White Sulphur Springs, WV - The Houston Texans arrived to The Greenbrier facility, ready to begin their 2017 season and determine which players will be on the final 53-man roster will be heading into week one.
The team arrived to The Greenbrier on Tuesday and had meetings late that night at the Performance Center across the road from the resort. The Texans moved their entire weight room to the the Performance Center and their meal tent is just outside the facility, where the team will be fed by the onsite staff. The center also has plenty of meetings rooms available for the team, located within a quick walk outside to the two practice fields that run parallel to each other.
The temperature to open practice was 76 degrees with clouds in the sky and plenty of special guests to go along with a strong opening day for the Texans. Marshall Faulk, Charlie Casserly, and Ian Rapoport were on location with NFL Network, while Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni and West Virginia head football coach Dana Holgorsen also made a stop at Texans camp.
Quick Hitters from Day One of Houston Texans Training Camp
Tom Savage was the best quarterback in camp and he threw the ball with confidence. More importantly, he had control of the offense from the start and made quick decisions in getting the football out of his hands. There is plenty of work to be done but starting day one, it will be up to Deshaun Watson to close the gap so he can get on the field. Watson had his typical first rookie training camp, with a focus on simply getting the feel for the flow of camp. Watching Watson heading toward the first preseason game will be a clear indication on how well he progresses as a player and potentially how far he is away from starting.
Kevin Johnson has been absent from the field for some time after he went out last season with broken foot. Johnson was back and looking spry, breaking on footballs in the air and specifically, getting his hands on the ball to break up passes. He looks healthy and added some much needed weight to his frame. Johnson missed all of the off-season work due to his foot while the training staff worked hard to get him ready for camp and he was active on day one.
J.J. Watt was back and showed two positive steps since getting back on the field. He showed a burst which blew up a potential running play by beating an offensive lineman across his face and, in pass rushing drills, showed a good lean and dip around the cornerback on what would be potential sack. His feet looked solid although it took him a little time to knock off the rust and get back into the flow of the game.
The catch of the day came from Will Fuller when he went over one defensive back to catch a well-placed ball off of the arm of Savage. What was more impressive was how he was able to stay in stride and run past the defensive back in pursuit who was coming over the top in coverage.