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| Texans Head Coach DeMeco Ryans (Red Hat) |
CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio—The Houston Texans are the only NFL team to begin training camp nearly a week before the rest of the league and have already participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. Head coach DeMeco Ryans and his staff know that the number of reps each player gets throughout training camp must be heavily monitored as they prepare for their first preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Yeah, we’ve been rolling in camp for a while now,” Ryans said as the team concluded their final day of practice in Ohio on Wednesday. “It seems like a long time, and I look ahead like, wow, we still have a good amount of time to go, probably a month left before the true regular season kicks off. So, when we look at reps, I’m monitoring reps every day.”
The early start of training camp and the physicality of Texans’ practices may have taken a toll on some key players in Houston’s rotation. Will Anderson Jr. and Kamari Lassiter did not participate in any of the practices this week as they deal with soft tissue injuries that may prevent them from playing on Friday.
The offensive line also dealt with some setbacks, such as tackles Tytus Howard and rookie Blake Fisher, who received medical attention on consecutive days and missed a significant amount of practice time. Heading into the matchup against the Steelers, Ryans plans to get a small look at some of his starters, who will play a minimal number of snaps.
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| Texans Right Tackle Tytus Howard |
“I’m monitoring reps, seeing where we are,” said Ryans. “Keeping track of it just making sure we’re smart with how we’re loading our guys with the reps and making sure we’re peaking at the right time because when you start camp as early as we have with the Hall of Fame game, I don’t want guys to come in and we’re peaking at preseason week two.
“That’s not the time to be at your peak, so we’re always monitoring it and our sports performance staff, they’ve done a great job of being on it as well. So, just working with them, and we’re all in sync with making sure, at the end of the day, making sure we take care of our guys the right way. Just want to be as healthy as possible going into the season.”