Much of the Houston Texans’ 2019 offseason was spent rejuvenating their tired secondary which had fallen somewhat flat the last few years. And while there are still question marks surrounding whether or not they have truly found the answers at cornerback, one position of confidence for the franchise is safety.
Entering this year, the Texans look to have a starting duo of second-year standout Justin Reid alongside veteran tight end blocking expert Tashaun Gipson. And so far, Houston’s coaching staff has been happy with their progress together.
“Gip’s (Gipson) been good,” said Bill O’Brien to the media on Thursday.
“Gip’s a good pro, practices hard, he’s come in and learned our system, done a really good job of that. Him and Justin, they talk a lot, good communication.”
Naturally, communication in any team sport is key and football is no different. If this new-look secondary is to succeed in 2019 they must build chemistry quickly.
“I think the chemistry in the secondary is getting better and better,” said O’Brien. “There’s some new guys back there with Gip and Bradley Roby and things like that. So, I think it’s getting better and better.”
Cornerback Bradley Roby was signed on a one-year $10 million deal which is meant to act as a motivating factor for the former Denver Bronco to prove his worth before being offered a long term deal. Meanwhile, fellow veteran cornerback Briean Boddy-Calhoun was also signed on a one-year deal, while rookies Lonnie Johnson and Xavier Crawford were brought in to further freshen up their secondary,
Throw in second-year corner Jermaine Kelly coming off of a rookie year during which he was injured from the get-go, and add in the likes of safeties A.J. Moore and Jahleel Addae and this unit will have to work very hard to build a bond in time for Week 1.
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