HOUSTON – Hi everyone, this is KPRC 2 Sports Director Randy McIlvoy checking in with this week’s Texans newsletter.
OTAs ARE UNDERWAY
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The Texans offseason program is off and running and the team has transitioned from Rookie Camp to the start of organized team activities, or OTAs. The OTAs began earlier this week and will run for a few weeks at NRG Park.
Basically OTA’s consist of team meetings, position meetings and weight room work along with time on the field for short workouts. The number of workouts and time allotted are determined by the NFL and the NFLPA.
On Tuesday the media was invited out for practice where we got to capture video for about 20 minutes along with pictures for social media. The public relations folks also allowed us to remain out there to watch the full practice.
What’s at practice you ask? Not a lot to be honest. These guys are in shorts and shirt and helmets doing a lot of stretching and quick drills. Don’t read much into it at all but there were technically some first, second and third team reps going on. Remember, though, we are only in May. It doesn’t matter. QB drills had Mills with first team, Stroud second team and Keenum third team.
I repeat. None of that matters right now. It will be a story late in camp and preseason when we will all want to see who’s got the first team reps before and leading up to the opener at Baltimore.
My guess at this point, still 100 days away, is that Mills will start Week 1. The Texans brass wants to make sure Stroud is ready. When that happens, then No. 7 will be the guy.
STROUD TOP QUOTES FROM TUESDAY
QB C.J. Stroud
Practices feel natural out there?
“First and foremost, want to give all glory and praise to my Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. It’s been an amazing couple of weeks for me. Very grateful for the opportunity that I have. First couple of days have been good OTAs. Trying to get better every day, push myself, and learn from the older guys, get all the feedback I can, be on the film, be here early, all the little things to push myself to be great.”
On advice from Tom Brady and Travis Scott?
“Things on and off the field. It was amazing. Thank you to Michael Ruben for making that happen. It was just honestly a blessing to have two people who took out time of their day to come and give us wisdom, because there’s two people who have done it at the top level in their industries. Learn things on the field, off the field, how to conduct yourself, how it’s supposed to look in the locker room, the weight room, off the field, business, everything that you can think of, we talked about. It was a blessing.”
What’s it like working with Case and Davis Mills?
“It’s a blessing. It’s being something that I definitely knew that I needed it. Just that guidance and confidence that they’ve had. They both played in the league as starters. They’ve been very helpful and have been very appreciative and very supportive of everything. We have constant communication on and off the field, so it’s been really great.”
C.J., one of the highlights that we got to see was Tank. What’s he shown early, and how is your relationship kind of developing with him?
“Yeah, it’s been going great. We’ve been hanging out in the hotel, just going over scripts, getting the plays down together. It was great to be not only by myself, but with a great rookie class. Not only just football players, but human beings. Tank has done a great job, very vocal, wants to be better, wants to know what we like so he can run a route a certain way, wants to get right with the coaches. He’s just very, very in tune with what we want, and he wants to just be great. So it’s amazing to be with him. He’s very like-minded.”
I’m sure you’ve heard from a lot of people and got a lot of tips in the time that you’ve been drafted. Are you able to share any of the best things that people have told you as you prepare for your NFL career?
“Yeah, the one thing that kind of sticks out for me is keep the main thing the main thing. If you take care of football, then everything will take care of itself. Right now, just trying to focus on ball. I’m trying to do my best to have people figure out other things for me and trust people on my team and things like that. For right now, it’s really for me football. I’m here all day every day and trying to get better. That’s probably the best advice I’ve gotten so far is just keep the main thing the main thing.”
You’ve worked to get to this point; your whole life you’ve wanted to be in the NFL. I know you went to rookie mini camp last week. What did it mean to you when you walked on the field for the first time in your Texans jersey and you’re an NFL player?
“It’s a dream come true. For me, for me it’s just a stepping stool. Of course, it’s a dream come true, and of course I’ve been working for it my whole life, but I feel like I’m built for this. I’m made not just to play football, but to use football to help inspire people and lead people to God. That’s what I plan to do. God gave me the talent in order to do such, and that’s what I’m here to do. It’s just a stepping stone. I have a lot more goals and a lot more plans to accomplish what I want to accomplish on and off the field, and I’m excited to do that with this great organization.”
What’s your relationship been like so far with DeMeco and then feeding off the energy he’s bringing?
“He’s a young coach who knows how it is to play in this league and play for the Texans. He knows a lot about the city of Houston, and he knows what comes with playing here. He’s just been great, very vocal. He’s really funny too. It’s cool to have a coach who’s not all stuck up all the time or like super mad. He’s been amazing, though. Very transparent. Communication has been great. He’s going to be a great head coach.”