EDITOR'S NOTE:
Texans cornerback Brandon Harris,*
This week has been interesting. This is our first week preparing like the regular season. We're treating this game like a true game week in terms of schedule and time, and we're out of a camp mode. It's been interesting just to take on the daily life of an NFL player – waking up in the morning, going to meetings, getting practice done, doing a bunch of stuff but in a limited time.
I realized that it doesn't take all day to prepare yourself to be ready to play. We have a seven-hour work schedule every day, and that's enough time from 8-3 to get all your work in and get done and go home and relax. Coming from college, I'm used to grinding all day – waking up at 6 a.m. and not getting home 'til about 9 o'clock at night between classes and study hall. You don't have to do any of that anymore. It's kind of a shock to me, like, "Oh, that's it; I'm done?" Go to practice, go to meetings, study, and I'm gone. There's no middle work in between. That's been fun.
Last week's game against the Saints was a good experience. It was a good chance to go up against a great team, a team that's a Super Bowl contender every year. It was exciting to me just to go out there in pregame and get a chance to talk to some of my fellow 'Canes who play for the Saints, Jimmy Graham and Jonathan Vilma. We all just got together and just joked and laughed about different things that we can relate to, and it was fun to be able to do that for the first time. We didn't have any Miami guys on the Jets' roster.
Other than that, things have been going great. I've been having fun. We installed a lot of things for San Francisco, which should be pretty good in the game. I was able to do some great things on special teams in the game last week. Coach Kub (Gary Kubiak) and Coach Joe (Marciano), the special teams coach, they applauded me a lot on special teams and are going to give me more opportunities to go out and play that way. That's all I want: An opportunity to play. Special teams is a huge part of the sport. I just want to be able to get on the field, and getting that opportunity is going to be exciting.
I'm excited about the first road trip. Get to travel with the team, get on the airplane with the guys, have that camaraderie, stuff like that. I've heard it's a pretty fun experience. I heard the plane is nice. I already know everything's A-plus with the organization. Every hotel we've stayed in has been top-quality, so I'm excited just to get a chance to travel with an NFL team. We had a pretty good traveling experience at Miami, but to know you're at the highest level, I know they do things different. That's what I'm excited to see. I'm excited to see just the simple things: The buses, the hotel, all of that.
I heard American Idol was here at Reliant Stadium this week. I was trying, I was begging and pleading, for three days for somebody to set me up with an audition. I couldn't get it done. I don't know what I had to do. I just wanted to get in the audition room and just show 'em what I can do. I'm a decent karaoke guy; I have fun with it back with my family and friends in Miami. So I think I could pass. And I've been saying it for a while, I really want to meet J-Lo. But they couldn't make it happen for me. I was screaming to anybody who would listen to me to get me in the room and just shake some hands and just introduce myself. That's all I was asking for, but unfortunately it didn't come true.
*](http://www.twitter.com/HarrisNOFLYZONE)
Brandon Harris rookie diary archive
8/19: First game in the books
8/14: Excited for Monday night
8/5: **First week of camp**
