The Houston Hook: Texans defense will face No. 1 pick in season opener

The Houston Hook is a daily look at what’s happening with the Houston Texans and the AFC South.

The Houston Texans know now they will be facing Trevor Lawrence in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars, so it will be a rookie making his first-ever start squaring off against the Tampa 2 defense with veteran defensive coordinator and NFL head coach Lovie Smith calling the shots.

The Texans defense has a chance to give Lawrence a “Welcome to the NFL ” moment, but they also could become the answer to a trivia question in who did Lawrence earn his first career NFL win against if the Jaguars are the winners of the game on Sept. 12.

When in the Tampa 2 defense this preseason, the Texans have looked faster and have looked more like a full unit when facing the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. Granted, they didn’t play Aaron Rodgers or Dak Prescott in either of those preseason wins, but any positive is to be celebrated after having a 4-12 season in 2020.

Though Lawrence is a rookie, he might not be a normal rookie because the Jaguars made him a No. 1 overall pick for a reason. In a draft profile by Lance Zierlein at NFL.com, with the NFL draft expert writing the following about Lawrence before the draft:

"“Refined and polished for his age, Lawrence is the ultimate prototype for today’s brand of franchise quarterback. He has great size. He also possesses elite pocket-passing qualities paired with dual-threat athleticism …”"

The hope for when the Texans face Lawrence is the Tampa 2 defense called by Smith in the season opener drives the rookie quarterback and his head coach Urban Meyer up a wall, because the Texans can’t take Lawrence lightly, whether it is his first game or not.

Houston Texans: Here is a look at the rest of the AFC South

TENNESSEE TITANS: It seems the Tennessee Titans are having some issues with COVID-19 as Titan Sized wrote about the topic in a recent article with another player being named to the list. In the article by Geoffrey Knox, it said Harold Landry has been added to the COVID-19 list.

This seems to be a big deal for the Titans, as Landry is a starter and he is the fifth Titans player to be added. Everyone should keep an eye on this situation with the Titans, especially considering how things are going to be handled during the regular season.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: At Horseshoe Heroes, there was an article by Thomas Carannante discussing the health of the offensive line. This isn’t the type of situation the Colts want to be in so close to the start of the regular season, but the o-line isn’t the healthiest, and that isn’t the best news for starting quarterback Carson Wentz.

Colts fans, and even Texans fans, need to keep tabs on exactly what is going on with the offensive line situation because the Colts could be in trouble if the o-line can’t stay healthy, especially at the start of the season.