The Houston Texans rested most of their starters in the Week 1 28-26 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Included in those that dressed but didn’t play were Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins, and Justin Reid.
After two days of joint training camp with the Lions, the Texans will host Detroit on Saturday for their preseason Week 2 bout. Head coach Bill O’Brien is unsure if his starters will play then.
O’Brien said Thursday at the podium, “I don’t know [if the starters will play], We have got to look at the reps they got here [vs. the Lions].”
The Texans’ training camp will wrap up soon, but players are seeing high snap counts against Detroit in training camp. Perhaps enough to warrant a rest on Saturday.
“They got like 40 reps yesterday, probably got another 40 today, so 80 reps in two days with a game 48 hours away,” O’Brien said. “We’ve got to look at the numbers of the GPS.”
The Texans won’t play meaningful football until Monday, September 9th, against the New Orleans Saints. Therefore, O’Brien and Co. are likely looking to preserve the starters’ health, among other things.
“We have to factor a lot of different things in,” says O’Brien. “Getting into a real game without the coaches standing behind you, that’s also part of it, those types of things.”
With a few days left until he decides who plays, O’Brien reaffirms that starters playing is “not been determined yet.” But considering their recent high workload, don’t expect to see all the Houston superstars in attendance on Saturday.
