Texans morning huddle: Foster back soon? Long snapper signed
By Randy Gurzi
Good morning Texans fans, I hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day and are ready to get back to the grind today. To help make your day a little better, the Texans morning huddle is here with stories like Clowney’s knowledge of the playbook as well as the thought that Foster could return very soon.
Texans’ O’Brien: Foster’s return could come ‘sooner rather than later’ – by Tania Ganguli of ESPN
"Arian Foster’s rehab is ahead of schedule and will be back “sooner rather than later,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said Monday.“Arian is doing well,” O’Brien said. “Relative to the injury that he has and the prognosis early on, I would say he’s ahead of that. But again, like I always say to people, I reserve the right to change my mind. That’s how it stands today.”Foster suffered a groin injury in the Texans’ first fully padded practice of training camp, which took place on Aug. 3. He had surgery Aug. 7 to repair the injury that involved a muscle being torn from the bone. Sports hernia specialist Dr. William Meyers performed the surgery in Philadelphia.Significant groin injuries can take three months of recovery time, but Foster’s surgery was successful and left reason for optimism.Foster has been rehabbing in Houston for several weeks.“I believe that he’s working hard to get back,” O’Brien said. “He’s a very hard-working guy in that training room. I think he’ll be back sooner rather than later relative to what the early prognosis was.”"
Bill O’Brien and Texans player quotes: September 7 – HoustonTexans.com
"Head Coach Bill O’Brien(on the roster cuts and if the defensive line will eventually need one more player) “I would say that anytime you have to release guys that’ve put a lot of work into it and given you everything they’ve had, you could go down the list of names that we released, every guy really put time into this thing. These things are tough, but the rule says you have to get down to 53 and a 10 man practice squad and that’s what we did. Every decision is made in the best interest of the team. Every position is evaluated on a week to week basis including the practice squad. It’s always evaluated. This’ll be probably the 53 that we go into the first week with here, but those things can change. But this is the best 53 that we feel like we have right now.”(on putting QB Tom Savage on IR) “That’s a tough decision. We felt like the length of the injury, he got driven into the turf pretty good so his shoulder, even though it didn’t require surgery, it’s his throwing shoulder. It was going to be a six week or longer injury, so based on first of all the player, what’s in the best interest of the player, that’s what we think about first and then what’s in the best interest of the team, that’s the decision we made.”(on if G Xavier Su’a-Filo is back this week) “He’s practicing. He was out there today.”(on how G Xavier Su’a-Filo looked) “You know like I always tell you, I’ve got to watch the practice tape but so far it looked like he was playing left guard and moving okay.”(on if he feels okay about T Duane Brown going into week one) “I do. I do.”(on if there will be any limitations with T Duane Brown) “Nope.”(on if T Duane Brown will play with a cast on his hand) “That’ll be something we have to determine as the week goes on.”(on what his mindset is right now and his expectations for the season) “The Chiefs. The Kansas City Chiefs.”(on saying ‘almost is not good enough’ on Hard Knocks) “The Kansas City Chiefs.”(on the three undrafted players who made the 53-man roster and what he liked about them) “Well, I’m not going to get into an evaluation of all three of them but I will say that they all improved at their own positions. They play tough football. They learned every day, they came to practice every day, they fought through things, and you know, at the end of the day like I said, at this point in time we feel like this is the best 53, but it’s constantly under evaluation but right now we felt like those guys were part of our 53.”"
Texans lock up long snapper Jon Weeks to four-year, $3.9 million extension – by Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle
"The Texans have signed veteran long snapper Jon Weeks to a four-year, $3.9 million contract extension through the 2019 season. The deal includes $330,000 guaranteed in the form of a $250,000 signing bonus and $80,000 guaranteed of his base salary for 2016.Weeks’ base salaries are $825,000 for 2016, $825,000 for 2016, $900,000 for 2017, $915,000 for 2018 and $930,000 for 2019. Entering his sixth season, Weeks is one of the most reliable long snappers in the NFL.The former Baylor player has never missed a game, playing in 80 consecutive career games since joining the team in 2010."
Jadeveon Clowney sharp in meetings, knows the Texans defense well – by Tania Ganguli of ESPN
"When linebackers coach Mike Vrabel peppers Jadeveon Clowney with questions about the Houston Texans defense, it doesn’t faze Clowney.“The guy knows the answers,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Our defense, it’s not always the easiest thing to pick that thing up, especially when you’re not practicing. Clearly, he has good football intelligence. The game will be fast, we understand that. He hasn’t played in a while. I think where he is Xs and Os-wise is in a good place.”Clowney will play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, but he won’t be in the full game. O’Brien hasn’t yet decided how many plays he’ll play, but acknowledged a need to be smart with the player who spent the offseason recovering from December microfracture surgery.Clowney had two surgeries on his right knee last year. He suffered a lateral meniscus tear in the 2014 season opener and had arthroscopic knee surgery the next day. Clowney attempted to return and play in three other games later that season, but the swelling and pain in his knee were too much. Articular cartilage damage necessitated the microfracture surgery.After eight months of rehabilitation, Clowney returned to the practice field Aug. 17 and has not had any setbacks since."