Texans take part in another rainy practice Saturday morning

There’s always a time in every NFL training camp where the team has practiced multiple times, it’s been lively, but you can sense that everyone – players, coaches, media – is eager to work out against another team. More specifically, we’re all ready for the Texans to play in a real game, even a preseason exhibition game like the Hall of Fame game.

It was at Saturday’s practice at the Methodist Training Center that I started to feel that way. Don’t get me wrong, this training camp has been a blast to cover, perhaps the most fun training camp since I started covering the Texans in 2007. However, practice matchups, even main event-level matchups, get stale after several days in a row.

For now, there are two practices remaining, Monday and Tuesday, before the Texans travel to Canton, Ohio, to take on the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. That means we’re getting very close to a real football game! In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s practice, the eighth of this camp:

Another wet and sloppy one
Conditions were again very poor Saturday, as they were Friday, due to torrential rains that followed early in the morning. By the time the Texans took the field, the rain had subsided, but the surface was dirty. The weather didn’t scare fans at all, as the line to get into Saturday’s practice stretched from the entrance, across the street and several hundred yards to Murworth. The stands were packed, and the “standing room only” area at the back of the north end zone was also packed. The NFL Network was in town, with Steve Wyche and former Texans offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton doing the honors. As for the practice itself, the defense won the day, and the offense’s problems had more to do with the conventional difficulty of executing plays than the careless mistakes before the snap that plagued them Friday.

CJ Stroud (little scare)
In the first half of 11-on-11 team drills, defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi broke through the interior of the offensive line and put pressure on C.J. Stroud. In the process, Fatukasi stepped on Stroud’s foot, causing the sophomore quarterback to jump in pain and then limp for a few minutes. Stroud stayed in the session and participated in the next three team drills, so everything seemed fine (DeMeco Ryans confirmed as much after practice ended), but it was a stark reminder of how one misstep can derail a season. We’ll see if Stroud is back on the field Monday. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t practice, but if he doesn’t, the speculation about the severity of the injuries will begin.

Other notes and observations

*RB Joe Mixon was back at practice, but he was working on an outfield. Same goes for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Linebacker Christian Harris also didn’t participate, as he, like Tunsil, hasn’t practiced this camp yet. FB Andrew Beck also remains sidelined. Will Anderson, Jr. didn’t practice, but it’s likely a scheduled day off for him.

* The one-on-one drills between the defensive backs and receivers lived up to what was advertised throughout this camp. In one-on-ones, Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins and Tank Dell were nearly impossible to defend. Even John Metchie got a few reps today that made an impact on the opponent. Diggs, in particular, started the drills with a phenomenal catch in the back corner of the end zone on a one-play play by Stroud, and then Diggs made a one-handed catch right in front of the fans. He played to the crowd, as was appropriate and expected.

* Derek Stingley, Jr. continues to shine in camp and perfectly read a Stroud interception that likely would have been a sixth-choice interception in a real game.

* Speaking of Stingley, TE Dalton Schultz confirmed in his post-practice media session that there was no lingering conflict between him and Stingley after the latter took a low blow to Schultz during the offense-defense skirmish at practice on Wednesday.

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