Managing injuries is an inevitable part of training camp for all 32 NFL teams. Teams either have players who are hurt heading into camp, as was the case with the Houston Texans with receiver DeAndre Hopkins and defensive end J.J. Watt, or they have players who get hurt during camp, as is the case with cornerback Lonnie Johnson.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien explained Sunday to the media at Methodist Training Center just how the organization approaches players with different ailments.
“Depends on where the player is in his career, I would say,” O’Brien said. “So, a veteran player, obviously you’re going to spend more time with them, talking to them about what their experience has been, where they’re at, how they feel.”
Who falls in that category are defensive end J.J. Watt, receiver DeAndre Hopkins, and left tackle Matt Kalil. Watt and Hopkins started camp off on the physically unable to perform list, but were able to pass their physicals on day one and and two respectively.
“If they’ve played a lot of years, let’s just call it five, six, seven,” O’Brien explained. “A guy that’s been around a long time, J.J. Watt, Kalil. You’re always in communication with the player.”
Who is part of the communication process is O’Brien, the player, and director of sports medicine Geoff Kaplan.
For rookies such as Johnson, they don’t get as much of a say as a veteran and have to follow what is recommended by the team.
Said O’Brien: “Relative to a younger player who really doesn’t know, you’re going to really kind of map that out a little bit more for him, and present it to him and then go from there.”
Training camp is all about attrition and managing availability and injuries. The Texans seem to have that aspect under control for now.
