Texans standout safety Jalen Pitre’s vision for season: blend ‘attacking, aggressive’ approach with increased patience

HOUSTON – Jalen Pitre shadowed every step, mirroring the footwork of private defensive backs coach Jacory Nichols, smacking his padded hands at the line of scrimmage.

The drill during a recent workout simulated how the Texans standout safety jams wide receivers and tight ends to prevent them from an uninterrupted path into their routes.

In a blur of movement, smoothly changing directions, Pitre swiveled his hips, retreated and redirected his charge to drive on and intercept the football. In another sequence, the former Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year took off toward the corner of the artificial turf to track down a deep pass with rare range and instincts.

It was all familiar territory for Pitre akin to how the Stafford graduate excelled throughout his rookie season last year. With fast reactions, intensity and intelligence, the second-round draft pick parlayed his skills into an immediate starting job and an impactful first NFL season.

The sweat equity that Pitre is putting in this summer, including a recent Cover One Elite camp in Hawaii with fellow Texans players Derek Stingley Jr., Jacobi Francis and Christian Harris, should pay dividends this fall.

When Pitre reflects on his mostly stellar rookie season, he likes most of what he immortalized on film. Although he led the hometown Texans with 147 tackles and five interceptions, Pitre focuses on the plays that got away and is honing his technique to avoid missing tackles this season through a more controlled style.

“Starting off with the good, I think it was just attacking the ball and being aggressive with my tackling approach,” Pitre said. “With that, I feel like I can also be more patient in my approach to some of my tackles and the angles that I’m taking. Overall, I feel like it was a good first season. A lot to learn from, but I’m ready to start training camp. It can’t come fast enough.”

For Pitre, working on his game is a constant pursuit. Much like the way he chases the football, Pitre is going after maximizing his talents.

Pitre was an instant difference-maker on the Texans’ defense.

A lot of what made Pitre different was how he read quarterbacks’ eyes and how much quicker he reacts to the football than most safeties. It’s about his knowledge of the game.

“It’s not even the movement part of it,” Nichols said. “That’s kind of, for the most part, God-given. What I’m kind of here to enhance is to understand it for the game and just understand the situations.

“Once he’s able to see that in the game, he’s like a missile. He’s got a fire. he’s not going to think about it. And that’s what really separates him from not just young safeties, but safeties in general in the league.”

Pitre recorded the most tackles among all NFL rookies and became the first player to record more than 125 tackles and intercept five passes since the tackle statistic began being tracked in 2000, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He played 93 percent of the Texans’ total defensive snaps, rarely leaving the field.

How Pitre performed was noticed around the league, including by Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, a fellow Houston native.

“When we played them, he was all over the place,” Waddle said. “Not enough people talk about him.”

When the comment from Waddle, one of the top wide receivers in the NFL, was relayed to Pitre, he smiled.

“It’s good to see that great players around the league recognize what I’m trying to do,” Pitre said. “I’m just trying to get like him. The plays that he makes on a week-in, week-out basis is huge for his team. I”m just trying to be similar to that. He’s a dog, man. He’s the real deal for sure.”

Pitre arguably got better toward the close of the season. After intercepting Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields twice in the third game of his rookie year, Pitre picked off Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson in the end zone and had a season-high 16 tackles. One week later, Pitre had a dozen tackles and two passes defensed in a narrow loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

“His range, he can cover, he can tackle and his play recognition, he’s big on film study,” Nichols said. “At the safety spot alone, that’s going to separate him and make him that All-Pro safety for many years. He’s elite, for sure.”

Pitre read quarterbacks’ eyes and intentions all season, crisply breaking on the football.

The way he tackled Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott to prevent a touchdown was textbook form.

“He’s very explosive,” Cowboys defensive back Israel Mukuamu said after working out with Pitre and Nichols. “I watched him a lot on film just because I watch a lot of football, but he’s definitely one of those safeties that’s going to be one of the ones we talk about in the next couple of years.”

Aggressive, fast and smart, Pitre manufactured one of the most productive seasons in NFL history.

Pitre intercepted his fifth pass of the season during a 31-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second-to-last game of the season and recorded 13 tackles. He intercepted Jaguars backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, breaking under the route run by wide receiver Zay Jones in the third quarter.

Pitre became the sixth player to have 135 tackles or more and five interceptions since 1991, joining Rashad Jones, Lavonte David, London Fletcher, Donnie Edwards, and Ray Lewis.

“I look back and I say it was a great year,” Pitre said. “I got a great number of turnovers and I think I was very impactful for the defense. Looking forward, I want to do a lot more and I want to be able to bring a lot more guys and help the team a lot more. That’s what I’m focused on going forward and I think we’re going to continue to improve.”

There are things Pitre knows he can improve. At times, he would play too fast or not break down into a fundamental tackling position or fail to wrap up, leading to missed tackles.

Overall, though, Pitre had an outstanding rookie year.

“Seeing Jalen Pitre, loved him coming out of Baylor,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Loved the blitzing, loved just the play speed of Pitre. Just to see him come out this past year, the way he attacked the ball, man. Jalen, we got to continue to do that. We’ve got to continue to take the ball away.”

If Pitre continues to excel, then individual accolades are likely in his future. That’s not his primary focus, though. He’s about team goals.

“I think about all of those things will come as long as I take care of what I need to take care of,” Pitre said. “As long as we’re winning everybody will get taken care of as far as those individual things.”

Having Ryans in place, playing for a coach who’s been in their shoes as a former Pro Bowl linebacker and defensive team captain with the Texans, is significant for Pitre.

The authenticity and energy resonates with him and other players.

“It’s been fun,” Pitre said. “He’s a real coach, a guy that really loves football. I feel like his energy is contagious. In a meeting room, on the field, you can see why he’s been successful on the field and also off the field. I’m excited to be able to play for him this year.”

And playing next to former San Francisco 49ers safety Jimmie Ward provides the defense with two physical hitters in the secondary.

“I think his aggressiveness, like whatever he’s doing, if we’re in shirts and shorts, it’s kind of hard for him to slow down,” Pitre said. “He’s a great player, a guy that loves playing a game of football. I’m glad that I can learn from somebody like that.”

As the Texans try to engineer a turnaround after going a combined 11-38-1 over the past three seasons, Pitre is encouraged by the outlook. After going 3-13-1 last season, the Texans have had a positive offseason.

“I feel like the mindset is shifting,” Pitre said. “You know, everybody’s hungry to do more and just to help out each other. When you got a team that is aggressive, smart and relentless, I feel like good things are going to come out of that.

“I just want to make the team better. That’s my overall goal. I just want to come in with the right mindset in order to improve from year one. I feel like I did some great things, year one, and I’m just trying to build off that.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.