It has been two years since the Texans held a joint practice during training camp with the Green Bay Packers.
After not holding joint practices last season due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Texans had an altogether different reason for not working out with another team this year.
It's because they've had such a significant roster overhaul with over 50 new players signed by general manager Nick Caserio.
“The reason is because we felt like we needed to find out what we are all about because we are so new and so it was more important for us to get those reps with us and us finding out exactly what we are," Texans coach David Culley said. "I've always enjoyed going against other teams, but I felt like in the situation we were in, it was best for us to be able to just practice against ourselves and we've gotten out of it what we wanted.”
Culley is still determining how he'll handle snaps during a preseason opener Saturday night against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
"We're still in training camp mode," Culley said. "Just about all the guys are going to play. Some will play more than others, but again, as we said from the word go, we are in a bunch of competitions right now at a bunch of positions. One of the best ways with the three preseason games is to let them play, and we are going to do that. There may be some guys that play a lot more than others, but for the most part, we are going to decide at the end of the week, depending on where guys are with injuries, where we put them in to play or not.”.
"As we went into training camp, we told all of our guys, competition is wide open. We have almost 50 new players on this football team, and the only way to find out is in game-type situations. We have some young guys that basically they have to feel what it's like to play in the game, and basically that's how we are going to approach it. But they will all, at some point, be able to be play during this preseason.”
Culley doesn't sound inclined to hold many players out to avoid potential injuries.
“I feel like the only way they are going to find out with the situation we're in is they have got to play," he said. "We are not really concerned about that right now. We are more concerned about evaluating, and the only way we can evaluate is to see them play.”
Aaron Wilson has covered the NFL for 20 years and has previously written for The Houston Chronicle and The Baltimore Sun. He’s on Twitter: @AaronWilson_NFL and Instagram: @aaronwilson7128