Texans Links: Thursday Roundup

Nov 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak (right) and tight end Jake Byrne (89) before the game against the Oakland Raiders at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Texans made Wednesday a little more interesting for the fans as key players didn’t practice on the day, including J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins to name just a couple.

For the Texans, the game Sunday vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars will go a long way in the 2014 NFL Draft for a number of reasons. One, if the Jaguars were to win the game they would move ahead of the Texans in the standings, putting the both at 2-9.

Even though there are still more than enough games left to change the current draft order, the loser of the game will probably be in first place for the No. 1 overall pick with five weeks remaining in the schedule. They are both currently in the Top 3.

Either way, this Sunday’s game will be interesting to say the least, that’s for sure.

Over at the official Houston Texans site, Drew Daugherty wrote about how Case Keenum is aiming for more pocket.

In the article, “The ‘Gunslinger’ Case Keenum aiming more for pocket,” Daugherty wrote:

"“Keenum’s clearly had some ‘wow’ moments. But those moments have all happened in losses by the Texans, and the second-year signal caller is trying to work on a few things, like staying in the pocket longer when defenses dial up a blitz.”"

Also on the Texans official site, Deepi Sidhu, in an article titled: “Ryan Griffin ‘ready to go’ vs. Jacksonville,” wrote:

"“Griffin returned to practice on Wednesday and is expected to play in Sunday’s game against Jacksonville. The rookie tight end cleared the league’s five-stage concussion protocol on Monday …”"

That is good news for the Texans’ offense, because any helped they can get for Keenum will benefit the young quarterback. Now if head coach Gary Kubiak will just let Keenum play the entire game, that will help out as well. We don’t need to see anymore from Matt Schaub.

Ed Reed was back in the news saying Wade Phillips was the reason he was cut. In an “Eye on Football” article on CBS Sports, Ryan Wilson quoted Reed as saying:

"“(Wade Phillips is) probably the reason I’m not there. That defense is not a good fit for a lot of people, not just me. The truth is the truth.”"

Schedule