Once again I wish all of our great readers a wonderful morning. May I suggest we all start our day out the right way? A nice breakfast, maybe a hot cup of coffee…and of course, some news links to catch you up on all things Houston Texans. Enjoy;
10 questions with Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien – by D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Here’s what Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien had to say on the conference call with the Atlanta media on Wednesday:Q: Are things starting to come together for the Texans?A: I’d say, over the first three weeks, there have been some ups and downs. I think that in the last game we started to improve in some of the areas that we really needed to improve on like running the football, playing better run defense and taking advantage of some takeaways. We had one takeaway in the game. But there is still a lot of improvement to be made. I think that in my experience in this league, you really have to start identifying who you are pretty quickly. Hopefully, we are starting to identify who we are.Q: How is Ryan Mallett’s development coming along?A: He’s getting better every day. He played better against Tampa Bay than he did against Carolina. He made better decisions. He managed the game better. He made some better throws. He said it after the game, the more he plays the better he gets. Hopefully, we’ll see that.Q: How’s Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown? Where’s he at with his thumb injury?A: He’s good. He’s very close to being able to play on Sunday.Q: Do you have an update on running back Arian Foster?A: He’s in the day-to-day category. I think that will be more of a game time decision."
Texans o-line getting back to “full-strength” – by Deepi Sidhu, HoustonTexans.com
"The Texans offensive line is getting back to full-strength as Duane Brown and Brandon Brooks both practiced on Wednesday.For Brown, it was his first day back after missing the past two weeks with a thumb injury. For Brooks, it was a positive after suffering an ankle injury on Sunday. Brooks left in the second quarter of the Texans’ 19-9 win against Tampa Bay in the second quarter and did not return.After practice, head coach Bill O’Brien was hopeful that the Texans offensive line would see the return of its regular starters for Sunday’s game against the Falcons.“I think we’ll be back more towards full-strength,” O’Brien said."
Texans kicker Nick Novak loves the new extra point – by Tania Ganguli, ESPN
"The Houston Texans made a change at place-kicker in part because of former kicker Randy Bullock’s performance on extra points — he was the only kicker in the NFL to have missed more than one extra point this season.Overall there have been significantly more missed extra points this year than in the past. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the 14 extra points missed so far this season are already six more than were missed all of last season. It’s also the most missed extra points since 2009, when there were 20 missed extra points all season. Again, this is only Week 4.It’s not exactly a kicker’s dream. Or is it?“I love it,” said Nick Novak, the Texans’ new kicker, who replaced Bullock. “It’s more opportunity for us to get out there. It’s pretty much a field goal. That’s the mindset I have of it. I approach every kick as if it’s the same. For me it’s a field goal, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a 20-yard field goal or 33. It’s the same thing.”"
Houston Texans sign linebacker Brian Peters off Vikings practice squad – by Chris Tomasson Pioneer Press
"The Houston Texans on Wednesday signed linebacker Brian Peters off the Vikings’ practice squad.Peters, who played at Northwestern and for two years in the Canadian Football League, was waived by the Vikings on Sept. 5. However, he was signed to the practice squad the next day, where he remained for the first three weeks of the season.It was a bit of a surprise Peters didn’t make Minnesota’s 53-man roster to start the season. He was strong in exhibition play, including getting a team-high two interceptions.“That’s my first priority on this team is to showcase my ability on special teams and help us be successful on special teams,” Peters told the Houston Chronicle. “On defense, I’ll play wherever they put me. I’m just going to find the ball, that’s my goal. I fit into all the schemes. It’s very similar to what I’ve ran in Minnesota.”"
9 questions Houston Texans star J.J. Watt – by D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Here’s what Houston Texas star J.J. Watt had to say on the conference call with the Atlanta media on Wednesday:Q: How’s the defense coming together this season?A: We’re doing well. Obviously, it’s good to get the first win under our belts. We are looking forward to going on the road here against a very good team in the Falcons and putting out best foot forward. We are looking forward to the challenge of facing a very good football team on Sunday.Q: What have you seen from Jake Matthews this year?A: He’s a good football player. He’s been a good football player. I don’t think that’s necessarily just this year. It’s always difficult to make that transition into the league. I think he’s handled it well. He’s very athletic. He’s a guy who had a great pedigree. He’s stands on his own. He makes some great blocks. I think that he’s worthy of the praise that he’s been given.Q: How’s the defense coming along now that Clowney seems to be helping?A: Our defense is coming along. As the weeks go on, we keep getting better and better as we come together. Every week we’ve taken a step forward and hopefully this week we take another step.Q: What are the challenges presented by the Falcons offense?A: They are a very good football team. They had great success running the ball last week. Matt Ryan and Julio Jones is a great combination. Julio is making some incredible plays. He’s a great player. Matt is a very smart quarterback. He’s great with the ball. We just need to go out and play a well-balanced game. We need to play our style of football. We need to go out there and do what we do best and execute our assignments. We look forward to the great challenge."