Texans All AccessGetting the lowdown on the Titans | Texans All Access
Hello Texans, Welcome to the show, as the Texans are back in action on Sunday following the Monday night victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Mark VanderMeer with you with John Harrison. Let's have some fun tonight. Jake Morland will be with us a little bit later, tight Ends coach for your Texans. Really interesting guy, really great guests, So look forward to that coming up in about twenty five thirty minutes something like that. But right now, it's the General John McClain joining us in general. We caught up the other day after the victory of the Cowboys. Now in a super short week, well not as super short as say a Thursday night after a Sunday, but pretty short week to get ready for the Tennessee Titans and all that defense.
Good evening. Your thoughts, how's it going?
My thoughts? All that Texans should win this game over the Titans. They should beat Jacksonville. As you go into the my week with a three game winning streak and a nine to four record and then come out of it hopefully healthier game of the season. May have Christian Harris back at that point, although he'll have to be back brought back slowly and worked his way into the lineup. But it'd be time for the Murderers row Miami and Tuatonola Low and their great offense here at Kansas City, here on Christmas with the Ravens, and then of course that last game at Tennessee. So's it's very exciting the fact they're gonna run they're running away with the division and if they could if the Texans, if they win the games, it's just if they beat Miami and they sweep the division, they're gonna go eleven and six, because I think they'll lose at Kansas City and Baltimore. Although Baltimore, even though they have never beaten the Ravens since Lamar Jackson got there, Baltimore's defense is vulnerable. Right now. The Texans and the Ravens have given up twenty two touchdown passes each, which is second most in the league to Jacksonville's twenty three, and yet two of those teams are going to go to the playoffs. I think it's very interesting that I wrote a column today that's on Houston Texans dot com that is about the great offseason Nick Casario head with his two trades for Joe Mixon and Stefan Diggs, his draft, particularly with Lasseter and Bullock and even Kate Stover as well, and then the free agent signings, especially on defense. It's amazing how they how well they've done, and something interesting they are. Texans are third with twenty takeaways, They have fourteen interceptions, tied for second, and they but they've given up twenty two touchdown passes and their opposing quarterback rating against the Texans is that's kind of an anomaly. Your third in the being targeted and yet you are tied for thirtieth in touchdown passes and I've gone over every touchdown pass of the season, which I'll be writing about Friday. But anyway, the sciting time of the year, crunch time's coming up, and the Texans seem to be getting healthier. And when I look at them, I think if the passing game with CJ. Stroud could improve and be more consistent, they they would be capable of winning that second round playoff game.
Yeah, that would be nice if they could do that, and they're going to do that with the help of the defense and the defense the other night, and generally there's so many players you mentioned, Kaylen Bullock and Derek Stingleague guys that have had interceptions throughout the year, they dropped a couple of them that event, man, they get those two yet another couple to the total. But I want to talk about a guy I know you love talking about because he went to ur alma mater, Jalen Petree. What has been the impact that you've seen of Jalen Peatree for this particular defense. Listening to Nick on Sports Reo six ten on Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, excuse me, and he just talked about how JP is a guy you just got to have around the building. You know this because of his time at Baylor, You've seen it with his time with the Texans.
What is Jalen Petrie meant to this defense?
Well, first of all, they started playing him this year like Baylor played him when he was defensive player of the Year in the Big Twelve. And he was great in his last two seasons, which coincided with David Randa's first two seasons. Aranda, of course, was defensive coordinator at LSU, and he always played better around the line of scrimmage than covering receivers all over the field. And because he's been able to make some big hits. He's been able to get some turnovers for some turnovers, play well against the run. You never know if he's gonna drop, if he's going to rush, if he's going to stay in, because the guy he's covering his staying in. And he had big plays against the Cowboys, and then he gets screwed on one which is a he obliterated I can't remember who it was. He obliterated the cowboy and they threw a flag saying he it was I guess helmet to helmet or targeted the neck area, and they showed the replay and it was not true. The replay expert for ESPN, I think as Jeans Territor came on and said, that's not a penalty. But we've seen bad officiating all season. I think it's the most inconsistent I've seen him in forty eight years of covering the NFL, mainly because all the games are so close and a bad call or two can be instrumental in a loss and then getting the breaks and instrumental in a victory. But Petrie, if you think about this, Petrie came three. He came Petrie, and then Lasseter.
Now and.
Bullet. This season I'm guessing next season they'll go after another safety for coverage at some point. I love reading mock drafts about where the experts have the Texans finishing and who they have him taking. Most of them haven't taken a guard, which is what I do right now. But I thought saw a very interesting one today by guy I really respect, Matt Miller from ESPN. Can't I think he had him picking twenty third and he had him taking a guy ought to win the Heisman Trophy, Ashton Jenny, the running back from Boise State. Although there's such a campaign for Travis Hunter at Colorado and he's certainly very deserving, and they said Joe Mixon's played great, but he'll be twenty nine next year. And I certainly don't think they would take Ashton Jenny. But at some point they're going to take another member of the secondary because they've hit on him so well. With Stingley, Petrie, Lassiter and Bullock, and of course, let's see what is it. Lassiter and Stingley are second in the league in opposing quarterback rating, and Bullock and Lassiter have seven interceptions, more than any rookie duo, and of course they're getting great pressure. They lead the league in pressures and tackles for loss.
I'll tell you this, I'll buy both of you guys a die of Coca fashion. Genty is there at twenty three?
Oh really?
Oh? I agree, he's not. I didn't see him go to Cowboys because they need a running back.
Yeah, he went.
To high school there at their facilities. So I think that kid is going to be a high pick because the trend now is going to be back toward instead of running back by committee if you can get a good one like we've seen with Joe Mixon, Sakwan Barkley, Derrick Henry and then of course Josh Shacobs and all those four teams that let their backs get away have been terrible at running the ball and they've all excelled.
It's the revenge of the running backs. Even Tony Pollard having you know, a halfway decent stat line that would fit in nicely for the Cowboys right now. I mean nicely. It would be better than what Daddle's given them right now. So that's interesting. But let's talk about the Titans here for a moment. General as they come in here, what changes do you expect in the offseason? Maybe as they look to restart under Brian Callahan. This was not what they envisioned Will Levis uh oh, I'm not sure. He still has a few more games to iron it out before they make their off season decisions on him.
What are you thinking in Nashville?
Their offensive line has been a big disappointment. They are Bill Callahan from Cleveland come work with his son. He did a great job of the offensive line at Cleveland, and they used their first round pick on an offensive tackle from Alabama last year a guard from Northwestern. They signed the expensive grade agent center who's out for the year, and their right guard is a big disappointment, so they have problems up front. Levis gets sacked way too many times, a few of them are his fault, and they had a ninety eight yard touchdown pass in the last loss made it the defeat not look as bad as it was. Made Levis's stats look better. But with the Texans, especially getting Will Anderson junior back and Kawarie Laster back, I'm not sure about fully flood of Cossi. Those three guys missed the Cowboy game and you couldn't even tell they were out because the defense was so good. But I think they're gonna let make it. They're gonna shut down the run and they're gonna make life miserable for Will Levis.
Okay, general, we we've talked about free agency with the Texans for a long time and there was kind of this time period where the Texans went out and got free agents and it just it didn't work. It just it just went whatever reason, it just it wasn't working. And there was kind of this gap where Okay, you went out and got Danielle Mann and Jonathan Joseph, but then after that you're like, Okay, who's the next most significant Lamar Miller.
Lamar is probably that guy.
Bring that up and tell y'all why that is, because now Dimiko is so good at knowing exactly what he wants at every position on defense, and Slowik has a lot to say, as does mad Burke. Because I've got that in my column for tomorrow I'm sorry for today that's on Houston Texans dot Com with him talking about the way they work. Nick Asario as finals say, as we all know, but he tries very hard to get the players they want positions specific not just a defensive tackle, but a right or left, a strong side week side defensive tackle. So Tomigo and his staff have done a great job conveying to Nick Asario, James Liptford, the scouting department exactly what they're looking for at every position. And I thought when Cassio elected not to bring back Cam Johnston the punter, he was making a mistake. Johnston goes to Pittsburgh because Casseerio signed Tommy Townsend, and Tommy Townsend besides averaging forty seven point four, he's averaged his net is forty three point nine. That second twenty seven inside the twenty is tied for first. His net is sixth and of course they're four point nine yard hunt return average that is second in the NFL. So other than one he had blocked early, which was that was that the Minnesota game, in first one Mineapolis and the first one while they overcame that, But other than that, Tommy Townsend has also been a tremendous addition. So I think it's all about the communication between the coaching staff. This coaching staff and Nick Casario. There's no egos involved, like when Bill O'Brien was here and Bill O'Brien clashed with Rick Smith, then Bell O'Brien crashed, clashed with Brian Gain and wanted Brian and Brian took the players Bill wanted, and then Jack easter Be got involved. But then Nick came and next done a great job and one of the things I fully expect after this season, he'll I'm expecting he'll get a big extension because that'll be four years out of his six year contract, and he certainly deserves it because this offseason working with Demiko. If they do this kind of off season next year, their next year, they'll be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
So I'm gonna I'm gonna follow up just with where I was going with my question.
I was taking a while to get there.
So I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it's okay. No, no, no, it's okay.
My question was general and you kind of said it a little bit of how they got there. But as the Neil Hunter, the best free agent signing this organization has had since or even beyond Daniel Manning and Johnathan Joseph.
Oh boy, now he's been definitely better than Daniel Manning, but J Joe is the best free agent signing in franchise history. And I don't think you can say that about one hundred eleven games in yet. But the fact that he leads the league according to next Gen Stats, and it's amazing all these stat places, all their numbers are different, and the only numbers that count are the official NFL numbers. But we'll go by next Gen Stats because that's the best. And they have him with a fifteen fifteen pressure lead on Trey Anderson at number two in that game the other night, No Will Anderson Junior across from him, No folly for of Cossei, no problem, No three tackles for lost, two sacks, three knockdown Cooper rush three times and he got He pressured him ten times. There was a move he put on the tackle in which he used to spin move to set him up. Brian Baldinger, nex NFL lineman who's on NFL Network and he likes to pick out lineman and show what they do. We did this two or three times the way he went over a Hunter's game, but specifically that spin move, and he was just blown away by it. And he he's also been very durable as well. So if he keeps it up for another couple of years, yes, but still to me, j Joe is because of his durability and how well he played almost to the end. He's still the all time great free agents signing by Rick Smith. And remember Nambie aisen Wat was the top free agent corner that year and he had narrowed it down to Philadelphia and Houston, and the agent for Jonathan Joseph and I think Daniel Manning said look, you got to spin her, get off the pot, and Rick Spinton got him. Nambi as Wat turned out to be a huge bust after he doing so great with the Raiders, and of course the Texans immediately went to what second in defense. Also coincided with Wade Phillips coming JJ Watt being drafted, and Connor Barwin coming back from a season ending injury. So everything it was a confluence that worked great and j Jo headed that free agent class and has everyone since.
That eleven Hall was fantastic. Last year's haul fantastic, and it's all continuing to develop here. Jjo played for a long time here, so Hunter cannot play that long here, I would think, so, no understood.
I'll give it to Jjo. But it's a great point, Johnny.
I mean, Hunter impact has been incredible, fantastic, fantastic And it was a trade by the way, people, Yeah, go ahead.
If he if he were he played U till he was thirty five, that'd be six years here and uh and since it's his own town, and but he signed a two year contract that if he gives this up for two years, will be interesting for the next negotiation. Nick Casario is going to have some interesting.
That's negotiation that's going to hit it up a bad time. That's help a lot of bills.
Are that year back cornerback.
Yes, yes, that's gonna be tough. Well, look, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. This is for both of you because as we are enjoying the AFC South lead by two games plus the tie breaker with six games to go, if we zoom out and look around the NFL, there's some things happening that not too many people are talking about because they won't lead the hot take shows, but they're gonna be featured on this show. Because the draded, dreaded, hated, despised horseshoe. They're five and six after the victory of the Jets. Now, if they happen to somehow some way pull off the upset this weekend they go to six and six. I'm not talking about catching the Texans, but they're the eighth seed right now, and they do play the Broncos, who are one game ahead of them. This is still all on the table. And guess who else wants to crash the party? The Miami Dolphins with healthy Tua, because when you look at their schedule, there's not much left other than the date at the Texans.
Now, look, everybody can beat everybody. I know that. But general thought on.
The Colts, Broncos and Dolphins dancing around for that seventh seed in the AFC.
I had a big one. It would be the Dolphins. And you mentioned two of coming back. They run the ball, they've got multiple backs, they've got speed at receiver, their defense is nothing special. And two against rid of the ball faster than any quarterback in the NFL. And he been healthy now that concussion, where would they be right now? Probably is right up there behind Buffalo. And by the way, Buffalo, everybody's talking about Josh Allen's and MVP candidate, and the column I'm riding for Friday is about the game he had here worst of his career, and it wasn't because he got hit and sacked a lot. He didn't. It wasn't because he threw interceptions, he didn't. It was because the Texans just did a great job of pressuring him and covering the receivers. And he hasn't lost since. Now everybody's saying it's him, or in my homes in AFC that they're right up there in the running for the MV. I think if Lamar Jackson's lost four games already, everybody's saying that week ago it was him. But I think Miami over Indy because Indy even though the Anthony Richardson led two seventy yard drives to beat the Jets, and isn't an amazing how well the Jets played against the Texans and they had done squat since. But I think Anthony Richardson is too erratic, inconsistent, inexperienced to do for the Colts what Tua can do for the Dolphins. So I'm picking them, And I think even though bow Nicks is playing really, really well and they're showing you can have a big figure eating up your cap space like Russell Wilson does for them, I think they're just not ready. They're year away. So I'm going with the Dolphins.
Oh, by the way, I did say the Dolphins don't have much left other than the Texans, but they do have the Packers on the road.
Is that a Thanksgiving game? Oh my gosh, Yessa.
Wow.
Yeah, they've got the Niners at home, which is gonna be tough. Look, they're all tough, but look by drift, the Colt Stretch is not difficult.
Okay. If they beat either.
Detroit or Denver and then just win the games that they should win, they're gonna get to nine wins.
Whoa, Yeah, they're gonna get tonight. Listen to this.
Never underestimate the Horseshoe, the Lions. You must crush them. At Patriots, at Broncos. There's a bye weekend there. Tennessee at Giants, Jaguars.
Yeah, look at that. Look at that general And if any of.
The Richard's New England Drake makeing. They won nine games last year and didn't make the playoffs, so I don't know, you'd be great if they made it, then everybody wouldn't talk about how the AFC South is by far the worst division in the NFL. But based on Richardson's inconsistency, his lack of accuracy, I just don't see him taking them to the playoffs this season.
General Thursday night, Hang on a second, Okay, I don't want to see them make the playoffs. I know he wants to see the AFC South look good. No, no, no, no, no, crush the horseshoe. Get out here before you talk about Thursday.
Or do you not want the Colts in the playoffs.
Because they're the Colts.
I want them to suffer and feel pain, well, infected by the blue and white of the Colts exactly, general, no effect on you.
The only person that didn't like Andrew luck I remember that.
I like youall know well. I did suggest he should retire responsible I yes for it every week every week. I wanted him to retire. I finally got my wish.
And to might heard you dall him him, you need to retire because vand wants you to retire, and he did.
Is very worried about you.
Listen to me now, one more, one more Jacksonville. They've got to buy and their next better opponent. What about the Jaguars making changes? What are you expecting here? I know we're going to talk about this almost every week, but we got to get the update on your thoughts on the Jags and what they need to do to overhaul their mess.
Well, when they come off to buy Wake, Trevor Lawrence will be back. Mac Jones has been terrible. And you know Trevor Lawrence won here last year and over there they haven't won since twenty seventeen. That streak will come to an end at some point, not this year. I think he'll struggle against the Texans defense. Texans won the first game even though he had two touchdown passes and no interceptions. And at some point you'd hope it's against Tennessee and then Jacksonville, that the passing game will be consistent. They'll make some big plays down the field and it'll be like it was Monday Night, in which Straup doesn't get hit a lot, he doesn't get sacked a lot, And that the passing game will become much better because the running game is really, really good. And I like what Mixing touched the ball twenty times on runs, two on catches. I like that because you don't want to see him get beat up by the end of the year, touching it twenty five to twenty eight times.
Yes, well said Thursday Night, Tonight night, You will hear right here on sports Radio six ' ten.
The Steelers are going to Cleveland.
Steelers are three and a half point favorites in Cleveland, and I know these two.
Cities don't like each other.
I was telling Mark this story when we are on the bus going from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Our bus driver that took us was very quiet the whole way. And then we got to the tunnel that takes you down into downtown Pittsburgh and she goes, welcome to Blitzburg. But she didn't say blitz she said something else, yesh, and I just fell it by was like, okay, that's how Browns fans feel about Pittsburgh, but this one's in Cleveland. General, do you give the Browns of Jamis Winston a shot of knocking off the Steelers tonight?
I do, because the Steelers defense is great. The offense is not great. They're trying to act like Russell Wilson's playing great. He's not. He's ingratiated himself in that system working for under Arthur Smith. Cleveland defense is really good, and Jameis Winston is capable of having great game. He's done a great one, He's done a good one. He's done a bad one. So if you get bad Jamis, they're going to lose. But if they get good but not great Jamis, they can win that game. Steelers are coming off a huge game, and even though Cleveland is their top rival forever, right now it's Beensberg and Baltimore, one of the most intense physical rivals rivalries in the NFL, maybe number one, and Jamis has been around long enough he ought to be able to navigate that pass rush, even though their offensive line has been terrible because of injuries and Bill Callahan leaving Cleveland for Nashville.
General For everybody who does not like Aaron Rodgers, it's been a very enjoyable time other than the Texans visit on that Thursday night Halloween.
Other than that, it's been.
Enjoyable because he misses the entirety of last season, other than the first four plays, so they have to wait on him, and they wait for this.
They wait for.
Oh my gosh, we have to fire the head coach. Why I don't know, and oh my gosh, we're going to fire the general manager. And wow, I wanted to bench Aaron Rodgers, says the owner. Actually he didn't say that, but it was reported that he wanted to do that. So what are they gold to do? So they need a new head coach. They probably need a new quarterback. What's gonna happen in Gotham.
Before Woody Johnson goes back to the UK as the ambassador under Trump for a second time, He's going to hire a new general manager, a new coach, and that new GM and coach gonna want Aaron Rodgers out of there. And if Rogers is gone, it means some other players are gone because they become the biggest disappointment, the biggest joke circus when everybody is reveling in their pain, and the key is will anybody else hire Rogers? I don't think so. I think he's done and who would they want? Nobody? Not many people want to go in there with Rogers under these same circumstances. Woody Johnson will turn it over to his brother Christopher, who's the one that's signed and off on Robert Soli being hired. So I think they're in start over mode for whatever reason. They don't run the ball like they stood with brace Hall, who's also an excellent receiver. Their defense was really good under Salah has not been good since he got fired. If they bring in a guy in there, say like Mike Rabel, Mike Vrabel, as you guys know, doesn't take any of you know what from anybody. There's talk up there too about Vrabel. Not the idiots think Dion ought to be the head coach of the Cowboys, but Vrabel the possibility there. And it's not going to be Belichick in New York because he has blasted christ I mean, Whey Johnson this year multiple times, and if he was interested in that job, he would not be doing that. So i'd someone. I think Vrabel would be a possibility, but it's going to go down as one of the worst experiments in the history of pro football.
All right, So another experiment taking place in New York is Tommy DeVito is back at quarterback for the Giants. And I want to ask both of you this, how many times can you remember a team starting a quarterback for sheer gimmick purposes. Now, look, they could possibly win with DeVito, but I'm thinking Drew Lock's got to be better than Tommy DeVito.
Maybe I'm wrong, so he want three.
In a row. Last year, DeVito did I know, but Killin came out that Rose and Rock was I mean, Locke was mad. He said they told him you're the number two quarterback. He's mad that he's not starting. And I don't blame him. It'd be an opportunity for him to come in there and make some money if he looks good, because he knows there's going to be a shortage of quarterbacks for all the quarterback needy Jeames next year. But bringing in de Vito showing that idiot who's his buddy? That looks like something out as so Branos.
And his agents.
And I've heard, I've heard gotta be careful with what you hear that one of the reasons they're not playing Locke is some incentive based contract money thing.
Wow, well that's terrible.
Already they've got the problem with Daniel.
I don't think that's what it is. He's a backup quarterback. But still, can you name other courts?
Doug Flutie to me, felt gimmicky in nineteen eighty seven for the Patriots. Russy Smith felt gimmicky in twenty ten against the Texans. Wait, why would why why would that help them out?
Not like he's a country music thing.
Let's what I make of you know, Daniel Jones is fourth theme right now.
If Drew Locke's last name was Drew LUCKYO or something, if he had.
In that game here, what's yeah?
Oh I remember? Are you kidding you?
Remember it was three? Brian went off, We needed counseling after that game. General, you sucked too, He said, stop stop all right, job, what do you have going on on Houston Texans dot com?
Re remind us please?
I have to call um up right now about what a great job Casario did working with Miko and his assistance and the personnel department in signing free agents, making trades and draft It was outstanding. And then I'll have one tomorrow going over all the quarterbacks who've played against the Texans and how well the defense ranks and a lot of important stance except touchdown passes and why that could be. Thank you guys very much as always, and I will see you at Energy Stadium. And I'm just disappointed they're not wearing their h Town blue tinged uniform.
Yeah, they won't wear those, but the Titans will wear the oiler uniforms maybe in the regular season finale. Thank you, General, all right, coming up? Jake Morland tight ends coach he's also an original Texan. Let's catch up with him next here on Texans Radio. Back to it here on Texans All Access said, each week we try to visit with an assistant coach, and this week it's Jake Morland, who I always like to point out was an original Texan. He was here in the building in two thousand and two. Now, he ultimately did not make the fifty three that year, but he was part of that whole offseat. He's inn in preseason. Jake Morland super interesting guy. Played for the Western Michigan Broncos. And I love that about him because I was a Chippewa announcer and that's the arch rival, the biggest rivalry in college sports that nobody ever talks about. Anyway, Let's get to our visit with Jake Morland, tight ends coach for your Texans.
How's it going, coach owing great?
Well, it's always great to visit with you, and let's talk about your group a little bit here. Things always evolve and change in this league. And I want to start here because we had Cad Stover and here two three weeks ago or something. We're talking to him about playing some full back. Now he plays tight end, but he's got to play some fullback. So how does all that work when you're coaching up a rookie, especially in some key moments. He's out there and he might not be catching the ball or whatever, but those blocks are important.
Coach.
Yeah, for sure, you know Kay's doing a great job. I think the whole room is really doing a great job. But I think it's a testament to them as a room, and it's a way that I guess I teach Okay, anybody who's in the tight ends room, they know that at any moment, they could be a wide receiver, they could be a fullback, they could be a regular hy tight end, you know, like people are accustomed to seeing. And unfortunately, I've actually been in some circumstances where the why tight end has had to go in as a tackle because we had so many injuries on the offensive line during a game that we're the only ones that knew what was happening, and we had to have that happen. So it's a very fun and exciting place to be in this offense because you're asked to do a lot of things. And going back to your original question, what Kate has been able to do with putting together playing the why tight end and also being in the backfield as a fullback has been really, really great coach.
Does that make it more I don't know if exciting is the right word, but more exciting for you in a sense that you got to know all the different protections as you know a pass blocker. You got to know all the different protections and blocking schemes for the run.
You got to all the different routes.
It's kind of like you got your hand in everything at the buffet in a sense, does that make it more fun to coach?
The position?
That's exactly right?
And that's actually exactly what I tell these guys, and I have to remind them sometimes that, you know, in my opinion, we should be the second most informed person on the field behind the quarterback, because like you said, we have to know the run game, the pass game, the pass protection game, and all of the above right, all the routes that go along with it. So because we have all of these things on our plate, our plate is full. But that's how we like it, you know, And so we cross train everybody because if Caide breaks a shoelace and slow wants to call another formation with a tight end in the backfield. Well, somebody's got to go fill that role. So everybody gets cross trained. If you're in the room, and I don't care, it's everybody from Troy Harriston all the way to Teagan Quittoriano, and everybody's getting cross trained in the backfield on the line as a why and so on and so forth.
What's Tigan doing for you since coming back to the Texans organization.
Oh yeah, he's been a great addition. And you know the best part is that he has some familiarity, right, so he was with us, you know, before he got injured and all those kind of things, So there's a lot of familiarity that we don't have to start at square one. You know. We were able to say, hey, do you remember this, yes, coach, I remember that. Okay, now we can move on, and we were able to get him up to speed pretty quick. So he's been a great addition.
So in twenty twenty two when we played the Cowboys, last drive of the game for the Cowboys, Dalton Schultz was huge and I just remember saying, I hate freaking Dalton Schultz.
So he returned to AT and T Stadium the other night, and.
Dalton seems like a pretty chill, kind of quiet guy when you see him.
But what were his emotions like going back? I saw him after the game, and I was like that one had to feel good. He's Dalwin felt good. How is that kind of managing that through the week for Dalton?
Coach? Yeah, it was good.
You know, he's a pro, right, He's been in the league for a long time, so he knows how to manage himself and things like that. And so I tried not to guess him up too much because I knew that he was already going to be feeling that, you know, individually, but he definitely had a different look in his eye, I will say that, And so I just kind of left it at that and just try to keep him encourage and pump him up and encourage him to keep on doing what he's doing because he's playing really good football. You know, he hasn't been targeted, maybe as much as he would like, but the fact of the matter is that when he is targeted, he is doing what he needs to do, and he's doing a great job in the run game, and he knows that when we ask him to do something, he's going to be there for and be able to deliver.
Yeah, Jake Marlon coaches tight ends for the Texans.
The point you just brought up, you'd love to be targeted all the time. Every player who is capable of catching a pass wants to catch all the passes. But you mentioned all the dirty work that you have to do that's utterly important. Is there a sense that or do you have to remind everybody that, hey, this is seen by all the important people in your career, right the other teams, this team, whether you end up another place or not. As you're coaching guys in training camp and whatnot, do you need to remind them of that sometimes.
One hundred percent?
I mean, I mean, of course, guys, you know, especially on this level, everybody, Hey guy, I'm open on every play. You're not open on every play, even though you think you're open on every play. I get it. But that's how competitive these guys are, right, So in order to keep on keep on fueling that competitive drive, you want to let them know that when you get your opportunity, you have to maximize it. And you never know when that opportunity is going to come. It's like, you know, you play seventy plays in a game, and there's probably five or six of those plays that are really going to determine the outcome. The problem is you don't know when those players are going to show up. So if you're not able to perform on every single play that you're in, then you might miss your opportunity. And that's the thing that we talk about the most in our room is the progress is part of the process, right and as we continue to progress through the season, are we able to sustain everything that we need to do play in and play out? So because you never know when that one play is going to be the turning point in the.
Game, coach almost feel like there should be some delineation at some point between using the word rookie and using the year first year guy, because I feel like they're no longer rookies because they've been playing a lot. What have you seen from Caid since he matured from a rookie to a first year player. He's lined up almost everywhere, He's done a little bit of everything, including being one of the Special Teams Players of the week. What has he done as a rookie for you guys and what kind of growth have you seen in kid.
Well, I think it starts with his approach the guy. He showed up in a professional kind of a manner, you know what I mean. Sometimes you have to kind of, let's say, coach guys into say hey, this is how we perform, this is how we study, these are the things that we have to do. And Kate was a pro as soon as he walked through the doors, right. So his mental ability to grasp the offense has been fantastic. That's why we're able to move him around and do the things that we're able to do. His physical presence has allowed him to also not only be in the offense, but also become a real live player for us in special teams.
Right.
And so when you're a tight end, especially in this level, you have to be able to perform both in special teams and on the offense for whatever that looks like for that particular week. And I think he's just really embraced his role. Whatever we ask him to do, he's going to do it to the best of his ability. And he's very coachable. He wants to be coached, he wants to be pushed, and he really wants to be the best at what he's doing.
And I thought he was really open with us. We had him in here, what maybe three four weeks ago, and he actually brought it up. We didn't really want to go there, and he brought He was the one who brought up the Minnesota game, and he talked about the lessons he learned from that Minnesota game that he is then applying going forward. Did you see that same thing, coach, I mean, that was a tough game for him, You had a tough time against John Gernard in particular.
Did you kind of see that same thing from him?
Because he talked about it very openly about how that was a real learning lesson for him that added kind of to his tool kit as he moved forward, exactly.
And again I go back to these guys that are in my room. They are pros, and they really have a great approach to the game, and they know that there are things even if we lose, okay, quote unquote lose, you lose a play, you lose a game, whatever, that looks like, there's going to be lessons that you can derive from that, and then if you're able to apply it as you move on through the season. I think that's why we are where we are now. We went through some adversity over the last few weeks, not only going all the way back to Minnesota, but as a team, you know, everybody faces injuries. Get that, well, we probably lost a couple of games that most people think that we should have won, including us. Okay, fine, well, what can we learn from that and apply now as we continue to move on and we start getting into December, because that's when where we really need to be playing our best ball.
Yep.
Jake Morland tight ends coach for the Texans. All right, so you played tight end, you played the position you played in the league, and then you started coaching. So when did that or how was that evolution for you? Where the satisfaction is I'm teaching somebody else and I see them do something well and it just lights a fuse for me. It really satisfies me, and I want to pursue this forever.
It was something that I did not want to do by one hundred percent. Did not want to be a coach. In fact, when I got done playing, I was completely done with football, didn't want anything to do with football. And then I was asked to come and be part of a staff with one of my quarterback from college, and I said, I'm going to help you out for this fall, and that's it, and then I'm done. And from the first moment that I stepped on the field, I knew that this is what I was supposed to do. It was very hard for me at first to be able to articulate the things that I wanted my players to be able to do. For whatever reason, I had been able to just do things naturally. I couldn't really explain to you why or how. I just knew how things needed to be done. Well, now I need to put it into a real, live English language to be able to articulate to somebody that they understand that they can go and perform. And so that was a very very hard thing for me to do early in my career and as I've gone to different places. The Air Force Academy is the best example, because even though those guys are the smartest guys, they're the bravest guys. I mean all of the above. They're made up of all the right stuff, but you have a very small window that you have to get all of the information to these guys in and by the way, they're also worried about, you know, aeronautical engineering and protecting our country and all these other things. Football is, you know, down the lists quite a bit for these guys. But it made me a better coach because I needed to be very concise in the information that I was giving them so that they could go out and make it perform. So everywhere that I've been, I've been able to learn different things, learn different techniques. And also you got to figure out what pushes the guy's buttons and how do guys learn. Some guys learn through paper, some guys learn through video, some guys learn through walk through and so you have to be able to manipulate all of those things so everybody can be on the same page.
And as a coach, now it's now technology.
How do you you know with the new technology, because back when we were coaching, like you're drawing it up on pads. You know, it was on paper as all you do. But I'm telling you that coaching bug hits man. When it strikes, it's like, holy cow, it's definitely strike. Okay, we got Thanksgiving coming up, coach, so you can you have to have this side as Thanksgiving?
What sweet potatoes?
Sweet potatoes growing with marshmallows or no.
No, well, yes, with marshmallows. But when I was growing up, this was my dad. My dad had to have sweet potatoes, like we could not start the meal unless the sweet potatoes were on the table. And that just kind of followed. And now that's I am that way now. I used to be bread. I used to be I'm a big bread guy. Used to be bread. But now it's completely sweet potatoes. Okay, are you sweepot casse role? Just sweet potatoes with marshmallows or it just doesb matter. It's got to sweetatoes, don't matter. It has to be sweet potatoes, usually diced, okay, and and that's usually how how we get them. But I'm not that picky.
Okay, Now cut a dish.
Yes, weave a dish from the completely gone never want to see it.
Yes, your decision, coach, and yours alone.
Holy cow?
Uh? Probably corn?
Corn? Do people have corn?
I make?
I make like a crembrew like corn? Pretty good?
Yeah?
I would replace that with the green bean cast role personally, you.
Like to readmaccastro. What the Krispy fright on is?
Now that's probably a Midwest thing, you know, I am in Wisconsin. That's probably Yeah, I mean I grew in Wisconsin. That was like that had to be on the table. That was the only way my mom got me the green Beans coach. That's it, green Bean cast role, Thanksgiving.
Meet your vegetables coach, Thics a loft for joining us, Good luck, Thanks guys, It's always such a pleasure to catch up with Jake Moreland. Great guy, obviously an excellent guest on this show and an excellent coach for these tight ends for your Texans. Now coming up the injury report. Do I have thoughts on this? Yes, I do. Very non professional medical opinions on the injury report. We'll get to those next, plus very professional opinions from Houston Methodist as we'll discuss foot injuries Part two. I know it sounds kind of weird, but trust me, you're gonna like this. It's coming up here on Texans All Access. It's our final segment here on Texans All Access tonight. And as I promised, the injury report here it is for a Thursday.
Did not participate for the second consecutive day.
Yesterday was a walk through kind of thing, but they have to give an injury report anyway. But also not participating today as well as yesterday, Denico Autry with a knee oblique situation, Florunzo Fhatacasi otherwise known as fully Fatakassi foot injury, and Blake Fisher with a concussion. So let's do the math here. Thursday practice, I don't know. You gotta hope that you get those guys back, especially Daniko and Florunzo, because those guys are really important on that defensive line. Now. I know they've been doing really well with who's ever out there. Foley did not play against Dallas, Denko did, so we'll see how it goes. Hey they play Sunday, things can change. But you do have Mario Edwards back for the second consecutive game. And Will Anderson Junior was limited again in practice today, and that's on the way up, not on the way down.
So it's good.
If a guy shows up limited all of a sudden on a Thursday, that means he might have gotten hurt in practice. So you always have to be aware of those things. But Will's coming back slowly but surely limited participation. Will know a lot more tomorrow when the status report comes out, as he's au Shire also limited with a knee injury. Derek Stingley Junior limited with a hip, So let's be optimistic about those guys. Hope for the best when the status report comes out tomorrow. Full participation for the second consecutive day. Kamari Lassiter with the concussion comeback, so let's hope he could make it out there against the Tennessee Titans. Now for the Titans themselves, some interesting items to note here, as you have Roger McCreary out with a knee injury second consecutive day. You know, cornerback Lagerius Sneed already ruled himself out with a quad He's been out for a while. Taj Spears out yesterday concussion, out today concussion. So he continues on the comeback trail, but it doesn't look good for him. Not trending in the right direction for him heading into Sunday. And Calvin Ridley sat out yesterday with an illness. He practiced full today, so expect him to go. And Jeffrey Simmons day of rest yesterday for that terrifying veteran, well, he was full go today, so expect him to be out there Sunday at noon at NRG Stadium on Salute to Service Day. Now let's get to this Houston Methodist minutes doctor Jason o'wero. We had him on last week talking about foot injuries. Let's discuss turf toe, which sounds tame, but it is not.
It is not. And you know, I think, you know, for we've taked football for instance, you know, in a you know, I think you would think that your big toe is not important. But you know, for particularly for our skill positions where athletes are making you know, very dynamic moves, cutting and so forth, we depend on our great toe immensely for direction change, acceleration and so forth. And so when an athlete has a turf toe injury, they lose that ability to use that toe for doing the you know, cutting and so forth and acceleration. So it tends to really limit their speed, their ability to to you know, do it. Uh makes them great. And so you know, some some players, you know, in alignment and so forth, you know, they may be able to accommodate some for that turf toe, but still there's a you know a great deal of force that they're applying through their through their toe as well. And so yeah, these these injuries, they tend to be very debilitating.
Doctor.
What are some of the foot injuries that require actual surgery.
So you know, we've talked a lot about turf toe. That is one where in some cases it does require require surgery, although a lot of times that can be you know, if it's a stable injury, it can be treated with tape and you know, rest and support. I think the ones that are off at surgical or there's a fracture known as a Jones fracture, which is a fracture of the fifth metatarsal. It happens in an area of the bone that's very notorious for non healing, and so those frequently require placement of a screw or a plate on that bone in order to allow it to heal. Most athletes they're they're going to have surgery for that. The other big one is a list Frank injury, this midfoot sprain. Those are frequently unstable and it basically renders your arch unstable, and so those those almost universally require fixed surgical fixation.
That was the matchup twenty eleven injury that we're all familiar with as Texans fans doctor. The amount of bones in a foot, it's some crazy number what goes into the construction If you will.
Of the human foot. It's very complicated, right.
Yes, sir, it is very complicated, and you know, it's it's twenty eight bones that are basically connected by you know, up to two hundred ligaments, and so, uh, there's there's a lot of ligament of support. You know, most joints in the foot, there's not a lot of inherent bony stability there, and so you basically are relying on the soft tissue restraints, so the ligaments, the muscles and tendons, in order to stabilize that. And I think, you know, because because of the configuration of these joints, it's what makes our foot so dynamic. It allows us to bear weight, you know, it allows it allows us to accommodate to different surfaces and so forth, you know, but it also makes the foot more injury prone.
Doctor, that's great information. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
Yes, sirs, thank you for having me.
There's doctor Jason Auero of Houston Methodist, the official healthcare provider of the Houston Texans. Log Onto Houston Methodist dot org for all the information on Houston Methodist and the ers and all of it virtual visits. They've got it all there, Houston Methodist dot Org, Houston Methodist Leading Medicine.
All right, a couple of reminders for you.
On Friday night show, we kick off with Demico Ryans Always and a player to be named later. I think it's Jalen Peatrie tomorrow with Drew so we'll have a good listen to that. Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, and a whole lot more on the program three hour block of Texans Radio on Friday night, and don't miss out on Texans Playbook ABC thirteen, ten thirty five or whenever the news ends on Saturday evening and you get to see Demiko.
Ryan's Nick Cassario.
All that stuff is available on YouTube as well, so we're wherever you need to get it. Get it, listen to it. Let's get fired up here. Six games remain in the regular season. The Texans in a real good spot with the Titans coming up on Sunday at NRG Stadium. Salute to Service Day, can't wait. Thanks for listening. Don't forget that Area forty five off tonight because we have Thursday Night football, but they'll be back on at nine tomorrow night.
Have a great evening, Go Texans.
