Three-time Super Bowl champion Willie McGinest watched the final two days of Texans OTA practice and dispensed a little knowledge too.
McGinest, now an analyst for NFL Network, is very familiar with the system the Texans are currently learning. After all, he played in it for most of his career under Romeo Crennel and alongside his former teammate and currently the Texans linebackers coach, Mike Vrabel.
"It's the same system I ran for 15 years and it seems like nothing's changed," McGinest said on Texans Radio. "Just another resource when you're trying to win and do everything to get the edge like Bill O'Brien is doing here. There's nothing wrong with bringing in guys who are really successful or bringing in coaches who are really successful running the system that they are going to run and playing it at a high level."
Players picked up pointers on technique and hand placement among other skills from McGinest. Outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus tried to soak up as much as he could from the 15-year veteran.
"He talked a little bit about pass rush and also how to play the run, how to be explosive out of our stance and things like that," Mercilus said. "He's got a lot of knowledge. He's played in this game and he's been successful. We can learn a lot of things from him. It was really cool to have somebody as great as him to be in the meetings and give a little bit of knowledge on the field too."
The learning was a two-way street for the Texans and McGinest, now a football analyst for the NFL network, who wanted to see first-hand how different game-planning has become since he retired in 2009.
"I wanted to further my knowledge because the game has changed a little bit. It's not the same as when I played so some of the schemes, how teams are game-planning. You have to draft differently because offenses are running different formations so the defenses are changing.
