Strong debut for Texans rookie Keylan Rutledge: 'Bring that swagger'

Roughly an hour before his first NFL kickoff, Texans rookie center Keylan 'Big Red' Rutledge was getting the feel of the ground.

The Georgia native was barefoot and smiling as he warmed up at Reliant Stadium: No socks, no shoes, no athletic tape, no problem.

It was an encouraging debut for the Texans' first-round draft pick, effectively snapping to quarterback Davis Mills as the first-string offensive line scored a touchdown on the opening drive of a 27-7 preseason defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Although the Texans ultimately lost the game with the majority of the backups seeing action throughout the preseason opener, it was regarded as a strong performance for Rutledge.

The gritty former Georgia Tech All-American blocker had a knockdown block and he looked comfortable overall.

"Something like that," Rutledge said while smiling in the Texans' locker room. "We'll have to see the tape to see if it was real, by maybe, maybe."

There were no apparent issues for Rutledge, who's listed first on the Texans' unofficial depth chart ahead of returning starter Jake Andrews.

The 6-foot-4, 330-pound top draft pick displayed aggressiveness balanced by composure and attention to detail.

"It felt good, just really good experience," Rutledge said. "What I was trying to attack is pre-snap, making sure everybody is on the right page, make sure I'm getting all five guys on the right way. Definitely, just growing every day.

"Obviously, I know it's preseason, but you attack the grass the same way every day. You ain't accomplished nothing yet. You gotta earn it every day. I'm gonna go back and look at the tape that you want to clean up."

Rutledge isn't intimidated by anyone, not backing down an inch against some of the top defensive players in the game.

Rutledge has gotten into four skirmishes since the start of training camp.

That includes tangling with All-Pro defensive ends Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter along with defensive end Ali Gaye and rookie defensive tackle Kayden McDonald.

There were no fights, or penalties against the Chargers, but the mentality was unchanged.

"Just kind of be me, just kind of who I've always been," Rutledge said. "Just kind of bring that swagger, just how I attack the grass is kind of just always what I'll do. So, I try to instill that in all the guys upfront, just kind of be me."

An NFC West Scout who got to know Rutledge at the Senior Bowl all-star game, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Rutledge is a "Great guy, great football player, what you want to see from a young offensive lineman and a total d---- on the field, he doesn't mess around. He's all business."

In the spring, Texans Pro Bowl middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair spoke with respect and an amused reaction about the intense playing style of rookie offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge.

Rutledge has been a menace throughout training camp and is turning heads as he pushes for the starting job in an ongoing competition with returning starter Jake Andrews.

He planted Al-Shaair on the ground early in camp.

"He plays with a chip on his shoulder, plays the game the right way, works hard at that position and it doesn't take a whole lot of talent," Al-Shaair said. "Obviously, talent will take you really far, but I feel like especially early on, before you even know all the techniques and all that, it's more of a mindset. You're the first line of defense for the quarterback and you have to have the right mentality. I think he does that.”

Al-Shaair is thoroughly enjoying the back and forth with Rutledge, matching up against him frequently. And he has been mentoring the rookie.

"I always feel bad punching him in the chest with no pads," Al-Shaair said. "He's bringing it and I'm like, ‘Okay, well he's bringing it, so I guess I have to try to bring it.’ It was just good because the mentality in general, like pads, no pads, he's just trying to work hard.

"The thing I always talk to him about is just working smart. That's a different level of being a pro. I think I'd rather tell you to slow down or be smart than to tell you, ‘Hey man, you got to pick it up.’ I feel like to see him doing that, I got up and I'm not mad at it. I play the game hard, too. For me, especially knowing him as a rookie and what he's trying to accomplish and what our team is trying to accomplish, I was happy with it.”

The toughness is obvious with Rutledge. He's building his legend every day.

“I love him," running back Woody Marks said. "He's the guy who’s going to show up on film every time with toughness. You could kind of see it with him and Azeez. He’s not scared of anybody. He isn’t going to back down.

"He has a lot of fight, he wants to be feisty. He wants the chance to attack. It doesn’t matter who it is. He’s going to go after him. You sometimes have to pull back on him, but we like to see that fire coming out of a rookie on the offensive line.”

The mean streak obvious.

"We love that, man," Hunter said. "That's the biggest thing. Offensive linemen, they're supposed to be like that. They’re supposed to come in mean and aggressive and all that. We love everything we've seen from him so far. The biggest thing for him is just being able to build up and get game experience. He's going to be pretty solid."

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL insider for KPRC 2 and Sports Talk 790. His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AaronWilsonSport

Source: Texans' Graham Mertz tore ACL, MRI shows

Texans quarterback Graham Mertz tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, according to a league source.

A magnetic resonance imaging exam conducted Friday confirmed the initial diagnosis of an ACL tear. 

Mertz will undergo surgery and be placed on injured reserve, ending his season.

Mertz got hurt against the Los Angeles Chargers while scrambling during the first half of a preseason game at Reliant Stadium. He grabbed his right knee immediately and appeared to be in pain and was emotional as he limped off the field. 

Drafted in the sixth round last year, Mertz tore his ACL in his left knee at the University of Florida in his final college season.

“For the update on Mertz, he was running towards the opponent's sideline and unfortunately non-contact," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game. "We're evaluating him. Right now, he's looking at a knee injury, ACL. We'll get that update and see what happens.”

He went 4 for 7 for 23 yards before leaving the game and the Texans reinserting backup quarterback Davis Mills, who started with C.J. Stroud given the night off. Mertz made the Texans' 53-man roster as a rookie last season.

A Wisconsin transfer who passed for 9,099 yards in college with 64 touchdowns and 31 interceptions, Mertz is the Gators' all-time leader in completion percentage with 72.9 and 76.7 percent accuracy in his two seasons.

Mills completed 9 of 15 passes for 82 yards and one touchdown pass to wide receiver Jared Wayne.

The Texans worked out quarterbacks Jake Haener and Seth Henigan last week, but didn't immediately sign either of them.

Texans' Jared Wayne finds end zone: 'Not surprising'

Jared Wayne had more than a hunch that the football was coming his way.

Isolated in single coverage, the Texans' wide receiver broke into the clear and caught a five-yard touchdown, elevating over the defense to haul in a well-delivered pass from quarterback Davis Mills.

Wayne scored the only touchdown for the Texans in a 27-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

"Great play call, knew it was man coverage, had a feeling the ball was gonna find me," Wayne said. "Davis, you know, put a great ball out there and just had to go and make a play."

Wayne showed his physicality and vertical leap to come down with the jump ball.

Wayne, a native of Ontario, Canada who played collegiately at Pitt, has superior size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds.

"A stud," Mills said. "He's been extremely consistent since he's been here. I love throwing him the rock. Another guy who creates mismatches with his size and his natural ability to go up and high point the ball. He's a really easy target to throw to. When I saw that matchup, they were playing some sort of match coverage down there and I knew he had a runaway and I could kind of just put it up and let him go up and grab it and that's exactly what he did.”

A former second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, Pitt has two career receptions for 20 yards in the NFL. In his final season at Pitt, he caught 60 passes for 1,063 yards and five touchdowns.

He signed a reserve-future deal with the Texans after spending last season on the practice squad. This marks his fourth season with the Texans since going undrafted.

Wayne is competing for a roster spot and has had his best training camp yet.

"Not surprising from Jared Wayne," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "He does it in practice all the time. For him to go out there and make the plays he made tonight, I'm happy for Jared because he's put in that work and he's done it on the practice field. He's a tough cover always for our guys, and I'm happy that he was able to put that on display."

As Wayne continues to build each day, he hopes this kind of performance sticks with the coaching staff and personnel department when it comes down to roster cutdown time.

"It definitely doesn't hurt, but just trying to stay even-keel, stack small wins, focus, just keep showing up, just keep showing up, keep making plays," Wayne said. "There's a lot of positives to take, obviously a lot to clean up as well. This is my first preseason game since my first one my rookie year, so it felt good to be back out there in the preseason and be healthy."

One thing that Wayne has going for him is his versatility. He has lined up all over the field for the Texans.

"The more you can do," Wayne said. "Just trying to showcase everything that I have in my toolbox. If that's outside, inside,wherever I need to be. At the end of the day, I just got to go out there and make plays.

"Anytime you get to go out there and play a game, it's an honor and a privilege. It's such a blessing. It's just a lot of fun as well. That's where the smile comes from, and my teammates make it easy to have fun."

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL insider for KPRC 2 and Sports Talk 790. His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AaronWilsonSport