It’s a big week for the Texans as the Miami Dolphins will be coming in for joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of Saturday's 3 p.m. tilt at NRG stadium.
The heat is getting hotter during team periods.
For the second straight practice, the Texans had a scuffle, and it was a big one. It wasn’t clear who the players involved were, but it took nearly the entire squad to break it up.
One player tried to jump on top of the massive scrum of players, but he couldn’t be identified. Multiple players after practice said they’d have to address that particular action with the individual later.
Notable Texans who missed practice
Laremy Tunsil, Maliek Collins, Will Anderson Jr., John Metchie, Charlie Heck, Hassan Ridgeway, Case Keenum, Tytus Howard, Christian Kirksey, Brevin Jordan, Dalton Keene, Brandon Hill, Thomas Booker
Quarterbacks
CJ Stroud once again took first-team reps exclusively on Monday.
What that means exactly in terms of reps for Saturday's game and the so-called quarterback competition itself, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said they haven’t gotten that far yet.
“As of right now, we haven’t discussed the reps, we’re still just getting through practice,” Ryans said. “We’ll discuss the rep count and how well go about that game after we go through the two practices with Miami, so we’ll have an answer after that.”
Case Keenum was in attendance but did not practice. He was in street clothes and could be seen talking with newly signed quarterback EJ Perry quite a bit throughout practice.
Meanwhile, Stroud seemed to have a pretty solid day, making some really nice throws again after Steven Nelson intercepted him early in the practice.
One of the more impressive throws was a beautiful ball to Robert Woods on an out-route in the end zone. Stroud put the ball where only Woods could get to it as Woods drug both feet before falling out of bounds.
The other was on a curl route to Nico Collins, who beat Shaq Griffin on the play and scampered into the end zone.
Signs of improvement
Receiver Steven Sims had a rough go of things through the first week or so of camp, but since a nice showing in the first preseason game last Thursday, in which he caught both targets for 17 yards, he’s continued to stack the good days.
Sims caught some tough balls in drills and one-on-ones that were absolute bullets in Monday's practice.
Sims made a catch during the red zone period in the right corner of the end zone that drew some oooh’s and ahhh’s from the rest of the offense.
He’s apart of a return group that includes Desmond King, Tank Dell, John Metchie and Alex Bachman. Sims had a 21-yard kick return last Thursday against the Patriots. We’ll see if he can continue to make plays in both roles but he ultimately seems destined for the practice squad.
Offensive line rotations continue
The first team offensive line to begin practice on Monday was: LT Michael Dieter, LG Kenyon Green, C Juice Scruggs, RG Shaq Mason and RT George Fant.
The second unit was: LT Kilian Zierer, LG Jarrett Patterson, C Jimmy Morrissey, RG Keaton Sutherland and RT Austin Deculus.
Patterson, the Texans sixth-round pick this year out of Notre Dame spelled Green at LG for first-team reps in the second half of practice during team periods. Keaton Sutherland got some reps late there as well.
Rashaad Coward got reps late at RG when the team was doing team period inside the red zone later in practice.
NOTE: The first team OL unit was run-blocking their ass off Monday. Running back Devin Singletary might've made them look a lot better than they actually were with some nice cuts on both inside and outside zone runs, but the holes were there nonetheless.
Dameon Pierce had some good looks as well. The right side of the OL was on point.
Three’s company
Tank Dell. Again. He’s good. If a running back is a quarterback's best friend, Dell is gonna have something to say about that. He just keeps getting open. His route running and ability to stop and redirect on a dime is fun to watch.
He made a heck of a catch on a ball from Davis Mills in the end zone toward the latter portion of workouts that drew plenty of reaction from the sidelines as well.
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