The Texans didn’t have their starters on the field against the Bears in the Hall of Fame Game, but they plan to handle things differently against the Steelers on Friday.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Monday that first-teamers on offense and defense will both be on the field for the team’s second preseason contest.
“I truly believe that a guy needs to get reps in a preseason game,” Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “We don’t go to the ground as you see with the way we practice. We try to keep guys up and be as safe as possible in practice, but I think everyone needs the opportunity to go to the ground a couple times in a game. Get up, dust yourself off and know you’re good. Like ‘I’m okay and I can go to the ground and get up.’ You just have to go through and play live reps of football before live action comes in September. You’ll see our ones go out and get reps this week versus Pittsburgh.”
Assuming all stays on plan, Saturday’s game should feature the first chance to see quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the offense together. Their results against the Steelers won’t factor into the team’s hopes of winning another divisional crown, but the chance to see the tandem in action should still draw some interest this weekend.
Andre Johnson was the last of seven inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. He was the first Texan.
The former receiver waited three years to earn a bust in Canton.
“I am truly honored to be your first National Football League Hall of Famer,” Johnson said to the Texans. “This accomplishment is not just about me. It is for us.
“Many, many people have had a role in my career, and today, we are going into the Hall of Fame.”
Johnson spent 12 of his 14 seasons in Houston after the Texans drafted him third overall. He caught 1,012 passes for 13,597 yards and 64 touchdowns with the Texans and played one season with the Colts and one with the Panthers to finish with 1,062 catches, 14,185 yards and 70 touchdowns.
It got him to Canton ahead of Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, who also were finalists for the Class of 2024.
Texans fans chanted “An-dre!” throughout his speech as the current Texans team sat among the crowd.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be in Canton, looking at a bronze statue of me that will be placed in a gallery with some of the greatest people to ever play the game,” Johnson said. “I didn’t even think about it.
“To the other 377 men who wear this gold jacket, I’m humbled, honored and happy as hell to join you in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
The Texans signed free agent offensive lineman Cameron Erving on Saturday, the team announced.
Erving, 31, had worked out for the Texans on July 17.
He played three games with two starts with the Saints in 2023 after signing with the team’s practice squad Oct. 3.
The Browns made him a first-round pick out of Florida State in 2015. Cleveland traded him to the Chiefs for a fifth-round draft pick in 2017.
He also has played for the Panthers and Cowboys.
Erving, who has played guard, tackle and center, has started 58 of 98 career games played in the NFL.
The Texans waived offensive lineman Jaylon Thomas with an injury designation in a corresponding move. Thomas hurt his right foot/ankle during Tuesday’s practice.
There weren’t any starters on the field at the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night, which meant that the contest was a chance for players vying for depth roles to make their case.
One of those players was Texans running back Cam Akers, who is looking for a role behind Joe Mixon on the depth chart in Houston. Akers is making that push after tearing his Achilles for the second time while playing for the Vikings last season and Thursday night brought some good results in his first game action since that injury.
Akers ran five times for 13 yards and caught two passes for 18 yards, including a four-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. After the game, Akers said he wanted “to come back and show who I am still.”
“I’ve been doing that since I’ve been training with these guys in training camp, reminding myself, ‘You’re still you, you still have the same abilities after two Achilles injuries.’ I think it showed,” Akers said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “It came full circle, and I want to keep going. I don’t want it to be a one-time thing. I want to keep working and work my way back and keep making plays.”
Akers will get to continue making his case in the coming weeks and success would mean a spot on the 53-man roster for a Texans team that has high hopes for what the coming season will bring.
The NFL’s new kickoff rules made their debut in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night.
The game started with Texans returner Steven Sims taking a kick 21 yards to the team’s 26-yard-line and Tyler Scott of the Bears had a return of the same length after a Houston touchdown. Scott returned another kick 19 yards later in the game and there were seven overall returns for a total of 159 yards over the course of the evening.
Numbers like that won’t make a major impact on games, but Scott said after the game that he thinks the rules will result in bigger plays as the season unfolds.
“You grew up your whole life just catching it, having different levels and things of that nature; and now, everyone is kind of stacked,” Scott said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. “If a kick is kind of short, guys are right up on you. You’ve got to make one cut and go. I think there’s benefits to that, because if one guy misses, then you’re good. But at the same time, if you make the wrong cut, somebody is right there. So far, I feel like it kind of protects guys a little bit more. Guys aren’t getting a full head of steam coming down the field, taking shots on people. But I think for the most part, it’ll work out pretty good. Just think we’ll have a lot of explosive plays.”
If there are a lot of explosive plays, teams are likelier to just revert to kicking the ball through the end zone and taking touchbacks rather than risking big plays. That wasn’t the case Thursday, but there’s still a lot to play out with this year’s biggest change to how the game is played.
The NFL’s new kickoff rules were put to the test for the first time Thursday night.
The Texans and Bears met in the Hall of Fame Game, with everyone watching the great kickoff experiment. One of the most entertaining Hall of Fame Games in memory ended because of inclement weather with 3:31 left in the third quarter. The Bears won 21-17.
The teams combined for eight kickoffs, with only one resulting in a touchback, though two other kickoffs reached the end zone and could have been downed for touchbacks. The receiving team takes over at its own 30-yard line after a touchback.
Of the seven kickoffs returned, the average starting position was the 25.6-yard line.
The longest return was a 31-yarder by Bears receiver John Jackson.
Each team had an illegal formation penalty, both of which were declined.
Texans punter Tommy Townsend held the ball on the tee for kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn to start the third quarter, with Townsend running off the field as soon as the ball was kicked.
It gave teams around the league a first look at what is supposed bring a dead play back to life, and it likely will be a work in progress for awhile as teams try to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
We’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to see Caleb Williams quarterback the Bears in game action.
Bears head coach Matt Eberflus told reporters on Tuesday that Williams will not be playing against the Texans in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night. Williams said earlier this week that he wanted to play, but Eberflus said that neither the first overall pick nor any of the other starters will be playing.
Eberflus said he’s been happy with what he’s seen from the first-stringers in padded practices and cited the extra time the team has had to work due to playing in Canton while discussing how much work they have been able to do.
Tyson Bagent, Brett Rypien, and Austin Reed will be the available quarterbacks for Chicago. The Bears will play their second preseason game on August 10 and that could be the spot for Williams to take his first competitive snaps of the summer.
From 2006 to 2011, linebacker DeMeco Ryans and receiver Andre Johnson were teammates on the Texans.
Now head coach Ryans will lead Houston in the Hall of Fame game this week as Johnson becomes enshrined in Canton.
In his Monday press conference, Ryans said that Johnson going into the Hall of Fame “means everything to our organization.”
“Every person that’s worked in this organization, every player who’s strapped it up and put on that Texans jersey, Andre is representing everyone,” Ryan said. “And there’s no better guy than Andre to be the first Houston Texan going in as a Hall of Famer. Definitely deserving of it.
“He’s always been the best player in any field that he’s stepped on and he has been a great man in the community, great leader as well. So, Andre is –we’re happy to be there to support Andre and wouldn’t want to do it for any other guy.”
The No. 3 overall pick of the 2003 draft, Johnson spent 12 seasons with the Texans, leaving a clear legacy as one of the best players in the young history of the franchise. He twice led the league in receptions and receiving yards, becoming a two-time, first-team All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowler.
He ended his Texans tenure with 1,012 receptions for 13,597 yards with 64 touchdowns. After spending his last two seasons with the Colts and Titans, Johnson finished his career with 1,062 receptions for 14,185 yards with 70 TDs.
Word came on Monday that the Falcons were planning to sign veteran wide receiver James Washington and the team confirmed the move on Tuesday.
The Falcons announced Washington’s signing and they doubled down on wideouts by also signing Jesse Matthews to their 90-man roster. They waived wide receiver Isaiah Wooden and placed offensive lineman Tyler Vrabel, who is the son of former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, on the reserve/retired list in corresponding moves.
Washington spent time with the Saints and Colts last year, but did not see any regular season action. He has 114 catches for 1,629 yards and 11 touchdowns in 62 appearances for the Cowboys and Steelers.
Matthews signed with the Texans after going undrafted last year, but spent the entire season on injured reserve.
The Texans have activated fullback Andrew Beck from the team’s active/physically unable to perform list.
Beck has spent the start of training camp rehabbing a calf injury, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC, but Beck passed his physical and returned to practice Monday.
He played 15 games last season and caught 11 passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns. He also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown in a win over the Jaguars.
Beck played 507 total snaps last season, including 322 on offense.
He played four seasons in Denver before joining the Texans last season.