The Houston Texans put on the pads for the first practice of this year's training camp. No fans were present – the next open practice will be later this week – but the big plays (on both sides of the ball) were still on full display.
Oh, and a few celebrities stopped by to surprise the players and staff.
Here are the hottest headlines from Day 5 of training camp:
1. Pads are here
The biggest story is the PADS, because as we all know, that's when practices really gain momentum. Head coach DeMeco Ryans emphasized the protecting players during padded practices.
"It was a good day," Ryans said. "Main thing is we put on pads. No one's mindset changed. We still want to do a great job of protecting the team, and that's the main emphasis, right? Just making sure we're taking care of each other. Making sure we're in a good football position to tackle, so I thought the guys did a really good job today of just protecting each other, staying up. It was a very efficient practice today."
2. Stingley's pick-six
The defense has been making plays early in camp and Monday was no exception. Second-year CB Derek Stingley Jr. came up with an interception returned for a touchdown during a team period with Jalen Pitre accompanying him all the way.
Ryans says he "loves" how Stingley has been playing and that he will get more one-on-one opportunities.
3. Juice on the move
The center position has seen some rotating during second and third team with rookie Juice Scruggs. The second-round pick out of Penn State has been taking snaps at both center and guard spots early in camp.
"Juice has been a guy who we've moved around inside, and that's one thing that we liked about him coming out of college was his versatility," Ryans said. "Being able to play any spot in that interior, whether it's guard or center, he's done a lot for us. Very smart guy, picked up on the offense well, and he's a guy I highlighted in our team meeting yesterday just because of the technique he had on a run block, and being exactly where he needed to be with his hand placement, his footwork. It was fun to see. It was great that everybody could see how good of a job he's doing in the run game."
4. WWE x NFL
The WWE Raw tour stopped in Houston for a show Monday night, but a few stars made their way to Texans training camp first. Known as the Alpha Academy, Chad Gable, Otis and Maxxine Dupri chatted with GM Nick Caserio at practice and caught up with players, media members, TORO and more.
The Texans will be back in action on Tuesday for training camp practice followed by a day off on Wednesday.
