Here’s everything Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said following Day 7 of training camp, including the impact of Jadeveon Clowney in practice, the emergence of rookie cornerback Collin Wright and the growth of rookie wideout Lewis Bond.
Question: On what he want to see today
DeMeco Ryans: “Today was a grind day. I wanted to see our guys push through the elements. For you to build a good team, you got to go through hard things. You have to establish that and grow that camaraderie amongst each other. You do that by doing hard things. Today was a tough practice. I’m proud of the effort our guys showed, proud of the discipline and really proud of the way they finished. It was everything I could ask for.”
On whether WR Tank Dell participating in individual drills was by design
Ryans: “Tank’s on the right plan. Nothing’s changed with his plan. We’re progressing him on really well. He got out, did individuals today and we expect him to just continue to progress with how he’s feeling. There’s no set way of doing it. It’ll be based upon how he’s feeling and we’ll do the right thing by Tank, making sure that we approach it the right way, take care of him the right way, so he’s feeling confident when he’s able to step back out there in full-team drills.”
On what he has seen from DE Jadeveon Clowney
Ryans: “Clowney is bringing what he’s always done. He’s explosive off the edge and he finds a way to get to the quarterback. He’s been very productive throughout his career of getting to the quarterback and causing havoc, which is what I love, so he fits our style. He fits our brand of football. He came in late yesterday and he’s been picking up the scheme, picking up things we’re asking him to do and he’s fitting right in. He made a couple plays today, he’s in the backfield a lot as I’m standing back there, so that’s encouraging to see. We’ll continue to give him more. He’ll get caught up to speed here pretty quickly, but we’re excited with the type of player we’re able to add and continue to add depth to our defensive line. We want to rotate a lot of guys there, so that we don’t wear any one guy out. We want those guys to be able to last throughout the duration of the season and Clowney definitely gives us that flexibility that we were looking for at the defensive end spot.”
Q: On DE Logan Hall’s flexibility on the defensive line
Ryans: “Logan’s a very versatile player. We started playing him inside a lot and he’s done that most of his career down in Tampa. He’s a productive player, really slippery for a big man inside. He finds a way to make a lot of tackles for loss. He’s so long in the inside, it’s hard to get by him, so he provides a lot of versatility for us up and down the defensive line. All those guys, every guy has something they do well. We’ll continue to put those guys in different spots to find what the best fronts we can be in and we’ll deploy those guys to go get after the quarterback.”
Q: On CB Collin Wright
Ryans: “Collin is one of the rookies who’s showing up almost every day. He finds a way to get his hands on the ball in some type of fashion. Whether he’s picking the ball, whether he’s playing sticky coverage and attacking the ball, getting pass break-ups. He’s done a really great job of always showing that capability of being attached to the football and that’s a good quality to have as a corner. He’s done a really good job.”
On the plan for WR Tank Dell to return
Ryans: “The plan for Tank hasn’t changed, so we’re taking care of him the proper way. Tank is handling his business the proper way. Everything is running really smoothly.”
Q: On the offensive line and whether five starters will emerge
“Ryans: The five guys who we’ll play, that’ll hash itself out. What I’ve seen from our offensive line is physical play and guys finishing at the second level. I’ve seen a huge improvement of our offensive line from where we’ve been in years past. I’m excited for that group. We have probably the deepest group that we’ve had since I’ve been here as well. We have a lot of good depth, a lot of good players, guys you can move around at different spots. They’re doing a really good job this camp.”
Q: On why he feels it’s important to protect the team from videos during the team periods of practice
Ryans: “It’s important to protect the team, not just videos, but for us and how we operate as a team. My main message is always: it’s about the team first. When it comes to the videos and things that are posted, we know that everyone who has a phone is media. We don’t want our plays getting out so other teams can study what we’re doing here in Training Camp. A lot of teams do this around the league. It’s all about the team. If you’re a true Texans fan and you want to see the Texans succeed, you wouldn’t showcase our plays to teams who don’t know what we’re running.”
Q: On OL Sam Hagen
Ryans: “Sam has done a great job. We’ve moved Sam around from guard to tackle. He’s played both spots and he’s done a good job competing. I’m excited to see him go play in the games. Overall, Sam has come in, he’s worked hard every single day, doing everything we asked him to do.”
Q: On the defense’s ability to stop the run and the offense’s run game
Ryans: “I feel good about our running game. I feel good about our run defense.”
Q: On LB Henry To’oTo’o
Ryans: “What Henry brings to our defense is he brings this smart calmness to our defense. He’s always in position, always exactly where he should be. You can count on him. You can put a lot on his plate. He can handle things. He can play the Mike and the Will position. He’s a very versatile guy. Henry plays with passion and fire, that rubs off on other guys. To see him play, it’s fun to watch him play. When you mix him in with Azeez [Al-Shaair] and [Kamari] Lassiter, you get some wild and crazy guys running around who love to hit and love to play physical. Henry is a guy that I can always count on. Asking guys to probably change up techniques and put him in those situations where I may want to change some things, Henry is a guy who can take the coaching well and go apply it on the field and put himself in position to make plays for us.”
On WR Jayden Higgins’ development in the offseason
Ryans: “Higgins came back ready this camp. He came back ready and it showed in OTAs. It’s showing now. It’s not surprising that him and C.J. [Stroud] are finding a connection because Higgins is doing a really great job of running his routes the proper way. He’s playing with precision and he’s excelling at every level. Third down, he’s winning, making plays for us. The sky’s the limit for Jayden Higgins because he’s prepared himself the right way over the off season. He’s a really great example for young guys. When you prepare the offseason the right way, you come to camp with the right mindset that you’re going to get better. You can do that, he’s put the work in and it’s showing here at camp.”
Q: On his message delivered to the team during a team meeting this offseason
Ryans: “You guys saw the speech about the NASA mission. I don’t like getting videos in my team meetings, so that’s probably the first one you guys saw. I can draw from a lot of different things. Our guys did a great job. I can draw from a lot of different places to just really tell the story to our guys and try to make them think in different ways and try to correlate it to football as best I can. I try to find some parallel stories and Artemis II and just the preparation that it took for Artemis II to launch. It took three years for that mission to take place. That’s the beauty of it. When you want to do things, you want to go places you’ve never been before. There’s a lot of preparation in the background a lot of people don’t see. It’s the same, I correlate that to football and the Training Camp. There’s a lot of preparation, a lot of behind-the-scenes that goes on for us to prepare to launch. We don’t launch tomorrow. You don’t just get there just by talking about it. You have to put the work in. That’s the main goal and the message that I was trying to relate to our guys is, ‘How are you putting the work in? How are you getting yourself prepared to go?’ You don’t talk about it. You just put the work in every single day. When launch time comes, we don’t have to be nervous about it. We don’t have to be anxious. We can go out and attack whatever’s in front of us because we prepared the right way. Each and every day of Training Camp, our guys are doing exactly what I’m asking them to do. We’re preparing our guys to have a really good team.”
Q: On whether he believes a strength of his is talking to free agents and what his message to free agents looks like
Ryans: “When I speak with free agents, it’s really the work has already been done by what they’ve seen from what our players have done on the field. They’ve seen that we’ve had success over the past couple of years. For me, I like to keep it real with guys. I don’t need a long, drawn-out conversation to try to convince guys to come like, ‘Hey, what are you about?’ If you’re about loving to play football, you’re about working hard, then that works for me. Of course, [General manager] Nick [Caserio] and his staff, we assess it, make sure the player has the type of qualities that we’re looking for as a player on the field. That conversation is more so just getting the feel for the person, the man off the field and getting the feel for how he will vibe and gel with our guys. It’s not more so of my persuasive message. It’s more so about the Texans and how they play. That’s the persuasive message that I think rings clear and rings loud to the entire world who’s watching us. They want to be a part of what we’re doing and what we’re building. We have something special. We built something special here. Now it’s how can we sustain it and take it to the next level.”
Q: On what WR Justin Watson provides
Ryans: “Justin’s played a ton of football. He’s a really smart player. He does a good job on fourth down as well. When you have a receiver who can do multiple things, play multiple spots, provide depth on fourth down and make plays there. He’s just a guy who has many different tools that we can use. It’s encouraging to see him out here and having a good camp.”
Q: On what he would like to see moving forward in Training Camp
Ryans: “Over our first six days, we’ve gone through and we’ve installed a lot. We put a lot on our players, seeing what they can handle mentally. Our guys have done a really good job. As we go over the next block of practices, what I’m looking for is what you saw today. Just more alive team drills, just coaches getting out of the way. Nobody is talking to the players, just let the guys go do what they do. That’s figuring out on their own, on the field and see who can handle it. Not when a coach is correcting you on every play, who can handle just playing football because come next Thursday, it’s going to be game time. It’s crazy to say that, but it’s here. We play a game next Thursday. Over the next couple of practices for me is getting the guys in game mode, getting the guys ready to go play on their own.”
Q: On WR Xavier Hutchinson and LB Henry To’oTo’o getting better each season
Ryans: “That’s funny, you compare both of those guys, ‘Hutch’ and Henry, you kind of see are very similar guys. You talk about guys who are trustworthy, guys you can count on, you can ask them to do multiple things and they handle it without missing a beat. Those guys, they’re dependable guys. Those are the guys I love because you can count on them in any given situation. That’s what you’ve seen with the rise of ‘Hutch’ and Henry. Both guys have gotten better each and every year, first and foremost because both guys are available. They take really good care of their bodies. They’re out here, they’re working every day. That allows them to get better. Both are outstanding young men, great young men off the field. I love talking to both guys. Neither one of those guys have had a bad day. They’re always smiling, they’re always upbeat, always have great energy and you love to be around those guys. They show up, they put the work in. I’m really proud of the success of both of those guys. They’re up for a really big year this year.”
Q: On what the coaches have seen from WR Lewis Bond
Ryans: “What do you all see? Is that the guy? Is that the consensus? Lewis Bond? Lewis has come in and he’s made a lot of wild plays. Going back to rookie minicamp, OTAs, Lewis is a guy who stood out, making a lot of great catches, a lot of third-down wins. He made a nice one-on-one play yesterday, making a nice overhead catch. He’s doing a really good job. He’s doing a really good job. I’m excited to see him continue to flourish. He is one of those camp risers this year that’s really showcasing his talent and making a name for himself. We’ll see how he continues to grow but I’m excited with what I’ve seen so far just like you guys. I have a lot of scouts here.”
Q: On former NFL WR Steve Smith Sr. believing WR Lewis Bond was a diamond in the rough
Ryans: “Hope you’re right, Steve Smith.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans HC DeMeco Ryans gives incredibly promising update on WR Tank Dell’s potential return
Reporting by Cole Thompson, Texans Wire / Texans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cole Thompson, Texans Wire | USA TODAY Network
