Cannon shakes off rustiness
Texans starting right tackle Marcus Cannon said he was “a little rusty” against the Jaguars in Sunday’s season opener, his first NFL game since the 2019 season.
Cannon played nine seasons with the Patriots before opting out of the 2020 season because of concerns with the pandemic, and, after the Texans acquired Cannon in a March trade, the 6-foot-6, 335-pound lineman spent training camp on the physically unable to perform list recovering from offseason knee surgery.
Cannon returned to practice Sept. 2, and, since he only practiced for a little more than a week, played on a pitch count against the Jaguars. Cannon played 50 of the offense’s 78 total snaps, and he demurred when asked if the Texans will limit him again Sunday at Cleveland.
“I’m just doing whatever they tell me to do,” Cannon said. “We have a great staff. So, I’m going to do whatever they say.”
Before Cannon’s return with the Texans, his last previous game was a 20-13 playoff loss with the Patriots in the AFC divisional round against the Titans on Jan. 4, 2020.
“Man, when we first got out there, I could feel my feelings raising up,” Cannon said. “Because, man, I really miss this game. I really missed it. I had fun, great times with my family. My kids are home-schooled, so we got to do little P.E. workouts before and hang out with them, go fishing in our pond. Do stuff that I usually wouldn’t get to do in that year. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it. It’s hard to watch games sometimes, seeing everybody out there.”
Cannon and starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil will face perhaps their toughest challenge of the season against the Browns, who will rush both former No. 1 overall picks Myles Garrett and former Texan Jadeveon Clowney along the edges.
“I played against both of them throughout my career, and every single time you see why they’re so good,” Cannon said of the defensive ends. “They’re both fast. They both move around. They have great moving skills. It just seems they’re out there and have the freedom to do what they need to do to make plays.”
Tight end Brown listed as questionable for game
Starting tight end Pharaoh Brown returned to practice Friday after missing two days with shoulder and ankle injuries, which offers promise that Brown will be available for Sunday’s game at Cleveland after his impressive performance in the season opener.
Brown is officially listed as questionable, along with reserve linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, who missed Friday’s practice with an illness.
Backup safety Lonnie Johnson practiced fully for the first time since he exited the Aug. 28 preseason finale against the Buccaneers with a thigh injury. Slot corner Desmond King and return specialist Andre Roberts also practiced fully after knee injuries kept them out of Wednesday’s practice.
The Texans’ offense leans heavily on its tight ends, and offensive coordinator Tim Kelly often uses multiple options at once from the position group to bolster run blocking and produce favorable matchups for other receivers.
Brown offered promise with a four-catch, 67-yard performance in the 37-21 win over the Jaguars, and the team hopes the 6-6, 258-pound fourth-year veteran develops into a dynamic player within the offense.
Rookies sing off-key for Culley’s celebration
Texans coach David Culley turned 66 on Friday, and the team had all the rookies get up and sing “Happy Birthday” during a team meeting.
Apparently, it was not a pleasing sound. Wide receiver Chris Conley said there wasn’t a single good singer in the rookie class. But who was the worst?
“Pretty much all of them.” Conley said. “They are pretty bad. They are actually really terrible.”
Rookie razzing isn’t unusual. It’s often a source of comedy within franchises.
“You know, they have rookie talent shows and things like that,” Conley said. “But, for some reason this year all of them wanted to sing and they were all terrible. But in the past, we have had guys go up there and do comedy sketches, we’ve had guys go up there and dance, sing. And they were actually legitimately good at what they were doing. This year, I am glad they are good at football.”