Houston Texans 2024 Training Camp Report, Practice No. 8

There’s always a point in every NFL training camp where the team has practiced several times, it’s been lively, but you can sense that everyone — players, coaches, media — are getting antsy for some work against another team. More specifically, we’re all ready for the Texans to take part in an actual game, even a preseason exhibition game like the Hall of Fame game.

Saturday’s practice at the Methodist Training Center is where I started to feel that. Don’t get me wrong, this training camp has been a blast to cover, perhaps the most fun training camp since I started covering the Texans in 2007. However, the matchups at practice, even the main event level matchups, get stale after several straight days.

AS of right now, there are two practices remaining, Monday and Tuesday, before the Texans head up to Canton, Ohio, to take on the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. So we’re getting very close to having real, actual game-level football! In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s practice, the eighth one for this camp:

Another wet and sloppy one
The conditions were once again very sloppy on Saturday, like they were on Friday, thanks to consistent downpours through the early portion of the morning. By the time the Texans took the field, the rain had subsided, but the surface was messy. The weather did not scare the fans away at all, as the line to get into Saturday’s practice wound from the entrance, across the street and several hundred yards down Murworth. The bleachers were packed, and the “standing room only” area in back of the north end zone was packed, as well. The NFL Network was in town, with Steve Wyche and former Texans OC Pep Hamilton doing the honors. As for the practice itself, the defense won the day, and the offense’s issues were more about conventional difficulty in executing plays than the careless pre-snap mistakes that plagued them on Friday.

C.J. Stroud (minor) scare
In the first portion of 11-on-11 team drills, defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi broke through the interior of the offensive line and pressured C.J. Stroud. In the process, Fatukasi stepped square on Stroud’s foot, causing the second year quarterback to hop up and down in pain, and then proceed to limp around for a few minutes. Stroud stayed in the session, and proceeded to participate in the three subsequent team sessions, so all appears to be okay (DeMeco Ryans confirmed as much after practice ended.), but it was a stark reminder how one misstep can derail a season. We will see if Stroud is back out there on Monday. I’d be surprised if he is not practicing, but if he doesn’t then the conjecture over injury severity will begin.

Other notes and observations

* RB Joe Mixon was back out at practice, but working out on a side field. Same for left tackle Laremy Tunsil.  LB Christian Harris was also a non-participant, as, like Tunsil, he has yet to practice this camp. FB Andrew Beck also remains sidelined. Will Anderson, Jr. didn’t practice, but that is likely a planned off day for him.

* The one-on one-drills between defensive backs and wide receivers have FULLY lived up to the hype during this camp. One on one, Stefon Diggs, Nico Collins, and Tank Dell have been virtually impossible to guard. Even John Metchie had some reps today that had a “WOW” level of cooking the opposition. Diggs, in particular, led off the drills with a phenomenal catch in the back corner of the end zone on an absolute dime from Stroud, and then Diggs later hauled in a one-handed catch right in front of the fans. He played to the crowd, appropriately and expectedly.

* Derek Stingley, Jr. continues to shine in camp, and had a perfectly read interception of Stroud that likely would have been a pick six in an actual game.

* Speaking of Stingley, TE Dalton Schultz confirmed in his media session after practice that there is no lingering beef between him and Stingley, after the latter delivered a cheap shot unto Schultz during the skirmish between the offense and defense at Wednesday’s practice.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.