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Tag: Derek Stingley

  • Three Big Reasons the Early Bye Week Helps the Houston Texans – Houston Press

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    During the course of an 18 game National Football League regular season, nobody is going to complain about or give up an opportunity for a week of rest. Players, coaches, hell even media members need some time to chill. Of course, my wife and I choose to “chill” during the Texans’ bye week each year by visiting other NFL stadiums, but that’s our own illness. Not your problem.

    That said, one of the more over-analyzed aspects of the NFL calendar is WHEN the bye week takes place. If it’s in the first six weeks, you can argue that it’s too early. Teams don’t need rest yet. Certainly, the Texans;’ bye week last season, all the way in Week 14 in early December, felt way too late.

    This week it fell in Week 6, this past Sunday, in that “possibly too early” patch of schedule real estate. However, I have a few arguments as to why the Week 6 bye week came at just the right time for the Texans. Here we go: 

    The offense can use the classroom and prep time 

    Certainly, the Texans’ offense went into the bye week playing some of their best football in two calendar years, having scored 20 points in the fourth quarter against the Titans in Week 4, and then scoring on their first eight possessions against the Ravens in Week 5. C.J. Stroud was the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Baltimore. The bye week might feel like a momentum killer, but with four really good defenses waiting for the Texans after the bye week— Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and Jacksonville — the break is an ideal time for OC Nick Caley to do a deep dive on what exactly the Texans do well, and where they need to focus in practice this week. There is still a ton of room for improvement, and the extra self-scouting time is perfectly placed given the massive step up in weight class starting Week 7. 

    Returning players get a free week to keep practicing 

    Right now, the Texans have two players who have been designated for return from the injured lists, defensive end Denico Autry and safety Jaylen Reed. They are both over a week into their three week practice window, where they could return any time over the next 10 days or so. The fact that both of them (along with several other players who could return from injured lists) get to heal while there is a week off, means less missed game time on the back end, when they return. Let Autry, Reed, and others heal while there is no opponent against whom they’d normally missing time. 

    Let Derek Stingley heal

    Then there are the players who are actually active, playing on Sundays, but doing so while dealing with some sort of injury, some sort of hindrance in their play. The biggest name fitting this category is All Pro cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr., who banged up a hip in Week 1, played through it, then suffered an oblique injury in Week 3 that’s kept him out of practice. With games against big time wide receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Courtland Sutton, and Brian Thomas, Jr. coming up, Stingley needs to be as close to 100 percent as possible. 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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    Sean Pendergast

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  • Six Houston Texans Land in NFL Top 100 Players

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    For the Houston Texans, the 2025 NFL season will begin on Sunday, September 7 in Los Angeles against the Rams. Around the league, most experts are fairly certain of a few things regarding the Texans — they should be clear favorites to win the AFC South, the offensive line can’t be worse than it was in 2024, and DeMeco Ryans is one of the bright, young coaching stars.

    Where the Texans fit into the fabric of Super Bowl contenders, though, is very much up for debate. On most odds boards, they sit somewhere between 10th and 15th to win the whole shebang. However, if upper level, core talent on the roster is a deciding factor, the Texans should perhaps be higher up the list.

    To wit, if we believe NFL players to be greater experts as to what constitutes “good at football” than non-players in the media, then the NFL’s Top 100 Players ranking, which is determined by votes of around 1,000 players, is great news for the Texans.

    As it turns out, according to this year’s poll, the Texans have six of the top 58 players in football, with Derek Stingley, Jr. being the sixth and final Houston Texan revealed this week at number 18. If I’m correct on forecasting who the remaining players are on the countdown to be unveiled between now and next week, this means the Texans will end up with the second most players (6) in the top 58 spots, behind only the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (7).

    Let’s look at the six Texans in this ranking, and forecast whether they will each live up to their ranking this coming season:

    58. JOE MIXON, RB
    I was mildly surprised that Mixon showed up in the Top 100 at all, let alone as high as 58th. It’s not that Mixon wasn’t a key cog for the Texans last season, but I just never watched him and thought “Wow, there’s only 57 guys on earth better than Joe Mixon.” As for the upcoming season, Mixon’s early season injury is going to make it awfully tough for him to replicate his 2024 numbers, both due to rust and the sheer math of missing games. I’d predict a fall out of the Top 100 for Mixon next year.

    46. WILL ANDERSON, Jr., EDGE
    Anderson has made the Pro Bowl in both of his NFL seasons thus far, and if camp is any indication, Anderson is primed for a big leap this season. I think Anderson is a prime candidate for Defensive Player of the Year this season, and I think, if healthy, it’s a lock he ascends into the Top 25 players in football in next year’s rankings.

    39. C.J. STROUD, QB
    Stroud entered the rankings last year at a practically unprecedented 20th coming off his historic rookie season. Statistically, as well know, Stroud backslid in 2024. However, the fact that he only dropped to 39th overall shows me that his peers see Bobby Slowik and the 2024 offensive line as the culprits in that regression. That said, I have no idea which direction Stroud’s ranking goes this coming season. If he descends, it means that the line was probably still an issue, but if returns to the Top 20, the Texans might have gone to the Super Bowl.

    32. NICO COLLINS, WR
    Collins makes his flirrst appearance in these rankings at 32nd overall, and that’s having missed five full games and most of two others. Collins only played ten full games in 2024, and still finished with over 1,000 yards receiving. When he hurt himself in Week 5, he was on his way to the greatest receiving season in Texans history, which is saying something for a franchise who employed Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. I think Collins ranking is attached at the hip to Stroud’s, and could go either way a year from now.

    25. DANIELLE HUNTER, EDGE
    Hunter has been everything the Texans couple have asked for when they signed him in free agency before the 2024 season, having finished with a dozen sacks, and as you can see in the video above, numerous plays where the person he is tackling looks like they might not get up. Hunter has been fantastic. He is also getting older, but shows no signs of slowing down. I could see Hunter and Anderson flip flopping spots in next year’s ranking, with Hunter sliding into the 40’s and Anderson rising into the 20’s.

    18. DEREK STINGLEY, Jr.
    Stingley’s living up to his status as third overall pick in the 2022 draft has been, aside from Stroud’s establishing himself as a franchise QB, the most important development for this roster, and thus, the Texans’ return to relevance (and hopefully, this season, return to prominence). If healthy, Stingley might be establishing a permanent home among the top 20 players in the sport. He is that good.

    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.

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    Sean Pendergast

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  • Houston Texans 2024 Training Camp Report, Practice No. 8

    Houston Texans 2024 Training Camp Report, Practice No. 8

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    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.

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    Sean Pendergast

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  • Houston Texans 2024 Training Camp Report, Practice No. 6

    Houston Texans 2024 Training Camp Report, Practice No. 6

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    The sixth practice for the Houston Texans’ 2024 training camp took place on Wednesday morning, and it looked and felt a whole lot like the practice the day before. Like Tuesday, the Texans were in full pads, and the fans filled all the bleacher seats. Like Tuesday, there was some heavy rain prior to practice, but the rain held off once 9 a.m. rolled around, and the team practiced amidst very moderate temperatures.

    The offense had its moments, the defense had its moments, the highlights of which we will get to in a moment, but the big spectacle out at camp on Wednesday — our first skirmish of the preseason! Texan on Texan violence!  Let’s start there….

    Tempers boil over
    WIth a team that packs this much energy, with this many alpha males on a football field at the same time, it was bound to happen — on Wednesday, we got our first fight of the 2024 Texans training camp. It stemmed from a Stefon Diggs catch and run, where safety Jimmie Ward brought Diggs to the ground, which is a no-no in training camp. Some moderate hitting is okay, that’s why there are pads on, but going to the ground augments the chances of injury exponentially. So the offense and defense pushed and shoved in a 20-headed scrum for about a minute. Once the two sides separated, then CB Derek Stingley went back in and gave TE Dalton Schultz a cheap shot from behind. It was quite the spectacle, and if I had to guess, other than the chances that Schultz could have been hurt by Stingley’s negligence, DeMeco Ryans probably loved it! He enjoys appropriate chippy-ness!

    This is about as good as I can do for video of the skirmish, as the media is not allowed to film anything after the first 20 minutes or so of practice. So we all rely on fan video!

    Nick Caserio speaks on SportsRadio 610
    The Texans EVP and General Manager, who’s heading into his fourth season in that role, joined me and Seth Payne on SportsRadio 610. You can listen to the entire interview on our station’s website, but here are a few highlights, with thanks to Texans content aggregator Houston Stressans for the assist:

    Practice notes and observations

    * Out from practice for a third straight day was RB Joe Mixon. This is allowing for some quality work for Dameon Pierce and the other young running backs, but I’d like to see Mixon out there. Also, not practicing was John Metchie (second straight day), Christian Harris (yet to practice this camp), and Laremy Tunsil (yet to practice, but working out on the side).

    * The offense was a little inconsistent, but the good stuff was, man oh man, REALLY good. Nico Collins had a catch and run along the left sideline, where he shook a defender and likely would have gone for another 15 to 20 yards in a regular season game. Then, later in practice, C.J. Stroud threw an absolute drop in the bucket for about a 65 yard bomb for a touchdown to Collins. A reminder that Stroud is an elite arm talent.

    * The offense worked on quite a bit in the run game, and one of the standouts was rookie RB Jahwar Jordan, the sixth round pick out of Louisville. He had a nice run up the middle for a big gain, and a couple nice outside stretch runs. I wouldn’t mind seeing him mixed in higher up the depth chart for a few plays, especially with Mixon out.

    * The play of the practice was a Derek Stingley interception of a Stroud deep ball to Tank Dell, where Dell and Stingley both went up for the ball, and Stingley wrestled it away, but before Dell fought with him on the ground for the ball for literally 20 to 30 seconds. You could see Caserio wanting to get in and break things up before two of his best (and most oft injured players last season) injured each other.

    * Aside from those highlight plays, Will Anderson had a pass break up, Henry To’o To’o had a tackle for loss on a screen pass, Calen Bullock was showing up once again at safety, and Jeff Okudah kind of whacked veteran WR Robert Woods on a pass break up, a little too hard for a camp practice. In other words, it was lively out there on Wednesday.

    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.

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    Sean Pendergast

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