The Houston Texans held their first padded practice of training camp Friday at Houston Methodist Training Center at NRG Park.
Coach and general manager Bill O’Brien was pleased with the way the first padded practice transpired.
“It was good,” O’Brien said. “It was a start. We’ve got a good bunch of guys. We’ve got a good football team. Any time you put pads on or the first time, it’s always an adjustment cause these guys haven’t been in pads since January.”
The Texans’ rookie class earned favorable reviews from O’Brien, including second-round defensive tackle Ross Blacklock and third-round outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard.
“I mean, Blacklock looks like he’s picking it up,” O’Brien said. “Greenard had a couple of good plays today. [Cornerback] John Reid’s a smart guy. But some of them — the speed of the game, it’s how fast it moves, plus all of the assignments you have to know, how important special teams is. Some of them are working hard, but they’re a little bit behind.”
However, it isn’t just the rookies who are behind. The veterans, who have not been in pads since the Texans’ 51-31 playoff loss at the Kansas City Chiefs, similarly have to get up to speed.
Said O’Brien: “They have to learn, even a veteran player has to learn, ‘how do I learn to play in shoulder pads?’ Sometimes we end up on the ground a little bit too much, I didn’t see too much of that today. It was good.”
If the Texans can continue to build on the momentum from their first padded practice, it should help them start strong out of the gate against a challenging three-game slate to start the year that includes facing the last two NFL MVPs in back-to-back seasons.
