Houston Texans Daily Roundup: Preseason schedule completed

The preseason is complete for the Houston Texans, and now it is time to look forward to the regular season and how the franchise finalizes their 53-man roster this weekend.

Now the fun really begins for the Houston Texans, the rest of the league and fans from all over the NFL as the preseason is complete and the regular season is next on the schedule, as the Houston Texans will face the New England Patriots next Sunday.

Before the regular-season opener, there is the process of getting the 53-man roster set for the Texans, and after defeating the Dallas Cowboys, 14-6 in the preseason finale on Thursday night, that process now is even more important than ever.

One player who has had a slow preseason is wide receiver Keke Coutee, who did not play in the preseason finale against the Cowboys and has been battling injuries this preseason. From the way it sounds, the Texans want him to stay around, especially since he’s a fourth-round pick.

Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle wrote about the Coutee situation, quoting head coach Bill O’Brien following the game on Thursday:

"“Keke is doing fine,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “We’re trying to progress him at a rate we think is good for him.”"

With Coutee battling injuries this preseason, once he becomes healthy it will be fun to see what he can produce at the NFL level compared to how he played at the collegiate level. While at Texas Tech, in three seasons Coutee had 159 receptions for 2,424 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 15.2 yards per reception.

• Jordan Godwin of the Associated Press wrote about the “sloppy play” of the Houston backup quarterbacks against the Cowboys in the fourth preseason game. The battle to be the top backup quarterback has been between Brandon Weeden and Joe Webb. Godwin quoted O’Brien on Thursday:

"“We didn’t do much offensively. I wouldn’t say it was a stellar offensive night. I thought the effort was good, but it just wasn’t great, offensively, all night.”"

How comfortable does one feel with Weeden or Webb as the next man up on the quarterback list? If something were to happen to Deshaun Watson like what happened last season where he missed half the season, having Weeden or Webb under center could be tough on the offense yet again.

• Here is something fun to read, with Nick Natario of ABC13.com writing about the person — Andrew Johnson — behind the Texans mascot, Toro. Natario wrote the following, quoting Johnson:

"“Every game day, I walk into the stadium and nobody knows who I am,” the performer said. “But, by the time I finally put that costume on, everybody wants a picture. Everybody is excited whenever you enter a room.”"

The article is fun, and the message from Johnson seems to be “follow your dream,” because he worked his way up the mascot ranks from high school, college and now the pros. It is always interesting to see who the folks are behind the mascots as they also have interesting stories like the players on the field.

• Tweet of the Day

It is always good to start the day off with a tweet of an interception, and for the Texans, this ended up being an important play for not only Justin Reid, but also in the win for the Texans over the Cowboys.