Texans Defense Dominates Day 8 of Training Camp Before Greenbrier Trip | Will Anderson Jr. Impresses

Join Marc Vandermeer and John Harris as they break down Day 8 of Houston Texans training camp, highlighting Will Anderson Jr.'s standout performance and the defense's strong showing. Hear exclusive interviews with offensive coordinator Nick Caley discussing his philosophy and quarterback development, rookie QB Graham Mertz on his draft experience, and former Texan N.D Kalu with veteran insight on training camp's benefits.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello Texans, Welcome to the Weekend. Mark vandermir and John
Harris with you as training camp continues. We had day
eight of practice today. Day nine is tomorrow. Team at
the Greenbrier next week and we'll be live Monday morning
at eight am to take you to the fields in
West Virginia where the team will continue camp and get
you ready for the first preseason game a week from

(00:21):
tomorrow at Minnesota three o'clock start time. Looking forward to
that and a lot of things happening, a lot of
things happening that we got to go over here tonight.
We'll go over the day eight John Harris highlights, Harris
hits of practice. We'll do that, and we won't talk
about Carlos Correa. But good for the Astros. That's nice.
But I wanted to just mention at the very least

(00:43):
that ESPN has This is a report that broke earlier today.
Agreed to purchase NFL network Red Zone, various NFL media properties.
This is a huge billion dollar type deal and ESPN
had to do it.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
They had to do this because.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Zone is that valuable in itself and the NFL network
does get some subscriber fees. I have no idea how
they're going to handle that. They'll anounce more formal plans
perhaps next week, but I think red Zone alone will
be huge for ESPN. However, the fear is John, the
fear is among the fans that they're going to ruin
red Zone, that they're going to sully it up with

(01:22):
commercials or whatever else.

Speaker 3 (01:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
No, I know we've had more.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Advertising on Red Zone recently, but it's done in a
way that doesn't really interfere with things. I can't have
commercial breaks in red Zone. I can't have him. Can't
do it. No, cannot do it. Gotta have action constantly. Now, look,
can you go box and go do a thirty second
box here, box there, and you know, help pay the

(01:46):
freight for this because you're doing it because you want
that audience. I don't know how they're going to work
it out. It's not gonna be the same, though, I.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Would imagine it's not that that fear is always there
when something is purchased. We saw this this week when
I think there's a private equity group that is purchasing
a share or purchasing out Shipley Donuts, and it's like WHOA,
And I remember people got all panicked when Waaberger was
purchased by some group in Chicago. So there's always a

(02:15):
fear of how they going to change the things that
I like. So one thing I read that I thought
was interesting was this is gonna be there's gonna have
to be regulatory review of this that could take from
nine to twelve months.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
If it goes into effect next.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
Season, it would be part of a big year for
ESPN as a twenty twenty six year ends with ESPN's
first Super Bowl. That game will also be on ABC,
So that's a nice that's a nice little boost.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
But we'll see.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
But this has been rumored for years, this whole ESPN
NFL media merger thing, trade whatever it has been rumored
for years. So now there, it seems, is an outline
to what it is that ESPN is getting, what NFL
is getting. It's been interesting to watch. We know people

(03:09):
with the network that have been with the network are
still with the network and when you ask them, they're.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Like, I have no idea, I don't know what this audiens,
you know.

Speaker 4 (03:16):
So we're hoping for them that there will be other
programming and there will be more programming and they can
keep jobs and keep us entertained with the NFL network.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
But I'm with you.

Speaker 4 (03:29):
There are some things you just Red Zone and Scott
Hansen are good as they are and will continue to
get better. Leave them alone, Leave Britney alone.

Speaker 1 (03:42):
You leave Brittany alone on the Red Zone channel.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
I love it. I love it.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Okay, let's get to this Texans training camp. We saw
some things. It was another day in pads.

Speaker 2 (03:52):
What is this?

Speaker 1 (03:52):
Four consecutive days and pads with a day off yesterday.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
But they were out there in pads.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
I don't know if they're gonna be in pads tomorrow
to travel tomorrow afternoon late to get to the Greenbrier.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
But what did you see?

Speaker 1 (04:06):
I'm gonna give you a little lead in here. Okay,
defense making some plays here, Johnny and defense make a place.
I've got this Matt Burke take. Everyone's talking about Matt Burke.
He's got the walkie talkie called defensive plays. Listen, here's
what I would do if I were Matt Burke. Okay,
I got the walkie talkie. Okay, will go in and
reck shop, go in and mess this play up. Will

(04:27):
do your thing with Daniil, You do your thing? Will
you do yours, everybody else just kind of cover somebody okay,
okay out and that's very effective out there.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
They're making that part of it look really easy. The
coverage has been just phenomenal, and there's been the obviously
there's a lot of talk before the year about this
being the best secondary in the league and they're playing
up to it. They're really challenging the offense. They're they're
playing up to that level. They they can cover all
over the field. And again we've talked about, you know

(04:59):
what the offenses dealing with every single day, but the.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Defenses, it's at a different level.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
And when when you get a chance to see Will
Anderson Junior work up close, and we have that fortunate
opportunity to watch every single practice and watch him up
close twenty four to seven.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
Right now, he's just everything he's doing is working.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
I mean it's like Steph Curry. It's like everything he
throws at the baskets going in. He has different ways
to win now, which is scary because when he first
got in the league, it was you know, he's talked
about it, he's been very open about it.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
It's been more chronicled about. You I got to finish
the quarterback better. And you know he would have one move.
You know, his power was impressive, or maybe he do
long arm.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
Now he's doing swipes and all kinds of stuff getting
the quarterback. And then on the other side, you've got
fifty five who's got such a litany of pass rush moves.
And they work together too. They don't you don't see
the two of them when they rush. You don't see
them end up at the same spot. They don't both
end up running past the quarterback high right. They might

(06:01):
have one underneath and one over the top, so they're
gonna clamp in a quarterback like they're in sync with
one another with how they rush.

Speaker 2 (06:08):
And that has been that's been really, really good.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
And the thing is is, I wouldn't sit here and
tell you the offensive line has been completely dreadful.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
I wouldn't tell you that. I think the offensive line
has a good moments.

Speaker 4 (06:18):
They've had much better protection, I would say, than they
had at this time last year.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I'll tell you that.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
But you still want to see more from the offense.
But to me, the secondary has gotten The secondary is
so in tune to what's going on, and they're so good,
such good cover guys. You throw Chauncey Gardner, c J. Gardner,
Johnson there with Cavin block, It's like, come on, geez,
this is this is even fair.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
So my take on the Will Anderson Jr. Against any
right tackle situation as this, there's not a right tackle
in this camp that can block Will Anderson. The good
thing is there might not be too many in the
league who can block.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Will Anderson Jr.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
So that's really good information right there. Yeah, Adams Daniel
takes the side over the left tackle and Will takes
the right tackle. I know they have actually switched it.
I've seen it here, but Will more often than not
over the right tackle. And poor Ursery as a rookie
has to deal with this guy in his third year
ready to eat.

Speaker 4 (07:17):
And that's what Kole Popovich and Nick Kyley have to
remind Ariante, like, look, you're facing the best there is,
so hold up against him. Use these techniques. Let's work
on these techniques. Once you get to the games, it's
gonna feel easier because you're facing guys that aren't those

(07:39):
two and that's gonna make things a lot easier. Now,
there's some really good pass rushers that Texans are gonna face.
He's gonna face Jared Vers week one, You're gonna face Latu.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
With the Colts, you know.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
Trayvon Walker can be a handful and josh Heinz Allens,
they're both handfuls.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Well, Anderson is going to be the toughest that he's
probably gonna face.

Speaker 4 (07:59):
So it's some point you get comfortable where you can
hang on for dear life. If you want to go
that direction, you'll get better. You'll get better by facing
Will Anderson Junior. So I'm not dismayed really with the
offensive lines performance.

Speaker 2 (08:15):
I'm really not.

Speaker 4 (08:17):
The receivers are just getting clamped down because this secondary
is so good, and I think there's more to this
offense than we just haven't seen yet. I think they're
gonna be a few more opportunities well you know that.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, Yeah, there's gonna be a.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
Few more opportunities for the offense to do some different things,
present some different looks for for this.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
For this defense.

Speaker 4 (08:39):
I think there have been times where the offensive line
has opened some good holes in the run game. They've
thought a nice job running some duo and some interior
stuff that it looked that looks good.

Speaker 2 (08:48):
Like Nick I thought had a couple of good runs.
I have an asterisk as.

Speaker 4 (08:51):
I go through I always kind of asterisks a nice
play that I want to make sure I mentioned.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
I put it.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
I had an asters play on a Nick Chubb inside
run today I thought was pretty good.

Speaker 2 (08:59):
I thought it was blocked well.

Speaker 4 (09:00):
So I think this team is going to be what
Demiko wanted it to be originally, and that is he
said at the press conference, is like, the Texans are
going to be a physical football team. Yeah, and I
think the offensive line is finding that out. Like I
said when I at the end of the Texas training
camp a lot today when I watched one on ones,
I've seen that period the first time at least twelve times.

(09:21):
But even before that, I've seen the offense get absolutely
just murdered in a situation, just destroyed. That really wasn't
the case. They held up really well, I thought into
one on one. So it shows you, hey, there's some
talent there, there's some grit, there's some toughness there. It
just needs a little bit more time to be seasoned.

(09:41):
And I won't go back to my chicken analogy. It
just needs a little bit more time to be seasoned.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Okay, no more chicken, No more Chicken.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
What was interesting to me was standing with dy Kalou
at his son Jonah. Yeah, he was senior in high
school and he was doing basic play by play on
everything Will Anderson Junior was doing.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, look look at him do this, look at him.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Move that way, look at him, look at him, come
to the sideline, look at the body language, look at
the leadership, look at the energy. You know, just really
going over everything Will's doing, and more intense and detailed
stuff as well. And I thought this is pretty interesting
because Ndy spent twelve years of the NFL has been
around a lot of good players. He was a good player,
so that was not eye opening so much, but really

(10:21):
interesting stuff as we get ready for the twenty twenty
five campaign.

Speaker 4 (10:25):
You know another guy I thought had a really good day,
and I think he's had a number of good days,
and that's the zero zizel Shire. I think as has
been really really good. When they went to it, there
was one team dro they went to and I just
remember Aziz before the snap just took both hands and
was like pah pie is like pop in his helmet
and they ran an inside play and he read it

(10:46):
from jump and got to jump on it and just poh,
like right.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
At the line of scrimmage, just beautiful pop.

Speaker 4 (10:52):
I think it was Nick, and I'm like, dang, it
was really impressive. He's been really impressive in coverage. I
think he has played about like you would want him to.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
Well, can't wait to see more. We'll see it at
the Greenbrier. We'll see it tomorrow morning, and you'll continue
to describe it on Harris hits on Houston Texans dot com.
So later on of the show, Graham Mertz quarterback Dye Kalu,
we'll hear from him. We visited with him. But first
Nick Keley was a guest on In the Loop, the
Offensive Coordinator sat down with Reggie and John.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
Nick, how's going this's going?

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Good?

Speaker 5 (11:24):
Man? About you guys?

Speaker 6 (11:25):
Terrific? Absolutely terrific.

Speaker 7 (11:27):
H I mean, we've heard a ton about the energy
and excitement that you bring out here, man, Like, how
have you enjoyed the ways that at least your team
has responded to the the you know camp and been
able to you know, kind of get work done thus far.

Speaker 8 (11:40):
Yeah, I mean it's it's you know, like can't play
anything else, but it's with great energy. The guys are
coming to work every day. That's all you can ask for.
Try to have fun, try to keep pushing each other.
The guys, you know, got a great group of people
that makes it's it's people that makes the play. So players, coaches,
you know, long way to go, but making progress.

Speaker 9 (11:57):
And obviously you know offensive coordinator you've got. We've all
talked about your experience and where you've been. My question was, listen, like,
anytime you get to that that seat, you know you're
not you know, you're the guy making the calls. As
much as you're influenced here and you're influenced there. You
kind of like to put your own stamp on things too.
You know, how has that been going for you in
terms of I mean, again, you don't have to like
necessarily we're gonna do this, but in terms of putting

(12:18):
your own stamp and some of the things you like
to do on this phone.

Speaker 5 (12:21):
Yeah, I think, well, first and foremost, I think it's
a philosophy.

Speaker 8 (12:23):
I think everything that we try to do we want
to do to put our players in the best position possible,
the ever players. You know, not everyone players the same,
but I would say the overriding philosophy starting with is
being you know, a fundamentally sound physical outfit that'll play
you know, good situational football and be mentally tough. I mean,
so everything we're doing, you know, really starts with that.

Speaker 7 (12:43):
All right, So I want to talk a little bit
about myself, which I might do too much, but this right,
this is my first time being able to cover camp,
and one of the things I've been asking a lot
of the players is like, what's kind of the advice.

Speaker 10 (12:53):
What's some of the things that they've had early.

Speaker 7 (12:55):
On in you know, in camp that they've appreciated for camp, Like,
is there a piece of advice that you've given or
piece of advice that you maybe you've gotten about, you know,
operating in training camp and especially maybe even for you
as a first time play call it up.

Speaker 8 (13:06):
Yeah, I think just being totally present day by day,
not looking beyond the day that you're at, trying to
you know, improve your fundamentals and just stack positive days,
refine fundamentals, whether that's releases, whether that's hand placement in
the run game, doing things like that, and then building
off of you know, what we're doing schematically, like trying
to you know, obviously have compliments to the things that
we're doing, and that starts with just establishing a foundation,

(13:28):
which we did in spring. We re established that here
at the start of training camp, and now we're trying
to improve the things that you know might show up
and refine some of the details here to carry us forward.

Speaker 10 (13:39):
How do you keep yourself from getting sped up?

Speaker 7 (13:40):
Obviously you are a guy who cares a lot about fundamentals.

Speaker 10 (13:43):
I've heard you mentioned that a lot of times.

Speaker 7 (13:45):
But also it can be very easy to get to
a space where I want to get to the place
where we're doing the things that we ultimately want to
get to.

Speaker 10 (13:50):
How do you keep yourself from getting yet?

Speaker 8 (13:52):
Just remind ourselves that, look, every good play begins and
ends with with good fundamentals. So if you're going to
put in a thousand things, but you can't get past
you know, the one hundred level of you know, hitting
blocks the proper way, identifying the mic point, uh, you know,
aligning properly when you break the huddle like then then
you're just gonna there's gonna be a bucket that just
continues to overflow. So there's a progression to it all

(14:13):
like anything else. And you know, I believe that that starts,
you know, the early part of training camp, the early
part of off season program, and then you stack it
from there and you assess it every day. Like you know,
you you can hit pause. You don't have to just
continue to plow through an installation. If you feel like
you need to take a break, then you have a
review day and you stack days and you.

Speaker 5 (14:29):
Tweak things as you go.

Speaker 8 (14:29):
Have you had to do those, well, No, we manage
after about three or four days. You know, you're always
juggling things around, moving things up, maybe pushing things back
a little bit.

Speaker 5 (14:38):
So that's normal.

Speaker 9 (14:39):
One of the things that that I always find interesting
by a leader, and obviously you're leading the offense, is
I don't have all the answers, you know, I'm more
I'm collaborating. Sure, so I wanted to kind of get
your thoughts on because you know, you we all know
your background. Yeah, tight ends, offensive line passing coordinator, et cetera. Yeah,
but Cole Popovich, Jarrad Johnson bring different backgrounds.

Speaker 4 (14:57):
Sure.

Speaker 6 (14:58):
What has that collaboration been.

Speaker 5 (14:59):
It's been great.

Speaker 8 (14:59):
I mean, and I don't have all the answers, you know,
you rely on It's about people and we have a
great staff of guys, and I truly believe that we're
trying to collectively do this, you know, with every one
of our guys at the forefront of every single decision
we make. So we talked through things, we poke holes
and things. Obviously we have a philosophy that we established
when I came here, things that I want to do,
but there's also things that these guys have done really

(15:21):
well too.

Speaker 5 (15:22):
You don't just throw them away.

Speaker 8 (15:23):
They're good at certain things and they've had success at
certain things. And there's also guys that have experiences, you know,
in other systems and bring some unique perspective to the table.
And I think that's the beauty of a staff. It's
not about me, it's not about any one person. It's
about honestly collectively doing what's right for the team and
trying to get better every day.

Speaker 7 (15:41):
Now we talk about relationships as we're sitting here to
shut and Nick Cayley, the offense Corniard of your Texans,
and I mean, the man who previously held your position
was one of Dimico's friends. And now I don't know
how much of a relationship you've had prior, but how
has that working relationship started kind of coalesced with Dimiko.

Speaker 5 (15:55):
Yeah, it's been great.

Speaker 8 (15:55):
I mean, he's consistent and fair every single day. He's
a great person, great leader. You know, he's been in
the same position that I've been in, you know, at
one point as a first time coordinator. So that's it's
been good getting to discuss certain things, certain situations as
we go, you know, growing every day.

Speaker 5 (16:11):
He pours into everybody. It's it's been it's been an
awesome experience getting to work with him.

Speaker 9 (16:14):
One thing to Miko has said is, you know, everybodys
talking about the offensive line for obvious reasons. It's you know,
some new faces and such. And he said, there's gonna
come a point. I'm paraphrasing, but he said, there's gonna
come a point where we're gonna have our group and
we're gonna want them to get reps together.

Speaker 6 (16:27):
I'm sure you're in that same boat.

Speaker 9 (16:28):
But you know, how do you how does the where
does that light bulb happen?

Speaker 6 (16:31):
And how do you judge? Like, Okay, I think this
is the group.

Speaker 5 (16:34):
I think it naturally progresses everywhere I've been.

Speaker 8 (16:37):
I mean I feel like, you know, at some point
in the first couple of weeks, things start to sort
themselves out. There's there's a level of consistency. Some guys
will be a little bit more consistent, you know, in
their relatively you know, their their role, their respective role.
So you assess that, you look at it and you
find the most consistent players that you know, you know
what you're getting out of every single day.

Speaker 5 (16:53):
And you know that starts to you know.

Speaker 8 (16:54):
Manifest itself right around the second week sometimes and sometimes
it's later.

Speaker 5 (16:58):
There's position battles that always happened, but you know, you
know what's gonna happen. Yeah, yeah, definitely, Nick.

Speaker 7 (17:04):
Do you ever go over to Matt and give him
a little you know, elbow and fifty fifty five? Can
you can you tell chill out a little bit a
little bit?

Speaker 3 (17:12):
No?

Speaker 5 (17:12):
No, he he.

Speaker 8 (17:14):
Turns to loose every single day. He's a great, great coorternator.
We got a great defense. It makes us better. They
give us great challenging looks from day to day. But
it's it's great, it's gonna make us better.

Speaker 9 (17:23):
Now this is you know, we haven't talked about shout
at all, and it's new. You know, he wanted control,
more control. I should say he's getting more control. He's
making calls. What has that progression been like, because it
seems like even from Worre sitting, we're starting to see
some things.

Speaker 5 (17:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (17:37):
No, he's been great. He's attacked, he's had a great attitude.
He loves football, and you know, he comes to work
every day. He asks great questions. He has a great
mind for the game. So he's been he's been all
in and I've been very pleased with everything that he's
he's brought to the table.

Speaker 5 (17:51):
I really have I enjoy working with him.

Speaker 7 (17:52):
Something I know that you probably think a lot, especially
when we ask you questions, is how much less we know.

Speaker 5 (17:57):
About football than you guys.

Speaker 7 (17:58):
And so if you can help me out, Like we've
all been very interesting in getting in the mind of CJ,
especially as he's getting ready to you know, have these
plays out here and it's obviously there's more of it.
Can you take us inside, Like, can you give us
some insight into what's the workload with CJ? In the
huddle pre snap and maybe even in that in the
in you know, when that play gets going.

Speaker 8 (18:15):
Oh, I mean I think there's a lot to it.
I think it starts obviously in the classroom. I mean
you start learning the plays. You learn the intent of
the plays. But there's a lot of mechanics. I mean,
you're you're sitting there, you're getting the grouping in. You're he's,
he's receiving the play. He's he's calling the play. We're
obviously setting the table, whether it's you know, adjusting anything
based on the mic points, you know, coordination with the
line motions, movements, anything like that. He's he's, he's obviously

(18:38):
starts with him and and then you know, getting to
go when the when the ball snapped. I mean, he's
a great processor and you know we're trying to again
that goes down to putting our guys in position to
make plays, and he does a good job of getting
everybody involved.

Speaker 9 (18:51):
Another thing with this offense, again, from from the eight
days that we've been out here, I'm really fascinating with
the tight ends.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
I think there's a lot of options there.

Speaker 9 (18:58):
I think there's this is me talking to me, you know,
so I think this is something that traditionally, you know,
a Patriots style offense, for lack of a better way,
has used a lot of tight ends. Do you in
your mind's eye, do you see how do you visualize
the tight ends? Position working out.

Speaker 8 (19:11):
Yeah, I've been very pleased with I think Jay Morland's
done an exceptional job. I think he's an outstanding tight
end coach and a coaching I mean just a coach
in general. But it's done a great job with that group.
They've all improved. I think we have a very good room,
a deep room, all a little different, which is good.
And I think you can utilize different strainths you know accordingly,
and I'm excited.

Speaker 5 (19:31):
I think, you know, no question.

Speaker 8 (19:33):
I feel like, again I've said this before, maybe a
little biased, but you know, when you have tough tight ends,
when you have versatile tight ends, that's the straw that
serves the drink. That's that's a position group that can
truly enhance toughness. It can you know, add you know,
different elements in the C and D gap area, run
past conflict, et cetera. And I think, you know, we

(19:53):
have a good room of really good players that that
are really good team guys, and and I've been very
pleased with them.

Speaker 7 (19:59):
As we're working on, you know, having this offensive line
getting themselves to a place where they can execute the things.
I know you like running the football. I know you
like twelve personnel sets. I know that there's going to
be you know, big, you know, big strength on that
offensive line.

Speaker 10 (20:10):
What are the improvement points that we're looking at right
now for this line?

Speaker 8 (20:13):
I mean, everything just starts fundamentally. And this isnt cliche.
I mean it does. Like every day we sit there
and look at it, it's like, okay, are we hitting
double teams the right way or we getting split on them? Well,
there's less of that. You know, We're staying connected on
double teams. We're fitting combination blocks better. You know, We're
we're coordinating and communicating cleaner, more consistently across the front
to set the table for certain things, whether that's protection,

(20:34):
whether that's run game targeting and all those things. So
it's work in progress. We're making progress. They're working their
tails off, and you know, I've been pleased with the growth.
Got a ways to go, but we're you know, we're
working hard every day to get there.

Speaker 9 (20:45):
I'm sensing that you're you're very comfortable in this job,
and I'm curious what I wanted to ask you about
is the actual play calling you You've had You've called
plays in the LANDAFL before. I'm guessing they've had they've
never handed you like a preseason no, because a lot
of coaches do that.

Speaker 3 (20:59):
Some do.

Speaker 8 (21:00):
Yeah, No, has not happened, you know, in practice opportunities
and stuff like that.

Speaker 5 (21:04):
We've obviously had a you know, opportunity to call.

Speaker 6 (21:06):
It, and so that's what you're excited about.

Speaker 5 (21:07):
Yeah, I am. But but it starts with having good
people too. You know, I'm gonna learn some things on
the way.

Speaker 8 (21:12):
I'm gonna now there's gonna may be some bad calls
along the way too, and I'm gonna learn from them
and grow from them. And that's the whole idea, is
just to continue to get better myself. The same thing
we ask the players, I gotta asking myself.

Speaker 6 (21:20):
Yeah, so you're looking forward to Minnesota.

Speaker 8 (21:22):
I'm looking forward to I'm looking forward to just tomorrow
starting there and then you know, before we move on
from there.

Speaker 7 (21:27):
But yeah, it's been it's been a pretty good split
all the way across your quarterback room. And I know
for for us, we were looking at it and I
mean from our you know, uninformed information, We're like, hey, man,
I would love to see CJ get a lot of
reps to get.

Speaker 10 (21:39):
A feel for this.

Speaker 7 (21:40):
Is there a reason why you kind of really have
a really strong balance. Is there maybe like some mental
reps things happening where he's sitting off or no.

Speaker 8 (21:46):
I think I think it's a progression that is a
part of the rep distribution that we have to start
a camp and that's yeah, you know, just a sequencing
of that, you know, start the start of camp, building
the reps, and then I think you'll start to see
an influx of that.

Speaker 5 (21:58):
You know, those guys getting reps as can't progress this.

Speaker 9 (22:00):
I got one more for you, and that is just
in general the offense. I said this to a buddy
of mine. I said, because everybody's asking about the Texans
in the city, I said, I could see where there
this is an offense that maybe isn't as spectacular, but
more efficient than I've seen lately. Is efficiency kind of
a catch word for you in terms of just getting
it done?

Speaker 8 (22:19):
Yeah, I mean I think you want to go forward,
you want to get you know, you want to stay
out a second and long situations, third and long situations
that starts on first and second down, so you know, completion,
you know, completing balls, catching run opportunities, whatever that might be,
just positive plays, efficient runs in the run game, just
staying on task and staying on track is the biggest thing.

Speaker 10 (22:38):
There's a lot of work stuff that we've talked about,
a lot of football stuff.

Speaker 5 (22:41):
Have you given yourself.

Speaker 7 (22:42):
Any time to explore the city, play some golf things
like that or is it just like it's so it's.

Speaker 8 (22:47):
Got We got done with ot as My wife and
kids moved out here, you know, from l A out
here middle of June, and I got four little girls
under the age eight. They keep me on my toes
every single day. So no, I got four Yeah, I'm
gonna be four girls. Yeah, So it's it's a lot sometimes.
But my wife's a she's a warrior, and uh, she holds.

Speaker 6 (23:09):
For deaths lessons. That's for h.

Speaker 5 (23:13):
Yeah, exactly right. But now they're they're they're sweet.

Speaker 8 (23:16):
So we we spend time when I get an opportunity
to catch catch our breath and I'm I'm a.

Speaker 10 (23:20):
Dad, very good.

Speaker 5 (23:22):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (23:22):
And then one more thing because I know, for me,
for a football player, I realized that there's certain things,
like certain characteristics that I gravitate towards, like you give
me a fast guy and.

Speaker 10 (23:30):
I'm in love.

Speaker 7 (23:31):
Right, What is the characteristics that endear a player to
Nick Kley.

Speaker 8 (23:35):
Yeah, dependable, consistent, tough, you know, you know what you're
getting out of them every day.

Speaker 5 (23:40):
The moment's not too big and and they're unselfish.

Speaker 3 (23:42):
Yeah, very much.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
I get it.

Speaker 10 (23:44):
I get it, and I love it.

Speaker 3 (23:45):
Nick.

Speaker 10 (23:45):
It's been a great pleasure to get to meet you again.
And best of luck with those four girls.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
Hey, thank you.

Speaker 6 (23:51):
That's what's resonating with me.

Speaker 5 (23:52):
That's right.

Speaker 10 (23:52):
I'm like, how how many hands do you have that
they can paint?

Speaker 1 (23:55):
I feel like I got not enough fun visit there
with Nick Kelly offensive coordinator and guys from in the
Loop and d Kalou on the way next year on
Texans Radio resuming Texans Radio as we were field side
this morning, and Indie Kolu, who is doing booth work
for US on Texans preseason TV broadcasts with John Harris

(24:15):
starting next week a week from tomorrow, three o'clock Saturday,
August ninth, Be there and.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
Be here as we hear from nd your third year
of the booth. How does that feel?

Speaker 11 (24:25):
You know what makes me feel old because I've been
retired for a while, retired from radio, and then you
got me back into you know, calling the games during
the preseason, which I appreciate. And yeah, it's been three years,
this is number three. But it's fun. This is the
most fun I've had since I retired. Oh really, Oh
when we're in the booth and with John in the
booth now and Kevin and everybody's great. But to have

(24:47):
somebody that I can nerd out with and get, you know,
become a geek when it comes to the technique and
talking football, it's been a joy.

Speaker 5 (24:54):
So let me give you a peek behind the scenes,
if you will.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
So we're playing New York last year, playing Giants, and
we got a drive going and we're going into the
South End and all of a sudden we watched the play.
I can't remember what it was and now and d
could still go play a series for sure, And all
of a sudden, I just feel this on my arm.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
I'm like, damn ow.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
He just like and we go to it.

Speaker 4 (25:18):
He's like, did you see Burns and Brian Burns do
this spin move on Blake Fisher? And it was it
was unbelievable, But I didn't see it because I was
watching this side and so but in d SI, he's like, man,
we got to see that. Can we get a ref Like,
we're just both Once we saw it, we were both like,
oh my god, that was incredible, completely like nerding out

(25:40):
because of a spin move by Brian Burns the Giants,
and I mean that was the that was the fun
part of it.

Speaker 5 (25:44):
But you know, ding the Games last year with Indeed, it.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
Was so much fun because we kind of got our
little system down, you know what we were gonna talk,
who's gonna talk, well, how we did it, and it
was it was such a fun time. And obviously Kevin
Coogloo does a great job, but it was just it
was it was great. It was like, man're talking about
you know, guys gonna make the rush.

Speaker 2 (26:01):
Remember we're talking about British Brooks.

Speaker 4 (26:03):
Yes, we talked about British Brooks last year and we're like,
you know, maybe they're.

Speaker 5 (26:06):
Gonna find a spot for him, you know. And indeed,
like good weight, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
I saw like Derreck Henry Junior over here.

Speaker 4 (26:15):
He is rocking guys like this in the locker room.
The guy that's the vyes in the back. It's like
they've got like a twenty six shitch waist and their
shoulders are out. The year, you've seen plenty of those guys, Andy,
what are you what are you most excited to see
during training camp today?

Speaker 2 (26:28):
But also once we get to the preseason games.

Speaker 11 (26:30):
You know, I'm all about the competitions and the D
line competition passed after the first four, you know, after
the starting four, I think it's gonna be tough to
make the team. So I love to see how those
guys are gonna compete and the tight ends. You know,
when you look at the tight ends, when you look
at Dalton Schultz, when you look at Stove Wars, and
you look at the guys that are coming back, I
just really want to see who's going to emerge, who's
gonna Like coaches always tell us, separate yourself during training camp,

(26:53):
but those are the two position groups that I'm really
excited to see. Which guy's gonna separate himself and.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
D From a macro level, here we are. It's day
eight of camp. They started a week ago Wednesday. So
how are the Vets feeling right now? The Vets, the
guys who have been in the league for a long time.
I'm gonna be on this team, you know, barring a disaster.
How is that second into the second week of camp,
before the first preseason game. How's your body feeling? What
are you thinking?

Speaker 3 (27:19):
Numb? You just numb.

Speaker 11 (27:21):
The first couple of days, there's that anxiety. You're like,
oh man, no matter how hard you worked out during
the offseason, it's still gonna be hard, but your body's
gonna be prepared for the toughness of two a days
in training camp. And you're sore. You know, after the
second day, you're just really sore. You wake up in
the morning. And I remember this even going into my
twelfth year, after like a second third day of training camp,

(27:41):
waking up in the morning saying, I can barely get
out of bed. How am I gonna make it through
a two hour practice out there on the field. But
your body just does it. When you get to like
day eight, nine, ten, it's the groundhog day. You just
numb and you just kind of not go through the motions.
But you know what to expect. You suck it up.
And the veteran those are the guys, the guys who
aren't trying to make the team. They're the ones who

(28:03):
come out here like a Danielle Hunter say, you know what,
I want to work my inside step, and that's all
they're working on, Like it could be to the detriment
of a play, but he wants to work on that
specific movement for him. But then you have a guy
like his backup or even third string, where he's like, man,
I just have to show out, so I have to
do everything right. So there's a different mentality with the
younger guys in the established veterans.

Speaker 4 (28:25):
Indeed, did you do any of your teams ever go
away for training camp and what was that experience like
and what is accomplished when the team gets away from
its normal setting, whether it's for a week, two weeks,
whatever it might be, what do you kind of gain
from getting away?

Speaker 11 (28:40):
So when I was in Philly, we went to Lehigh
University for six weeks. And what it does It eliminates
all distraction.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
You don't like it.

Speaker 11 (28:50):
You come from this nice house or apartment and you
go live in a dorm room in Lehigh freaking university,
as the team would say, and they didn't say freaking
university when we'll go there, You're sleeping in a cot
in a dorm and for whatever reason, that campus is
so hilly, you're always walking up. It's like, hold on,
I walked up to get here, and I feel like
I'm walking up to get back to my destination. But

(29:13):
it brings the team together and it really makes you
appreciate your facilities because the regular season, it makes you
appreciate the regular season schedule. Now, you know, I don't
want to be back on my day when practices were
really hard. But back in my day, when the two
of days were really hard, you would first you would
be miserable. Then you're going through that. What do they say,

(29:33):
misery loves company, So you're going through with it with
a bunch of guys. By the time those six weeks
were over, like you loved that dude next to you,
the guys that finally made the fifty three man roster,
and then some guys you get so close with you, Dang,
they're shed a tear for them when they're on their
way out when they get cut. But to answer you
a question, I'm sorry it's very long. When that I'm
excited being an out. I really believe it eliminates the

(29:56):
distractions and it brings you together and it makes you
appreciate what you're gonna where you're gonna be your digs
during the regular season.

Speaker 4 (30:03):
You know this radio thing, man, Yeah, this radio thing
we got a lot of innings that eat up in
the now. That was the perfect answer because I think
that's it's not six weeks, but for a week you're
going up to the Greenbrier. Now, it's a little different
than the dorms at Lehigh, especially down at Casino, but
we don't talk about that, but there, but there is
that camaraderie feeling. There is that feeling of hey, we're

(30:25):
in this together. You know, wives and significant others and
kids are I don't want to say they're.

Speaker 5 (30:32):
An afterthought, but for that particular period, they're an afterthought.
It is all ball.

Speaker 4 (30:36):
And you know, we kind of noticed that last year
when we went to Ohio and you know, we met
the team in Pittsburgh when they got there and it
was like they had been together for eight nine days
and had a really good period of eight nine days,
and you could tell that camaraderie kind of carried over
into the season. Six weeks in a dorm though, miss

(30:57):
and true two A days too.

Speaker 11 (30:59):
Yeah, And for those listening, when we say true two
A days in the morning, around this time, you have
what we call live practice. And when you say live
that means everyone is eligible to be tackled to be
hit except for the quarterback. And then you after practice,
you get like an hour nap, go through meetings, get
another thirty minutes or so. Then you're back on the
field for the exact same type of practice. So you

(31:20):
do that for six weeks. I'll never forget. And in
Philly with coach Andy Reid, he was known for having
very tough training camps. The first ten practices were padded
like they were padded, So the first ten, first five
days straight pads, and then we would take the pads off.
But every blue moon, it's almost like he could feel it.
And coach Kubiak was the same way. When he knew

(31:42):
that our bodies were like, man, we'll try, but we
might not make it. He'll gather us all up like
we're about to practice, and he'll say, all right, y'all
go to the movies. And when you just imagine about
eighty grown ass men about to cry because some other
man said you could go to the movies instead of practice,
And that's Artivle brought us together. I mean, then you
see about you know, sixty guys in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in

(32:05):
the movies, and the people, the locals would be going crazy.
But those are still some of my fondest memory.

Speaker 1 (32:10):
How many guys passed out in the theater, Oh everyone theater.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
A lot of guys were just knocked out.

Speaker 11 (32:16):
But yeah, and a lot of guys you're so excited,
your adrenalines going like you don't have to practice and
we get to sit in here and watch a movie.
Those were good times. It just makes you appreciate things.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Lee High University.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
So they changed their name when the Engineers to the
Mountain Hawks. I guess because engineers were offended or something.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
By the nickname.

Speaker 5 (32:33):
I wasn't an engineer.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
I don't know. The engineers didn't like Mountain Now Mountain
Hawks are offended, so I'm not sure.

Speaker 11 (32:42):
Maybe they offer more majors now, you know. Maybe back
then there just an engineering school.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
Its tradition, like the Penn Quakers.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
How many Quakers go to Penn right, I don't think many?

Speaker 3 (32:52):
No?

Speaker 2 (32:52):
Probably not? You know, actual Quakers? Are you kidding?

Speaker 3 (32:55):
Good point?

Speaker 2 (32:56):
No way? D Kalu joining us. So here's C. J.

Speaker 1 (32:59):
Stroud will Anderson Junior going into year three. You tell
me as far as growing as a leader, because you
come in here as a rookie. Those are highly touted individuals.
You know, we could throw Stinging in there as well.
It's from the year before. Obviously he's going to year four.
But as far as Will and CJ go, they were
drafted back to back their rookies Rookies of the Year

(33:21):
last year. They do what they do when another playoff game?
How does that evolve? What's that process like? Is they
become the guys who really kind of take over the
team gradually, But it's got to happen.

Speaker 11 (33:32):
I couldn't speak on it because both of those guys
you mentioned are such outliers.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
You know. Year three for me is when I felt
like the game slowed down. It was like, you know what, Oh,
I can do this.

Speaker 11 (33:42):
Like I'm comfortable Will Anderson from day one when I
saw him just during warm ups, I'm like, man, this
guy is like a vet.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
He has one speed, one motor, and he never relents.

Speaker 11 (33:54):
And I talked about sometimes during training camp, where as
much as you love football, you just kind of I
want to get through it, get through that practice. Every
time I watch him at training camp, it feels like
it looks like he has a smile on his face
and he's going you know, one hundred miles an hour
and appreciated me yet, So I would like to say
that the game's gonna slow down for him in year three.

(34:15):
If it does, I mean we're talking about some monster
numbers and I don't ever want to predict that, But
those two guys mentally, when it comes to their leadership.

Speaker 3 (34:24):
We've all talked to CJ. Stroud.

Speaker 11 (34:26):
I remember the first time I interviewed him during a
production meeting his rookie year. I was like, this isn't
a rookie like this guy. He must have hung around
a bunch of uncles and older men because he was
so wise beyond his years. So you just have two
true veterans and guys who are only going into their
third year.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
That's only going to help the whole organization.

Speaker 4 (34:46):
I know two former NFL defensive linemen really, really well,
and I got a feeling that when I bring this up,
there's gonna be this kind of bad look I'm gonna get.

Speaker 5 (34:56):
But I gotta ask it because it's a big story
out here.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
What's up thoughts about.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
Resetting the offensive line? You have to talk about the
Texas offensive line and.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
Use good terms.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
You can't just you know, their offensive Lineman, I hate everybody.
I feel about kickersha punters. What about this offensive line? ND, seriously,
what are your thoughts about resetting it all? Trading way
Laramie waving or releasing Shack trading Kenyan Green kind of
resetting it all in year three of the Demika Ryan's era.

Speaker 5 (35:25):
What are you kind of your thoughts about what.

Speaker 4 (35:27):
You want to see from this group that'll make you
feel better about what this offense.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
Can do this year.

Speaker 11 (35:32):
I want to see guys that will grind, blue collar.
Maybe not the most talented, where you had one guy
in Laramie Tunsel that you could argue he's a top
ten tackle on the tier NFL, you might not have
that any one position with this offensive line. But what
I'm hoping for and from what I'm hearing, is that
they really just take pride and grind it together and
they're gonna be that tough, gritty group like the Denver

(35:55):
Broncos of the late nineties early two thousands, where you're
not gonna have any one of those guys be multiple
year all pro, but together as a unit, they were tough,
and that's what I feel like. It is not like
Nick Sarah talks to me about his decision making. I
feel like that was the thought process when they were
releasing some guys and bringing in others that it's like,

(36:15):
you know what, none of these guys are going to
the Pro Bowl or excuse me, or going to the
Hall of Fame. I hope somebody goes to the Pro Bowl.
He is going to the Hall of Fame. But together
they're gonna be a unit that takes pride in protecting
c J.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
Stroud, Andy Kalude joining us, Demiko Ryans here he is
year three as a head coach and d and look,
you are around Andy Reid for a long time, you're
around Kubiak. What about the evolution as a head coach
and growth as he's delegating.

Speaker 5 (36:41):
More out here.

Speaker 1 (36:41):
It'll be interesting to see how he really evolves year
after year. The first two years went really well for him,
and we wanted even better.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
So what are you thinking about Tomiko?

Speaker 11 (36:51):
You know, similar to what we said or what I
said about CJ. Stroud and Will Anderson. You know, just
a guy that's ahead of his years, his actual years,
and he's been like that from his rookie year. You know,
I've told the story multiple times, just what type of
leader he was as a player, even as a rookie,
and I'm not surprised.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
I'm seeing it as a coach.

Speaker 11 (37:08):
One thing that I really like and appreciate and respect
about the Miko from his playing days to coaching days.
He never gets too high, he never gets too low,
and he doesn't overstress himself because he knows if there's
a mistake, if something goes wrong, he's gonna fix it.

Speaker 3 (37:24):
Even now.

Speaker 11 (37:24):
You know, when I was walking over here to talk
to y'all, I really when I played, you know, you
go through a certain mentality when you get ready for practice.
So he saw me. We showed each other love, and
I kept like, all right, I'm gonna let you go.
I know you want to get in your mind. He's
like no, no, Like how's the kids doing? Like how
he's just really calm, cool, collective. He doesn't overthink things,

(37:44):
and he doesn't get too high too low. I mean,
this is a guy that he's gonna be coaching. He's
gonna be a successful coach for years to come, and
I just hope that he's one of the few that
has his best years multiple years, with one organization being.

Speaker 3 (37:59):
The in Texas.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Amen.

Speaker 4 (38:01):
You mentioned your kids, How are they doing? Ball seasons
coming up?

Speaker 3 (38:05):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (38:06):
Jonah, how excited is the Kohlou family for what the
Kolu family can do this year?

Speaker 3 (38:12):
We're excited for football.

Speaker 11 (38:13):
So got one over at Baylor, made it through his
spring and competing, competing for a lot of playing time.
So God will and just stay healthy and keep grinding.
And the one behind me just turned seventeen today, birthday.
Happy birthday to Jonah Kalou. He's he's going into Fort
benk Christian his senior year and he was just named
to the preseason all Private school teams. So you know,

(38:37):
instead of calming down, our workouts are get a little
more to any chance, and I can I can see
him cursing me out when I work when I work
him out, But I just let him know we have
to live up to the so called hype.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
Yeah wow, so you're doing this, You're you're the personal trainer?

Speaker 11 (38:53):
Oh yeah, I was all look years before I was
paying somebody to do it. I'm like, why the hell
am I paying somebody to teach you what.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Push ups and set up pops?

Speaker 4 (39:01):
Is gonna make sure that that youngins don't believe the
hype exactly. Yeah, Pops has been there, He's been around.
It's you know, we see Derek Stingley, Junior's father. That
man's around for everything. He and his uh, he and
his wife, Derek's parents, they're around for everything.

Speaker 5 (39:15):
And he teaches Derek.

Speaker 4 (39:17):
And you're right, it's better and go through a trainer,
especially you've been through the wars that you've been through
on a football field for sure.

Speaker 11 (39:22):
And you know, it's a little selfish on my part.
It's my last year. He's my last son, so it's
probably more for me than it.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
Is for him.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
A couple of other things.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
As the team makes its way out of the practice
bubble here and out of the field in full pads
for day eight of Texans training camp, they'll do some
warm up ball warm up.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
It's a different kind of warm up.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
It's a lot of warm up here.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
They got to warm up.

Speaker 4 (39:44):
They do little agility drills and they have the ball incorporated,
which I actually learned an inn D's hometown. I was
in San Antonio of the their carnal playoff game between
Katie and Symbol of Steel and the Civil of Steel.

Speaker 5 (39:56):
Team came on the field. Every single kid at that point.

Speaker 4 (39:59):
It was like a hundred forty of them and they
just do the ball on the field to each other
for like fifteen minutes, so everybody got a chance to
touch the ball, and I.

Speaker 5 (40:07):
Was like, that's pretty interesting. I would do that.

Speaker 4 (40:09):
And then I saw us doing this the last couple
of years, where everybody touches the ball no matter what,
because at some point somebody might have to recover a
fumble or catch a ball out of the air to
keep it from the other side or the defense making
a play going the other way.

Speaker 5 (40:22):
So, yeah, you used to catch the.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Football, okay, And the question for you, you used to host
a talk show every day a couple hours. How much
do you miss doing that?

Speaker 3 (40:36):
Tell me.

Speaker 1 (40:36):
I'm just curious because that's a way of life. And
even though it was two hours, which is you know,
it's not the four hour ship, but you have to
prepare the same way for two hours as you were
preparing for four hours.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
I'm sorry, it's the same.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Kind of prep you're on the air even an hour,
you got to prepare the same way. And it's getting there,
it's preparing, it's doing the show, it's leaving and running
a business at the same time.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
But how much do you miss that what is your
life like?

Speaker 11 (41:00):
That's the part I don't miss, you know, juggling that
and running the mortgage fund that we created. But I
missed the interaction with the other football fans that call
into the show. You know, I miss being able to
step away from reality, not talking about politics and not
talking about high crime, just talking about football, you know,
having disagreements about things that are so trivial but at

(41:21):
the same time fun. Uh So I missed the interaction.
But I don't miss watching a game and having to
study every game, you know, the Texas I don't mind.
I enjoy it, but you know, watching like the Hall
of Fame game yesterday, I actually forgot about it. But
if I was still on air, I would have watched it.
I would have talked about the top rookies that played
in that game. It would have felt more like a job.

(41:43):
I don't miss that, but I do miss the interaction
with the Houston fans.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
How's business, It's good.

Speaker 3 (41:49):
It's good.

Speaker 11 (41:50):
I don't want to sit here boast, but look, you'll
know business is bad when you hear me back on
radio every day every day.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
How about that radio till bad?

Speaker 5 (42:02):
All right?

Speaker 1 (42:02):
All right, but give me this give me this nonsports
Houston economy. How are we doing overall Houston economy in general?

Speaker 3 (42:08):
What do you think?

Speaker 11 (42:09):
I will say, I can't speak on the economy overall,
but as far as the housing market, I'm not seeing
the dip we were afraid of with the terraffs and
the cost of material were buildings. We really thought it
was going to affect the investors side on the real
estate side, and the numbers have stayed pretty you know,
they say the same, which is a good which is
which is a great thing?

Speaker 2 (42:29):
Welcome to squawk Box six ten.

Speaker 11 (42:31):
All right, where when we heard about it, When we
first heard about the terrafs, Yeah, I was like, hey,
this radio thing is good.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
I might have to get back in it. Just carrying
myself through the next few years study.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
Okay, great visit with our buddy n D.

Speaker 1 (42:46):
Kulou field side during Texans training camp live, which will
be live from the Greenbrier Monday morning at eight.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
Don't miss that.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
Don't miss Graham Mertz new quarterback is the fourth string,
is the third string?

Speaker 2 (42:57):
What string?

Speaker 1 (42:58):
Doesn't matter. He's trying to make his way through camp.
Interesting perspective on the offense. Coming up next with John
Harris and Graham Mertz on Texans All Access. Final reps
here of the evening on Texans Radio, John Harris with
a field side visit with Graham Mertz, new quarterback from Florida.
How's he doing so far in his rookie campaign?

Speaker 5 (43:17):
Ran, Welcome to Houston.

Speaker 3 (43:18):
How you doing?

Speaker 8 (43:19):
Thank you?

Speaker 3 (43:19):
I'm doing great, man.

Speaker 12 (43:20):
This weather is it's beautiful, great people down here, So
it's a blessing to be here.

Speaker 5 (43:24):
Okay, you're from.

Speaker 4 (43:24):
Kansas City over the Park to be exactly that, right,
My best friend is from over the park with the
Bishop Yache.

Speaker 12 (43:30):
That was where I started. I went there in my
freshman year and I transferred to a Bouvay North. Okay,
all right, I know all about me ash Okay.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
So Kansas City gets a little bit hotter in this
summer than people want to admit.

Speaker 5 (43:41):
So this is still a different level.

Speaker 6 (43:43):
But how you handle the.

Speaker 5 (43:43):
Heat thus far? Oh it's great.

Speaker 12 (43:45):
I mean for me just being able to stay here
over the summer and finish my my rehab up down here,
get cleared. I kind of got a preview for it,
and in our workouts every day, so we're.

Speaker 3 (43:56):
Prepared for it. Feels good.

Speaker 5 (43:57):
It's gonna be back in the heat.

Speaker 3 (43:58):
Man, I went.

Speaker 12 (43:59):
I started at Wisconsin and then went to Florida.

Speaker 5 (44:01):
I like to heat a little bit more in the cold.

Speaker 4 (44:03):
Well we'll get to a little bit of that, but
I want to go back to the draft night, actually
day three a draft. Oh yeah, I think everybody's a
little bit surprised in Houston that they selected a quarterback
when they selected you. I was like, wait a second,
he hasn't played in a while. Were you a little
bit surprised that the Texas drafted you? Or was that
a team you kind of hone in on that they
could be interested in you ont draft Knight and that
was the team I was.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
I was hoping, Yeah.

Speaker 12 (44:23):
I mean I took some visits, some thirty visits during
the pre draft period, and I came down here and
just hearing the way everybody talked in this facility, I mean,
it was something that I wanted to be a part
of and just just the way everybody thinks from the
top down. Uh, It's truly a unique culture. Its something
that that as a player, you want that.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
And so I was I was hoping it was Houston
putting the pads back on, you know, you got hurt,
you know about October last year, and you know you're
out the rest of this season, don't get a chance
of the All Star Games. You know, you go through
the draft prep, you really can't work out for anybody?
Was it like putting the pads? Was there any kind
of trepidation?

Speaker 3 (45:02):
Was it excitement?

Speaker 6 (45:03):
What was it like?

Speaker 8 (45:03):
No?

Speaker 12 (45:04):
I mean I think that it was funny the night
before the first day of camp. I mean that's you
get cleared and then it's like, all right, you're rolling
in the team now. So for me, the night before
I was kind of sitting there thinking, like talking to
my dad a little bit, and like, I wonder how
I manna feel when I wake up in the morning,
Like is it gonna be an anxious or nervous? And
the morning I woke up of day one a camp,
it was just so much gratitude for being able to

(45:25):
get to where I'm at, be cleared, and go play
the game I love. So not really like any anxious
nerves or anything. It was just more excitement just to
get out here. And it's been a long time since
I've played, so it's been a blessing. Put the pads
of the helmet back on and just go go play.
I mean, it's a game, so having fun with it now.

Speaker 4 (45:44):
When we watch rookies, and we've seen every rookie that's
coming through here, Mark and I we talked about this
all the time. I just want to see them get
better from day to day because some step in and
their starters right away.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
Some have to work their way up.

Speaker 5 (45:56):
But every single day it feels like, hey, you sling
it be. It feels like you're getting more comfortable every day.

Speaker 10 (46:03):
How are you seeing the first started strand camp here?

Speaker 12 (46:05):
Yeah, I mean I think you hit the nail on
the head, like like every day our job during especially
during training camp is and every day of your life,
regardless of what you do, it's it's you wake up
every day to get a little bit better every single day.
So for me, I mean, I'm trying to really focus
in on just the details. I mean, that's that's the
thing that wins games in this league. I mean, shoot,
I'm playing a game and started playing a game in
what nine days? Eight days, So I'm mentally and physically

(46:27):
need to get ready to go play a game and compete.
So for me, it's just trying to focus on the details.
Get a little bit better every day, whether that's my reads,
my footwork, ball location accuracy, all that stuff. So you're
exactly right. I mean, that's the that's the chase of
of why you play the sport.

Speaker 5 (46:43):
Quarterback room and so room.

Speaker 4 (46:44):
It's been together for a little bit, but you break
in there as a rookie.

Speaker 5 (46:47):
What's that quarterback room?

Speaker 3 (46:48):
Like?

Speaker 5 (46:48):
Hazing? Hazing? But we have to head have you had
to come up with the snacks for the room? What
you have to do with rook what's that quarterback room?
You're like, no, I've definitely loaded up on the snacks.

Speaker 12 (46:57):
I kind of did the initial like, all right, guys,
what do we want? Yeah, and then Davis was he
was a mic and night guy CJ like seeds, garlic,
parmesan on seeds, that's his thing.

Speaker 3 (47:07):
So I got those.

Speaker 12 (47:08):
And then I was like, you know, what if if
I were hungry, like what I want to get? So
I just just rolling through target loading that thing up.
But now we got a nice little snack corner. But yeah,
they're I mean, they're awesome, man. I mean I think
just obviously I'm new to the room, but they all
had been there. Keten had been there for a year
two last year, So I think for me just getting
in there learning kind of how they how they process,

(47:28):
and really like we're all in there just kind of
support each other and tell each other what we see
on certain routes. We're all learning a new offense. Obviously
there's some carryover stuff from last year, but I mean
we're all on that learning that learning period and kind
of bouncing ideas off what you see here.

Speaker 3 (47:45):
So I love the room man.

Speaker 12 (47:46):
I mean, I think our coaches are elite the way
that they explain everything, show us the clips, talk through
all the little minor details like that's that's what helps
our room aton.

Speaker 3 (47:57):
So it's been a blessing.

Speaker 5 (47:59):
It's been blessing.

Speaker 4 (47:59):
Who eighteen write down people eighteen rookie quarterback Graham Merch.
You go see him against Minnesota if you haven't been
out of practice. It's been fun to watch you. It's
been fun watching grow mom man. Thank you very much
for you, Tank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
There's Johnny and Graham Mertz and we will be back
on Monday with more from Texans training camp eight am
live from the field at the Greenbrier and of course
every night at six you know it have a great
weekend area, forty five coming up, Go Texans,