Texans morning huddle: Hey, did you know O’Brien coached in New England…
By Randy Gurzi
The Houston Texans are one day away from facing the New England Patriots, and all the news is about O’Brien’s connection to the Pats
The best part about this upcoming game being over will be a break from every reporter in the world thinking it’s breaking news that Bill O’Brien coached in New England. Here is the news you need to know…which includes the shocking revelation that O’Brien is playing his old team (who knew?);
O’Brien meets mentor Belichick when Texans host Patriots – by Kristie Rieken, AP Sports Writer
"When Houston coach Bill O’Brien left his job as offensive coordinator at Duke to join coach Bill Belichick’s staff as an offensive quality control coach for the New England Patriots in 2007, his wife wasn’t exactly thrilled at the move.More from Toro TimesHouston Texans: Can Sean Payton really be the next head coach?Houston Texans Draft: Michael Mayer should be a no doubter at pick 12Houston Texans already telling fans the Davis Mills era is overHouston Texans have hand forced, waste no time in firing Lovie SmithHouston Texans: Pros and Cons of keeping Head Coach Lovie SmithNor by the pay cut that came with it.“I was making a decent salary and didn’t quite make that same salary in New England, so she didn’t quite have the divorce papers written up just then. That came later for other reasons,” O’Brien joked. “My suitcase was not on the porch, but I don’t think she was real thrilled about the ol’ salary.”"
First Glance: Texans vs. Patriots – by Drew Dougherty, HoustonTexans.com
"1. 1 hand, no problem- J.J. Watt has a broken left hand, but he said he’ll play. The defensive end suffered the injury on Wednesday at practice, but he told the media on Thursday that he’ll be ready to go.“People are going to try to make a big deal out of this but I’ve played with worse than this before, even in this season,” Watt said. “This, I’m not very worried about it. My elbow a couple years back was way more painful.”"
Ex-Texans Damaris Johnson, Keshawn Martin Bonding Again With Patriots by Doug Kyed, NESN
"Damaris Johnson wasn’t interested in avoiding contact on his first touch with the New England Patriots. Johnson took a jet sweep handoff from Tom Brady in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss to his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and didn’t have room to turn upfield. Johnson could have cut to the sideline, but he needed that crack of the pads to truly know he was back in the NFL.“I was pretty comfortable,” Johnson said Thursday. “I was like, if I get the corner, I still wouldn’t have taken a hit in a while, so it was kind of a relief that they stopped me a little bit instead of running out of bounds. I wanted to get a little contact on me. It felt good. I just felt good to be out there.”"