A question mark on the Texans defense headed into the 2019 season is dependability at the slot cornerback position.
Ideally, the spot will be filled by Aaron Colvin, who is in his second season with the team after signing a four-year, $34 million deal in 2018.
But Colvin was plagued by injury and underperformance last season. He played in 10 games and started in just two.
The Texans secondary looks much different from a year ago, yet Colvin is one of the few returning players from 2018.
Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said Thursday he believes Colvin has a better attitude going into this season.
"I think he is more comfortable with the system, more comfortable with his surroundings," Crennel said. "And he's shown an improvement."
The Texans lost Kareem Jackson in free agency to the Denver Broncos, but signed former Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby. They also lost safety Tyrann Mathieu to the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency, but replaced him with former Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson.
In contrast, the Texans' Week 1 opponent is a model of consistency on offense. The New Orleans Saints offense has been run by head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees since 2006.
"If a team has been in place for a while, you kind of know what their bread and butter is," Crennel said. "But then there are other things that they might throw at you just to try to confuse you or catch you off balance. You don't know what those things are going to be. So early on, it's hard to try to figure those out. And so what you end up doing is have to make adjustments on the sideline when they show you something that you weren't expecting."
The Texans face the Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Monday night at at 6:10 p.m.