Here’s everything Houston Texans second-year wide receiver Jayden Higgins said following OTA practice on Tuesday, including the reason as to where he’s improved entering his second season under Nick Caley plus his thoughts on the offense and growth of wideout Jaylin Noel.
Question: On if he has been fine tuning things this year to take that leap in the second year
Jayden Higgins: “Yeah, for sure. I think first and foremost, you always think it’s going to be physical, working on my strength, working on my speed, my lateral movements, quickness, route running. This offseason I worked a lot on my intellectual phase, just making sure I’m understanding the concepts we’re running, making sure I’m understanding when the timing needs to be, where I need to be in a certain time. Doing those two things has really helped me a lot.”
Q: On what has been his take going into year two in terms of being a leader and still being in a learning phase
Higgins: “I think just being able to be here at this time. Thinking back to last year, just the confidence that I built up has been crazy. Having the same offense, having the same guys around, it just allows me to go out there, play fast. I understand what I’m doing. Really, I can just go out there and make the plays when they come to me. But yeah, for sure, just coming into year two I feel a lot more confident and just ready to go out there and ball.”
Q: On what the best version of WR Jayden Higgins looks like in 2026 and if he has any set goals
Higgins: “Yeah, I think for me, the sky’s the limit. However, they want to incorporate me in the offense, putting me at different positions, whether that’s X, Z, F, no matter what, in the slot, outside, whenever I can go out there and make a play. No, necessarily goals for myself personally, but I think we all know that the goal for the team is to put a bull on the ring. I’m going to contribute however I can.”
Q: On if lining up on the inside is something that he thinks is an underrated ability to have and add to an offense
Higgins: “For sure. I think being a big receiver, being able to go in there and line up inside and go against linebackers or nickels and just make plays in there is definitely a benefit to us.”
Q: On the physical improvement from last year to this year and where he thinks it will show up in games
Higgins: “Yeah, honestly, I think it will show up in all aspects, route running, just being stronger, being able to break tackles, just being quicker and then just being smarter. A lot of times we’re playing against zones and things like that, so knowing where to sit, knowing whether to take a high angle or a low angle, that stuff is really important. I think it will help out a lot.”
Q: On what are things he has noticed that are different this OTAs versus last year
Higgins: “Yeah. I think pretty early, we realized that the starting point where we started last year was a lot farther behind than where we started this year, of course. Obviously, because everyone is very familiar with the plays and everything of that sort. But really, just I think it comes down to Nick [Caley] giving us confidence and just trusting us to be able to go out there and execute those plays.”
Q: On if he has seen anything different coming into year two with QB C.J. Stroud and what he has seen in terms of growth in how he’s leading
Higgins: “For sure. I think C.J. has always been the same person day in and day out. He’s a great leader, a guy that you can tell really cares about the team. I think this year he seems very focused. I was able to train with him in the offseason, as well, and he was just very locked in. The little details really matter to C.J. now. It’s definitely going to be an exciting year.”
Q: On what he has seen from WR Jaylin Noel this offseason and thoughts on what the best version of him is
Higgins: “I think the same thing I said for me, the sky’s the limit for him. That guy is special in any way they want to use him, whether it’s the return game, at receiver. I think for him, he’s obviously had a big jump, too, as far as his physical traits. He’s getting even faster even though he’s already fast, getting stronger. But just working on those little details and understanding certain routes and how they need to be ran at certain times. He’s definitely doing a good job of that.”
Q: On what are some things he has been able to take away from WR Tank Dell and what it was like hosting his football camp in Florida
Higgins: “Yeah, for Tank, I would say just the type of guy he is. He’s from Florida, I’m from Florida. I feel like Florida people are just uber confident. We’re always confident. We’ve got that swag. So just kind of taking that swag from him, always being confident knowing you’re going to go out there and make a play and celebrate for sure. It was actually my third annual camp, but it was awesome. We had about 110 kids show out. It was a free camp in my community. They had a good time with the coaches. The coaches did a great job. It was a really fun day.”
Q: On the difference in fishing between Texas and Florida
Higgins: “The difference between here and Texas? I don’t know, it’s hard. I think in Florida, it’s easy to just go to a pond and just go fishing. In Florida, I feel like you always catch fish. At least where I live, I feel like it’s a lot of developments, so there’s not a lot of fish in there. But I’ve definitely been able to go out to Galveston and go fishing on the water. It’s been fun. I got to go catch a sheepshead. But catching huge redfish. In Florida, I like to fish the mangroves and catch snapper, things like that.”
Q: On his conversations with Offensive Nick Caley and the vision for this offense
Higgins: “I think the biggest thing they’ve kind of been telling me is just the versatility I can bring to the offense. Like I said, being able to play all three positions, inside, outside, and then really just create mismatches. At the end of the day, I feel like it just gives me an opportunity to get the ball in different ways.”
Q: On how it is measured that WR Jaylin Noel getting faster this season
Higgins: “Well, we have certain data that it tells us if we’re getting faster or how fast we’re running, miles per hour-wise. So, the stats never lie. But you can just see it in his body. Jaylin is a confident guy, too, so he always is going to want to race and do things like that, as well.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans WR Jayden Higgins said after OTA practice
Reporting by Cole Thompson, Texans Wire / Texans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
