The Texans are well-rested off their bye and ready to head to the desert to face their Week 7 opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders, also coming off a bye. Here's what we learned this week:
Bye Week recap
First things first, how did everyone spend their bye week?
- QB Davis Mills played some golf and cheered on Stanford, who beat Notre Dame over the weekend.
"I went up to Horseshoe Bay outside of Austin," Mills said. "Played a little golf and tried to get away a little bit. We've still got a long season ahead of us. You try to flush football from your mind a little bit, but then just get back to it." - Despite one less game than most RBs, Dameon Pierce still leads all rookies with 412 rushing yards and ranks second with 469 scrimmage yards.
Pierce said he stayed in Houston, recovered and chipped away at the new season of Blacklist on Netflix. - Lovie Smith headed to Austin to watch the Texas Longhorns beat Iowa State 24-21.
- Brandin Cooks spent time with his family and headed home to Oregon for some R&R.
Home sweet home
Speaking of returning home, TE Brevin Jordan grew up in Las Vegas and could be making his return to the lineup this week for Houston. After an ankle injury at Denver, Jordan has missed three games but did practice this week. Jordan said he was expecting a sizeable cheering section of family and friends on the road.
"Oh my gosh, I got so many people asking me for tickets but they got to handle their own," Jordan said.
Marquis matchup
When the Raiders traded for Davante Adams this offseason, it was the biggest blockbuster announcement in free agency. Head Coach Lovie Smith is excited to see No. 3 overall draft pick DB Derek Stingley Jr. in action against one of the league's biggest stars.
"Who is the highest paid receiver in football? He's (Davante Adams) right up there," Smith said. "Right now, to this point, we can argue about a few thousand dollars here and there. He's one of the best. There's a reason why is my point. If you're a corner in general, you have to be excited about that. For a young player like (Derek) Stingley, yeah he's excited about this challenge. Best of the league, that's why we drafted him that high. I know he's looking forward to it, like all of our teams."
He Got Time?
Rookie DB Jalen Pitre is off to a hot start in his first five games, picking up a pair of interceptions, a sack, a fumble recovery, two passes defensed along with 38 tackles (21 solo) and three tackles for loss.
His pregame secret?
He watches Spike Lee's 1998 film "He Got Game" or a few clips from it, depending on his schedule.
"Yeah, it's a two hour movie," Pitre said. "So if we have a late game, I can watch it like it's no problem. But you know, earlier games at 12, it's a little bit harder. But I definitely get the clips that I need to get in."
Will Pitre have time to watch the whole movie on Sunday? The Texans kick off at 3:05 p.m. CT from Allegiant Stadium on CBS and SportsRadio 610.
