The Houston Texans will suit up for their fourth and final preseason game on Thursday night. After an offseason of meetings, practices, and then the grind of training camp, players will have one final chance to put their skillset on film. A solid performance hopefully lands them on the Texans 53-man roster, but if not, it could win them a job elsewhere.
"I just told the team this morning, relative to the guys that will play the most in this game, there's been several examples over the years of guys that played really well in the fourth game and made the team," head coach Bill O'Brien said Monday. "There's also examples of guys that have played really well in the fourth game, over the years, that have been released by that team and then signed very quickly by another team onto their 53. So, I think it's in everybody's best interest to go out there and play as good as you can in this game."
Even though the fourth preseason game is important, it is not the biggest determination of a player's roster status, according to O'Brien.
"I do think it's a cumulative review, how they've done since they've been here, rookie minicamp, OTAs, everybody has practice squad eligibility," O'Brien said. "The practice squad is very important to us. It's not a scout team, it's a group of guys that we think have a future with the franchise, have a future with the team."
Teams currently have 90 players on their rosters, which will be trimmed to 53 by Saturday 3 p.m. CT. Teams can claim players off waivers until 11 a.m. CT on Sunday, Sept. 1. Practice squad signings begin at noon CT on Sunday.
The Texans will host the Los Angeles Rams in the final preseason game on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on ABC-13 and SportsRadio 610.
