Running back Mike Bell had 677 rushing yards with eight touchdowns as a rookie in 2006.
The Texans added former Denver Broncos running back Mike Bell to the team Thursday after inviting him to work out at the Methodist Training Center earlier in the day.
Bell (6-0, 225) was released by Denver only 10 days ago. His familiarity with the Texans' zone scheme makes it an easy fit for Bell, who played fullback last year.
"It helps out a lot," Bell said of his offensive background. "It's not like going to a team where everything is different. This is pretty much identical, so I can jump in there. I can jump in the play and I'm ready to go for the most part. So I'm going to get in the playbook and just refresh because I haven't played running back in almost a year. So I'll refresh my skills. I'm excited. This is a great team and a great organization."
{QUOTE}Bell has 680 career rushing yards on 163 carries (4.2 avg.) with eight touchdowns that all came in his 2006 rookie year. A former undrafted free agent, Bell also has 21 career catches for 165 yards (7.9 avg.).
The transaction provides the Texans with more depth given how running back Chris Brown, a key offseason signing from the Tennessee Titans, has missed several days of training camp practice with back spasms. Bell joins Brown, Ahman Green, Darius Walker, Chris Taylor and Steve Slaton in the backfield.
"I came in here with attitude just like I did coming in as a rookie in Denver," Bell said. "Just grind from the bottom and I think I have a good chance because I know the offense just coming from Denver. So I think I have a good chance to come out there and compete."
Kubiak looks forward to acclimating Bell to the team.
"He got gassed," Kubiak said of Bell's first practice with the Texans. "He looked a lot faster than everybody else to begin with, but he got tired very quick. We just got to get him going. It's an easy call for us because he understands what we're doing and he knows the system, so he can walk out here and go today. He's got some talent. There is an opportunity for him as we get Chris healthy. We'll just see how it goes."
To make room on the roster, the Texans released safety Brandon Mitchell, a former undrafted free agent who the Texans signed out of Ohio State in 2007.
