EDITOR'S NOTE:
, drafted in the second round (60th overall) out of Miami (Fla.), is chronicling his rookie season with periodic diary entries for HoustonTexans.com.*
The last couple weeks have been exciting. I got a chance to get my first action on the field, playing a lot on special teams. which is fun. It's a big part of what we do here. Just to go out there and be able to contribute in some type of way has been very exciting.
The season has been going great. Obviously, we're playing real well. We're sitting atop of the AFC right now. It's an exciting feeling, just being a part of a team that's winning. When you're winning, you're having fun. The mood around here has been exciting. Everybody loves coming in every day, coming in in the morning, and that's obviously what you want. This is what I expected the NFL to be like: Winning, having fun, enjoying yourself with your teammates, hanging out and just building relationships with each other. It's been a lot of fun.
I've been getting my family involved a lot. I have my brother and a couple of my friends flying out for the Oakland game. It's going to be a very exciting game for me. I get to hang out with a couple of my close friends from Miami that were drafted to the Oakland Raiders, (cornerback) DeMarcus Van Dyke and (tight end/fullback) Richard Gordon. Both were real good friends of mine at Miami. I'm excited to get a chance to see them on the field enjoy doing what they love to do.
You try not to look to far ahead, but I like the direction the season's going in. You can feel the mood of the team. You can feel being a part of a place that wins a lot. You can feel we have what it takes. Like I said, don't want to look too far ahead, but I'm almost anxious to see just how far we can go, just how well we're going to play at the end of the road.
The feedback I've gotten from the coaches has been great. Obviously, everything is not all good. I made a mistake or two. I got a penalty last game, so they coached me up on that, but they've also been complimenting me on the effort I've been giving, even my practice habits and the effort I'm giving in practice.
My reps with the defense have increased tremendously in practice last week and definitely a lot this week, so you never know. They want to keep me prepared. They told me 'Just always stay ready,' and that's how I prepare myself mentally and physically. I prepare myself as a starter, each and every game. You never know. You could be a play away from getting in there and playing a significant role on this team, so I prepare myself every week as if I'm going to start the game. It's been exciting just to be mentioned in the game plan, having packages to get ready for and stuff like that for in case we need them.
It was scary to see Andre get hurt this last week (Editor's note: Harris and Andre Johnson are close friends from Miami). Watching on the sidelines, I was like, 'No… 'Dre, what's wrong, man? This can't happen to you.' But just talking to him, he's very at ease with it. He's a very positive guy; never gets down on anything. It was an unfortunate situation, an unfortunate incident, but he's always so positive. You never see him get down. You never see him get upset or in a bad mood. Just seeing his positive side, it enlightens a lot of us that he's going to be alright.
The fans in Houston have been great. I can't lie, I was excited to get back home and play in this stadium last week against the Steelers after those two road games. The warm welcome we got here, you could just feel the energy when you're running out of the tunnel. Even during warm-ups, everything is always so energetic. I love playing here. The atmosphere is great. The fans do a great job of getting behind us on gameday. I just look forward to being here for a long time.
*](http://www.twitter.com/HarrisNOFLYZONE)
Brandon Harris rookie diary archive
9/23: Trip home to Miami
9/9: Anticipation building
8/26: American Idol dreams
8/19: First game in the books
8/14: Excited for Monday night
8/5: First week of camp
