Here’s everything Houston Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley said following Day 9 of training camp, including his thoughts on C.J. Stroud, the return of wide receiver Tank Dell and the consistent run game on display at practice.
Question: On what he has seen from QB C.J. Stroud through Training Camp
Nick Caley: “Consistency. Just really being even-keeled every day. The ability to move on from a good play to the next play, a bad play to the next play. His demeanor has been awesome. His approach, his process, it’s been consistent. It’s really been consistent since spring and I’m proud of him and I’m happy and I think that you’re seeing just a consistent, steady performance every single day. I think he’s growing every single day and just his comfort level with the offense. He’s had a really good process.”
Q: On if he is going to add some more nuances to the offense going into year two
Caley: “Sure, I think you’ll see some of that right now, I do. Just in terms of the volume of phase two, for example, that was different. The understanding of the guys coming into that, the vast majority of people outside of our new acquisitions, the Foster Moreaus, the David Montgomerys, et cetera. They were already a leg up, so we got to polish some things, refine some things, add some things, tweak some things. Then you look even in Training Camp, we’ve got our core foundation and are trying to continue to add complements and add pieces. Whether that’s a situational play or two, whether that’s red zone. Whether that’s third-down run schemes, tags in the run game. We’re definitely trying to continue. The biggest thing is wanting to expose them to a lot of things, too. They’re doing a great job of handling that, because then when we get into the season and your game plan is specific, they’ve been exposed to a lot more this spring and they’re really doing a good job of handling those things.”
On if there is any extra pressure on the offense this season
Caley: “I always take my job seriously. I think everybody else here does. The biggest thing we want to do is be at our best and give ourselves a chance to perform at the highest level we can possibly do. Not to make it any more simplified than that, but that’s really what it is. Coming out here, there’s a standard. This was sloppy to start today. That’s not good enough. We have to do a better job of being more consistent, starting with me. Moving the needle there, but in terms of the pressure, I think we have a great opportunity to work in this profession. We have great people here with good characters that Nick [Caserio] and DeMeco [Ryans] have given us. We’re busting our ass every single day to be the best that we can be and trying to just be truth tellers to each other. ‘Hey, it’s either good enough or it’s not and here’s how we have to rid the bad stuff and be able to move the needle.’ That’s the reality of it. We’re on a crusade to do that. It’s not perfect. We have a ways to go. I want to give ourselves an opportunity to play our best football when it matters the most.”
On having balance outside of football
Caley: “I love football. I love football. I’m not going to apologize for that. What I would say is this, I’m 43. I’ve got four daughters under the age of nine that could care less what I do. They love their dad, they love their mom. I have gotten better with age. At 38, I had no balance. I was full tilt nonstop. I would say probably 2022-ish, I started trying to be more present, being intentional about that. When we get opportunities to get away and DeMeco does a fantastic job of allowing us to have quality life and family time and have balance in the spring and in Training Camp. I’ve really tried to be present. Trust me, my wife every once in a while will be like, ‘Hey, did you hear what I said? Huh? Yeah, exactly. You didn’t hear what I say. You weren’t listening to me.’ I do try to be present. In the summer, we’re obviously prepping to get everything ready to go. I try to do that on the front end and then that last week prior to getting back to Training Camp. For really three and a half weeks, I got to see my family, got to take my kids to different places. I do try to have balance. What I learned was the more balance I’ve had, the better coach I was, the less irritable I was. I feel like I’m better at what I do and I’m just better overall in general for my family. Long-winded answer, I’m sorry, but I do try to have balance.”
Q: On C/G Keylan Rutledge
Caley: “The same thing we saw on tape at Georgia Tech. He’s a tough, nasty, accountable dude that is getting better every day. He’s playing a position that puts a lot on you. He’s got great people around him. [Offensive Line/Offensive Run Game Coordinator] Cole Popovich, I love. It’s my guy. He’s working. He hasn’t changed a bit from the first time I heard him say, ‘I don’t even I don’t even have a suit,’ when he first showed up after the draft. I was like, I love this guy. I love this guy. He’s all ball and he’s tough as nails. He’s all day tough.”
Q: On evaluating the offense’s performance when going against their own defense in practice
Caley: “We don’t make excuses for anything, but we get challenged every day by a great defense. That makes us better. That absolutely makes us better. You’re going to get challenged on the edges and hand placement. You better get your hands inside, Marlin [Klein]. He’s done a better job of that. I’m just using him as an example. Any other person could be our tackles, could be Keylan [Rutledge]. It doesn’t really matter that everything’s happening faster. You better be ready to use a release at the line of scrimmage or you’re going to have hands in your chest. The speed, the violence, the chemistry that they play with on that side of the ball, it challenges us every day. It challenges us as an offense, which makes us better and helps us refine things and helps us try to make things better from a schematic standpoint as well. Certainly trying to move guys around and put them in position to answer your question.”
Q: On WR Jayden Higgins
Caley: “He’s put in work. I thought he was comfortable last year by the season’s end. He started down the stretch for us. He’s played some really good football. Just the familiarity with the details and the nuances of the offense. He’s playing clean. When you’re playing clean and you know what you’re doing, you play fast and you play with confidence and he’s put into work. What you see out there is the work he’s put in on the front. That’s the return on investment that you see out there. He could play all over. He doesn’t have any limitations; he really doesn’t. Moved him inside, moved him to X, moved him to Z. He can do a lot of good things and he’s a great teammate. He’s done a great job.”
Q: On if performance overrides depth chart during practice
Caley: “You earn the opportunity to play. Consistent performance. That’s what we’re looking. The most consistent guys that are dependable to perform. This is the opportunity that you have to be able to display that from taking it from the meeting room to the field. The answer is yes, you want to have an opportunity out here to do that, to be able to move the needle. I think last year, Jawhar [Jordan] was a great example. We saw a consistent guy in Training Camp that had a great feel for the running game that could set blocks, that just was steady and consistent. Throughout the course of the year, it just kept getting better and better. And then he has an opportunity and he makes the most of it. The way you practice, generally speaking, is the way you’re usually going to perform on the field. It’s not always the case, but this is the truest indicator. You’re not going to practice bad 80% of time and go out and excel against Will Anderson Jr. and all these players. It just doesn’t work that way.”
Q: On constant challenges for the tight end room
Caley: “It’s a couple of things.. I think first and foremost, it’s two-step quickness in the run game and tight hands. Our guys are getting off the rock and you better be ready to get your hands tight and you better be ready to get your feet in the ground to get power on your second step. They’ve done a great job. Marlin has gotten so much better. He’s had multiple blocks I’ve seen. Cade [Stover] has made a ton of improvement. Foster [Moreau] has. They’re all growing. I’m really pleased. James Ferentz has done a great job with those guys. The second thing is route runners. You’re going to be slow of speed. You’re not going to have an advantage most of the time against safeties in this league. That’s the reality. What you do have is you have a size advantage. May not have a speed advantage; you have a size advantage. So, learning how to work edges and not run through the middle of people. Learning how to use your size to create separation at the top of the routes. Some guys are gifted and can run away from dudes. Most, I would say, are going to have to play with technique. The constant refinement of that against a really good secondary, we get one-on-ones, which is awesome. It’s all of that. That’s a position, I probably do have some natural biases, but you’re at the point of attack every play just about. You don’t hide at tight end. Not in our offense. There’s a lot asked. Protection, we put them in the backfield. We put them at the end of the line. They chip. They do a lot of other things. I would say it’s a lot of things, but it’s really playing good fundamentals and getting to your technique faster than the guy across from you, whether that’s in the pass game or in the run game.”
Q: On RB Jawhar Jordan’s performance during Training Camp
Caley: “Everybody’s on their own program. He’s on his own program relative to that. He’s gotten a lot better. I think you saw Jawhar, do when I talked about last year when he got his opportunities, we saw what happened in practice manifest itself in the game. I did think he hit this offseason with some confidence. He doesn’t say a whole lot. He’s steady as heck. You’re seeing a guy that’s pretty confident and he’s done a really good job out here for us. I certainly think the more you play, you’re chomping at the bit to get more and he’s wired the right way for sure.”
Q: On utilizing WR Tank Dell
Caley: “I think just continue to bring him along and just continue to have exposures to our route tree, to our different schemes in the past concepts that we have. He’s been studying like crazy now for the last year. He’s been involved, but it’s different now when he’s out here. He’s soaking up more and more. I think just taking it day-by-day and just being able to build off of it. Not having any expectations other than just continuing to grow and continuing to learn and soak up the details and then getting some real speed out here, too, is great. Especially the timing with the quarterbacks and stuff like that.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans OC Nick Caley said following Day 9 of training camp
Reporting by Cole Thompson, Texans Wire / Texans Wire
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By Cole Thompson, Texans Wire | USA TODAY Network
