The Houston Texans are one of a few teams with a legitimate chance to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy heading into the 2019 season. Led by J.J. Watt, the Texans have one of the top defensive teams in the league, and an explosive quarterback in Deshaun Watson who came make something out of nothing.
Despite Houston’s many weapons, what pushes the Texans over the top is the play coming from their wide receivers.
They arguably have the league’s best wideout in DeAndre Hopkins, and two of the most promising young receivers, Kee Coutee and Will Fuller. When on the field together, Houston has the opportunity to possess the NFL’s most dangerous offense, but injuries may keep the Texans from reaching their full potential for the second straight season.
During the preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, Coutee left the game midway through the second quarter after he sustained an ankle injury in the 28-26 loss Thursday night. Although the injury does not appear to be serious, wide receiver coach, John Perry cannot help but show compassion towards the second-year receiver.
“You feel for him because he works so hard,” coach Perry said following day 13 of Texans training camp on Monday. “He worked so hard in the spring and did some really good things. Really had a nice complement with Deshaun all spring long, so you feel bad for him in that sense.”
While there is still no timetable on his return, coach Perry says Coutee is still working hard despite missing time due to an injury.
“I know he’s working hard in the training room, and as far as when he’ll be back, with our room and the guys we have in there,” he said. “It’s just a matter of working with the guys that are there. Keke is there every day in meetings and everything, so as we move forward, he’s a big part of it. But everybody has picked up the slack.”
Coutee is not the only receiver the Texans are hoping return to full strength prior to the start of the year. After missing half of last season due to a torn ACL injury, coach Perry is excited for what Will Fuller has in store for the team in 2019.
“Will’s a big part of what we’re doing, so he’s the guy who can really take the top off the defense and everything like that,” Perry said. “Even sometimes when the defense is playing deep or something like that, he’s the guy who can — it seems like a salmon swimming upstream, but he somehow finds a way and still gets behind the defense.
We’re excited to have him back there and he’s doing what he can to keep it going, so we’re excited about it.”
