NEW ADDITIONS:The Texans added more manpower to the tight end position Monday to ease an increasingly bizarre injury situation.
Kevin Zureki, a 6-foot-2, 267-pound tight end from Eastern Michigan, was on the practice field Monday morning. Zureki caught 19 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns in 2004 – his best season.
To make room for Zureki, the Texans waived center Dennis O'Sullivan, who injured his knee Aug. 6
The team has had to deal with a plethora of tight end injuries thus far in camp. Billy Miller experienced back spasms on the second day of training camp but returned to action Monday morning.
Jabari Holloway has been sidelined by a groin injury. Texans head coach Dom Capers hopes he can return to the lineup later in the week.
The team also has Bennie Joppru on the physically unable to perform list.
MORNING HIGHLIGHTS:Throw the ball to wide receiver Corey Bradford and things just seem to happen.
Bradford had a one-handed catch in Monday morning's practice, reaching out with his left hand past corner back Jason Simmons to haul in David Carr’s pass. Bradford also made a tough catch on the sideline near the end zone, which was ruled out of bounds.
Antwan Peek continues to look good in the preseason. Peek dropped back into coverage on one
play and deflected Dave Ragone’s pass into the waiting hands of linebacker Marcus Bell. It was a victory for Peek, who played defensive end in college.
ONE FOR THE FANS: Twenty-six players stayed after practice Monday night to sign autographs for
fans. Quarterbacks, specialists, cornerbacks and wide receivers sat at tables
outside the practice fields while most of the more than 2,000 fans waited in line.
PEEKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: Linebacker Antwan Peek played well against the Dolphins Aug. 7 and wants to carry it over to the rest of camp.
Peek has been one of the more flashy players to this point in training camp and wants to continue to improve his coverage skills to complement the pass rushing ability he showed in 2003.
"This year has to be a more comfortable year for me, not so much of a learning, more of a playing and showing the coaches what I can do," Peek said. "I was pretty confident coming into camp day one. I was excited about coming to camp. I think the scrimmage just added a little more to it."
Peek played in 10 games last season with four starts, finishing with 28 tackles and one sack.
"I think he's having a good camp," Capers said. I think he's made progress in a lot of areas. You've seen him make plays fairly consistently throughout camp. He's done well in his one-on-one pass rush. He's done much better in his coverage and I think he has a better feel of our defense."
QUOTABLE:Capers on the new rules concerning defensive backs and illegal contact: "We had
some which were legitimate in the scrimmage on Saturday. There was one that I
disagreed with that we cut up and we're going to send in and ask about because
(Jason Bell) was doing what we coached him to do. I just want to make sure that out here,
right now, that we're getting our players ready and we're coaching them on the
way things are going to be called."
Offensive coordinator Chris Palmer on play balance: "We would like to run the ball 30 times a game and probably
throw it 35. The biggest thing we've got to do is stay on the field longer and
be more efficient in our third down situations."
INJURY REPORT:Center internal-link-placeholder-0 and running back internal-link-placeholder-1 returned to practice Monday morning. Guard internal-link-placeholder-2 is still out.
McKinney resumed his role at center. Offensive lineman Todd Washington, who had been playing center, moved to take Wiegert's spot at guard.* *
"Right now I'm expecting to play," McKinney said of Saturday's preseason game with Dallas. "I'm expecting to play through all the reps with the first group.
"It's a new offense, there are a lot of things about the new blocking scheme I need to learn and practice. You could always use more practice."
Linebacker Kailee Wong returned to practice Monday morning. He and his wife, Marissa had a son over the weekend.* *
