The Texans had a light special teams practice on Friday morning, the eight day of training camp.
After a full-team practice on Friday afternoon, Texans coach Gary Kubiak updated reporters on the progress of injured tight end Owen Daniels.
"He's doing pretty good," Kubiak said. "He's upped his rehab on his sore (right) knee. He's taken some steps forward. Like I said before, it will probably be a good week-and-a-half before we know where he stands. Right now, it's very positive."
Daniels is currently on the active/Physically Unable to Perform list as he continues to recover from the torn right ACL he suffered on Nov. 1 at Buffalo. The 2008 Pro Bowler said last week that he expects to be ready to go for the month of September and could see himself playing in a game with only a couple of weeks' worth of practices.
"The whole plan all along was just to be ready for Week 1," Daniels said. "The more time we can have before that, the better. We're still taking it kind of week-to-week listening to the doctor. I'm going to see him here in probably the next week or two and if he gives me the go-ahead, then we're good to go."
Five Things Worth Noting
- Kubiak said the Texans are continuing to do their homework on free agent defensive end Aaron Schobel, who was released by the Buffalo Bills on Wednesday and has indicated a desire to play in Houston. "It's the same thing, just evaluations," Kubiak said. "I think a lot of people are talking to him, just trying to get a feel for what's next for him and what he wants to do. We're part of that process, too."
- Linebacker Xavier Adibi will be out for another few weeks with a strained groin. A third-year player out of Virginia Tech, Adibi was one of the leading candidates to start at strongside linebacker during Brian Cushing's suspension in the first four games of the season. "A few weeks in training camp is a lot, so we'll see," Kubiak said. "The team was counting on him a great deal. It's been unfortunate that he's been nicked up a lot, and we'll see if we can get him back to 100 percent and keep him on the field."
- Adibi's injury leaves the Texans with some sorting out to do at linebacker. "We'll just go to work with our starters right know and let this thing play itself out," Kubiak said. "Obviously, Kevin (Bentley) or Danny (Clark), somebody's going to have to end up playing that spot. One of the other options we always talked about was that Zac (Diles) could move, too. Now the young kid gets involved with (Darryl) Sharpton." Sharpton presumably would take Diles' spot on the weakside if Diles were to switch positions.
- The Texans are heavily rotating players on the interior offensive line as they look to see if anyone can supplant center Chris Myers, left guard Kasey Studdard or right guard Antoine Caldwell in the starting lineup. Kubiak said he doesn't expect the rotation to settle down until the Texans approach their third preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 28. "It's just who we'll think will be the best three inside, and they all have the ability to play a couple of spots," Kubiak said. "We tried to settle Wade (Smith) down, get him kind of going at center and make him feel good there, and now let him compete at the guard position. Mike (Brisiel) is important for our team from the standpoint of being versatile. Catfish (Chris White) is the same way. We've got a great group of guys, and we're just trying to make sure that they get equal reps."
- Due to high demand, the Texans opened another training camp practice to the public. Their Monday morning 8 a.m. session will now be open to fans, meaning that the Saturday morning practice will no longer be the Texans' last open practice of camp. Attendance for the Texans' Thursday night practice was announced on Friday at 5,056, a record for Texans training camp.
Five Things Worth Quoting
"Yeah, you've got to wear them out a little bit. You know, those guys are lazy most of the time. They hate facing fast guys. But you've got to have power. You can't just run around because they'll just push you around the edge every time."
- DE Connor Barwin, on speed frustrating offensive linemen
"He makes silly catches all the time in practice. He did it all last year; 'oohs' and 'ahhs' even when (the media) aren't out here. That's kind of his thing, making those one-handed grabs. He's definitely a player who can help us out."
- Daniels, on TE James Casey making one-handed catches in practice
"(Casey) is really versatile in terms of learning to play tight end and being able to do that fullback stuff and work in the slot. That's exciting when you can have three tight ends that can be on the field. It really causes problems for defenses. They have no idea what you're going to line up in, what kind of set. We could spread it out or pack it in, in the power game."
- Daniels, no how Casey's versatility could make for a formidable trio of tight ends along with he and Joel Dreessen
"I think my brother beat the fear out of me when I was little. He was 10 years older and used to throw the ball as hard as he could at me when I was little. When I was six, he was 16. You do the math, it was coming pretty fast. I've had a knack for catching the ball ever since. "
- WR David Anderson, on how he developed reliable hands
"I could never tell you. I don't want anyone to know. When I retire, there'll be a book that comes out."
- P Matt Turk, coming off one of the best seasons of his career at age 42, on his training routine
