Good morning Texans fans, I hope you all have had a great weekend to this point. Let’s jump right in and get to this morning’s ‘Huddle.’ Today there are stories centered around the fight between Houston and Washington, as well as John Harris’ daily camp observations.
16 Observations: Day 3 Texans vs. Washington – by John Harris of HoustonTexans.com
"With no radio on Saturday to keep me from watching practice, I was jacked up beyond belief to see the Texans tangle with the Redskins. Little did I, or many others, realize that they would literally tangle four separate times. The practice fights heard around the globe, or so it seemed, ended the joint practice sessions between the two teams and put them on separate fields for the rest of the rainy Saturday workout. The fights may have muddied up the Saturday practice, but I still walked away with a few observations from today’s slugfest, errr, practice.I’ll get to the four different skirmishes as I saw a couple of them up close and personal, but before that it was clear that these two teams had seen enough of one another. All of this had been building since early on day one.The first drill of the day was one-on-ones with four different quarterbacks throwing on the four different ends of the field. I watched Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer throw to their receivers against the Washington defensive backs.1. WR EZ Nwachukwu had, more than likely, the best period of his three days up in Richmond. The first rep I saw of his, he shook a Redskin DB and headed to the back pylon in the end zone. Mallett dropped a gem at the back corner of the scoring area, right in front of me and Nwchukwu held on to the wet pigskin. I was feet away from him when it happened and he was stoked that he made the catch.2. The Redskins DBs were extremely physical during that drill and won a number of different reps against the Texans WRs. They didn’t stop all of the Texans’ receivers, though. One receiver that has flown under the radar and continues to have solid workouts is Keshawn Martin. He made a Redskins DB miss badly on him in the back of end zone on a TD catch in one-on-ones. He also had a couple of catches in team drills later in the workout.3. The one receiver that has been like Circle K, always open 24/7, is Nate Washington. The former Steeler/Titan has fit right in with this Houston squad and is definitely a security blanket for the quarterbacks. He let one slip through his hands on 1-on-1s but he must have made six or seven catches during drills the rest of the day, all at different spots/levels on the field."
Redskins, Texans brawl at joint practice – by John Keim of ESPN
"The Washington Redskins and Houston Texans ended their three-day practice Saturday with a major brawl, having to be separated on multiple occasions and forcing an early end to their joint work.There were minor skirmishes on the two fields, but both sides quickly escalated to a major one within several plays an hour into practice.Players sprinted in from the sidelines, punches were thrown, bodies were tossed to the ground and players on each team congratulated themselves for sticking together. After the last round of fights, the coaches pulled their respective teams together and, after a quick talk, the Redskins and Texans practiced on separate fields.The Redskins players blamed Houston for starting the fight.“They came out here trying to be tough guys today, but it didn’t work,” Redskins defensive lineman Chris Baker said.The Texans, meanwhile, said they weren’t going to back down.“Definitely don’t want to have a soft football team and I definitely don’t think we have that,” Texans linebacker Brian Cushing said."
Houston wide receiver Cecil Shorts III says Texans ‘expected’ Saturday’s brawl with Redskins – by Aaron Dodson of The Washington Post
"Houston Texans wide receiver Cecil Shorts III saw it coming, maybe more so than any of his other teammates.During Saturday’s joint practice between the Texans and Washington Redskins, three separate fights erupted, ultimately escalating into a sideline-clearing, all-out brawl.“We expected that was going to happen today … ” Shorts III said. “That’s how it goes sometimes when you go against a team in practice.”When asked to clarify what he meant, Shorts III responded without hesitation.“We kind of figured something was going to happen,” he said. “This is what we prepared for. We did a good job, stayed together, nobody got hurt. It’s over with. Let’s move on.”"
After groin surgery, Arian Foster looking at 2-3 months to return to form – by Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle
"After successful surgery Friday morning, there is growing optimism that Arian Foster may only miss four to six weeks of playing time instead of two to three months as previously estimated, according to sources with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly.Dr. William Meyers conducted the procedure for the Pro-Bowl runner.Foster is a candidate to be placed on injured reserve-designated to return prior to the start of the regular season, which would entail him not returning to practice until the sixth week of the regular season and not allowed to play in games until after the eighth week of the season.Meyers is the same doctor who performed Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney’s sports hernia surgery and has done thousands of these procedures, including on several professional athletes."