With thunderstorms moving into the area, the Texans began their Thursday camp practice about 90 minutes earlier than scheduled. The team was able to get a window of good weather for the day's work outside.

Players practiced in shells and shorts and it appeared to be a veteran rest day for many, including J.J. Watt, Johnathan Joseph and Tyrann Mathieu.

DeAndre Hopkins did return to practice after missing two days for personal reasons. The All-Pro didn't miss a beat, making his routine acrobatic catches during team drills.

With no Watt, Jadeveon Clowney got in a few extra reps during drills. Bill O'Brien said they will be increasing his workload incrementally throughout camp.

The NFL officials were at practice. After one particular play, Hopkins lobbied for a defensive pass interference for a teammate. Hopkins joked the flag would be a good teaching lesson for the DB (not sure who it was on the play) but the referee apparently disagreed.

It was a shorter than usual practice with no Bill O'Brien press conference or player availability. Assistant coaches did speak to the media after practice.

Quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan on how Deshaun Watson has looked since the start of training camp one week ago.

"I think he's looked very good. To me, there doesn't seem to be any sort of apprehension on his part. He's out there, he's doing what he does, moving around very well. So, I think to this point, I think all signs are positive."

Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel on Tyrann Mathieu:

"Well, he's still learning. I think sometimes you have to get to game competition to find out exactly what guys know. But he's picked up on the system, he can communicate back there, he's got good ability to make plays. When we get into the games, we'll see how that compares."

Offensive line coach Mike Devlin described Seantrel Henderson's size as being as big as one of the West Virginia mountains surrounding the practice fields. In addition to his physical attributes, the 6-7, 330-pound lineman also brings his versatility, the ability to play both left and right tackle, to the Texans o-line.

Wide receivers coach John Perry on rookie Keke Coutee:

"I keep telling Keke that if he is able to recognize the coverage, there's going to be a lot of people that have a hard time covering him."

Secondary coach Anthony Midget has a lot of big personalities in the defensive backs group. He took a pop quiz and here were some of his answers:

Name the DB who...

-Would be most likely to pursue a music career after football: Tyrann Mathieu and/or Treston Decoud

-Is the messiest: Kevin Johnson

-You would take on a road trip: Johnathan Joseph