look at me like I’m crazy. But having those guys out here today? I mean, hey, all they did was validate what I’ve been telling them in practice before. And that’s why it’s always good to have them here, and they did a nice job tonight. Basically, everything they called, we did. When it was called, we did something wrong, and it was wrong. We’ve got to correct that.”
Back from COVID list, Brown shows promise
Tight end Pharaoh Brown snagged a red-zone touchdown reception in Saturday’s practice. He returned Tuesday from the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list, and his score was a promising glimpse into how coaches expect his role to expand in the offense.
Tyrod Taylor floated a pass toward the left seam of the field, just over Brown’s helmet, and the ball fell neatly into Brown’s outstretched arms. It’s the kind of red-zone score the Texans saw often from former tight end Darren Fells, who led tight ends last season with four touchdown receptions and set the franchise record for the position with seven scores in 2019.
The 6-6, 258-pound Brown is the biggest tight end on the roster, and, after recording 163 yards and two touchdown receptions last season, he’s expected to be a key contributor in both the run game and red zone.
“That’s what he does,” coach
David Culley said of Brown’s score. “First of all, he’s a good player from both ends: run game and pass game. It’s good to have him back. He’s not all the way back from COVID, but, you know, he’s doing a nice job for us and doing what we expected.”
Renovated defense looking disruptive
A Texans defense tasked with producing more disruption this season recorded multiple sacks and an interception in Saturday night’s practice.
Safety Lonnie Johnson intercepted a Jeff Driskell pass over the deep middle of the field.
Jacob Martin recorded two sacks, a promising development for the former 3-4 outside linebacker who moved to defensive end in new defensive coordinator
Lovie Smith’s 4-3 scheme.
“He’s working hard,” coach
David Culley said of Martin, “playing hard, doing the things he needs to do in this defense to be successful, and he’s doing a nice job of that.”
Last season, Houston’s 30thranked overall defense forced nine turnovers, second-fewest in the NFL since 1908, and ranked 18th in the league with just 34 total sacks.
“We’re just working to get it even better,” defensive lineman
Maliek Collins said. “Every drop back we want a sack. That’s the standard.”