In his first game as a Houston Texan, Denzel Perryman walked off the field with double-digit tackles against the Baltimore Ravens. The nine-year veteran led the team with 11 tackles (six solo) and finished with one tackle for loss.
"That's just the first brick, got a foundation, man," Perryman said. "We're just going to build off that. Like I said, there's a lot of things we got to clean up and about."
The last time Perryman had 10 or more tackles was Week 9 last year against Jacksonville during his two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders. A 2015 second-round draft pick for the San Diego Chargers, Perryman signed with the Texans in free agency this year.
"With this team, I felt good," Perryman said. "I felt good being out there. I thank the coaches for the opportunity. The new team, it's week one. So it's a long season. It's a marathon, not a race. So yeah, I just like to say, stay tuned. I feel good about how we played on Sunday. Like I said, it wasn't what we wanted as a result. But as a team, it's like the little things that a lot of people don't see that kind of excites the players and the coaches and just the organization in general."
Despite Houston's 25-9 loss to the Ravens, Perryman was impressed with how the defense came together for some of those "little things." He made a note of rookie Will Anderson talking himself up in the huddle, credited the defensive line for winning their battles and paving the way for his own performance as lead tackler. But, Perryman also referenced the overall attitude that he saw from his teammates.
"I'm just speaking like defensively, as a defensive player," Perryman said. "But just the way we just kept fighting, like no matter what happened, we went out there and fought."
The Texans defense came away with 3.0 sacks, seven quarterback hits, five tackles for loss, one interception, one pass defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on defense on Sunday. Houston held the Ravens offense to just 265 net yards, the fifth fewest in a Ravens season opener since 1999.
