Day Five: Just trying to be a better teammate, man
Dec 22, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back Arian Foster (23) walks on the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
“Just trying to be a better teammate, man.” – Arian Foster when asked… well anything. That sums up the new Texans nicely. No, not “Be a better teammate”. That’s a nice platitude, a good answer to any reporters questions. What it does show, is focus. Focus by the players buying into the system being put into place. Of course, the copious amount of repetition by Foster is either a protest against the system or one of the funniest trolling shticks by a player in a while. Gonna have to go with trolling here. The local San Antonio sports guys were having a field day with it on the radio.
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Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games yesterday. Coach Bill O’Brien commented on the number of turn overs the defense has been getting. Now we discussed yesterday the D having a really good day 4. Well that seems to be continuing. However O’Brien made a comment that I think should worry us all. When asked about the defense backs getting excited about a play, his answer? “Look we forced the ball there and we can’t do that.” Forced the ball. I believe that particular pass was from Fitzpatrick. One of his biggest knocks on other teams was trying to force plays that were not there. That isn’t something we want to see. The “Fitzmagic/Fitztragic” moniker has a basis in reality and not just from overly witty but jaded fans. Last season playing for the Titans, Fitz was 14 TD to 12 INT. That’s a theme that has followed him every team. Four years with the Bills? 40 touchdowns, and 64 interceptions.
That takes away some of the dazzle of the defenses takeaways. Sure, you have to accept it’s just training camp, new system yada yada yada, let’s be honest here Fitzpatrick has a record. After last season, the fans aren’t going to tolerate a lot of forced interceptions before the boo birds start squawking. Now is the time to be jaded. It’s training camp, and the pics are raining. That needs to be fixed, and fixed fast. A 4-12 season will not go over well for anyone involved.
Just trying to be a better teammate, man.
Fortunately, it is just day five of the training camp, the Texans have the day off to regroup, rest and relax. We fans and writers can shake off the doubts, and focus on next week. Folks, we’re what? Ten days out from preseason action? I’m ready, ready to see the defense scheme, the offensive alignment, the changes. Sure it’s preseason and the good stuff will be saved for the Redskins on, but our first look at the revamped Texans can’t come soon enough!
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*Quotes provided courtesy of the Houston Texans PR Department.