-Sunday morning's practice outside at the Houston Methodist Training Center was open to people on the season ticket wait list. 5,756 Texans fans were on hand to watch.
-The Texans wore shoulder pads and helmets with shorts.
-The big news of the morning was defensive end J.J. Watt's exclusion from contact drills.
-Inside linebacker Darryl Sharpton returned from a groin injury after spending the first eight days of camp on the active/non-football injury list.
-Running back Arian Foster worked on a side field again, and remains on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Head coach Gary Kubiak said Friday that he expected Foster to return Sunday morning from a calf injury, but that didn't happen.
"His calf is fine," Kubiak said. "His back is sore. Hey, keep going day-to-day."
-Running back Ben Tate didn't practice either. He had groin tightness on Friday morning.
-Because Foster and Tate were out, undrafted free agent Dennis Johnson saw some action with the first team. He's battling with Deji Karim, Ray Graham and Cierre Wood.
-To the delight of the crowd, wide receiver Andre Johnson caught a 40-yard pass up the middle from quarterback Matt Schaub.
-Rookie wideout DeAndre Hopkins answered a few moments later when he reached over cornerback Kareem Jackson, who was stride-for-stride with Hopkins, to haul in a 25-yarder up the left sideline.
-1989 Heisman Trophy winner and current Texans radio color commentator Andre Ware watched practice from the sidelines.
-Also on hand for practice was former Texans linebacker Jay Foreman. He shared his thoughts on the defense and more here.
-Cornerback Brice McCain picked off a deep pass over the middle and then weaved his way back for a good chunk of yardage on the return. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips jokingly threw both arms in the air to signal a touchdown.
-The two-hour practice began at 8 a.m., and the players took their shoulder pads off at 9:15.
-During the afternoon practice inside, Shiloh Keo was part of a group that returned punts.
-Music could be heard from outside the Houston Methodist Training Center during the afternoon practice. The Vans Warped Tour was going on in a parking lot nearby.
-Twitter.com/DoughertyDrew
