This is a quiet time around the league. Players and coaches are taking a break for a few weeks before Training Camp gets cranked up and they really embark on the 2021 journey.
I'm sure the players are working out like gangbusters still. There's no way they can go from a nine week offseason program to a full regimen of couch-sitting, pizza-eating and Netflix-watching. But it's probably good to unplug at least a little bit and get their minds and bodies ready for the five-plus month grind that awaits them.
I always like watching the team practice. But watching OTAs kind of gives me an 'all dressed up and no place to go' feeling. There's the team, working hard, gearing up for – a break of about six weeks. Once camp hits you know that preseason games are a couple of weeks away so there's this added tension that is palpable.
Coaches get to spend time with their families at this time of year. This is a bit of a rare thing for them. Once the season hits, they have maybe one night a week when they can hang with the kids and the spouse. They might get the night after a home game to have dinner and say hello. Personally, I'm a bit fried after a game and not always great company. I'll just hope that they are.
You might think there isn't much going on at the stadium during this break but that's totally incorrect. The business of hosting over 70,000 people, getting all the off-field elements of the campaign together and everything from readying for appearances to preparing the preseason TV broadcasts never really stops. Plus, having fans attend Training Camp, especially during the pandemic wind-down, is tricky and time consuming. But no one is complaining. Football will be back soon enough.
The main thing is getting the players and coaches back in the facility and putting on the best possible performances this season. There are so many questions to answer. There's so much intrigue over how this new version of the Texans will look. We'll continue setting the stage between now and late July.
As we navigate through the blazing heat of the Texas summer, we can all sense that football is not too far away. A new adventure awaits and we're here for it.
