Whitney Mercilus put in a hard day's work Tuesday. Even if he was by himself.
"He did not practice with us," head coach Gary Kubiak said after Tuesday's Texans Team Luncheon at the Westin Galleria. "But I'll tell you this, he worked harder than we worked in practice."
Yesterday, Kubiak said the outside linebacker would resume practicing with the Texans after missing all but the first three days of training camp with a hamstring injury. He wasn't back with his teammates today, but he went through a more strenuous workout under the direction of the team's medical training staff instead.
"All we did was went out in hats and basically had an hour jog through assignment-type stuff," Kubiak said. "We wanted him to get real good work, so he worked with trainers, puts his pads on and did much more than we did. He's doing fine."
Although he went through the work today, Kubiak will not put Mercilus in the game Thursday at Dallas. The second-year player hasn't suited up for any of the first three preseason games in 2013.
"No, I don't see that happening," Kubiak said. "I don't think we make that decision with such a short notice here and, the fact we're going there on turf, I think we'll just be smart and we'll use our time and get him ready to go for San Diego."
The regular season begins a week from Monday night, when the Texans travel to San Diego for the regular season opener against the Chargers.
