Texans Down 'N Dirty: Day 14 Recap Edition

The wait is over! Eric Winston has a new video blog out. In it, he discusses the botched play that led to a sack of Matt Schaub in the first pre-season game. He chalks the play up to a good play by the defense. He also had some praise to dish out to the running game as well as some of the young rookies on the defensive side of the ball.

With the loss of Boomer Grigsby, the Texans have turned to James Casey to fill in as the backup fullback. Ideally, Casey would be entrenched in one position (tight end), but we all know just how versatile Casey is when it comes to positions on the field. The man will do whatever is asked to him. Replacement for Dunta Robinson, anyone? No? OK. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see how Casey performs in the backfield and what type of blocking ability he provides from that area. It's just one more aspect of the game to focus on come Saturday against the Saints.

Antwuan Molden is finally back. After a rookie season that was derailed early due to an ankle injury and a nine month rehab process, Molden is finally back on the field participating in drills. His return cannot be understated. He may be behind both Brice McCain and Glover Quin on the depth chart as of now, but he flashed serious potential his rookie year and was a special teams star. If he progresses at all from his play last year he could make a late push for the nickel corner job. The race could turn out much more interesting than it already was between just McCain and GQ. The team plans to ease Molden into the lineup slowly, but he is certainly someone to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

Khary Campbell, formerly of the Washington Redskins, is your newest Houston Texan. With Brian Cushing, Xavier Adibi, Zac Diles, and Cato June all slowed by injuries, Campbell should fill in as a camp body. Though the player  was unknown at the time, you had to expect this one to be coming given the injury situation.

The uniform combinations for 2009 have been released! Battle Red Day is much earlier this year than last, coming in the third game of the season against Jacksonville. Also, as Chris noted, that day will no longer consist of red on white, but rather red on red. I'd prefer we save the red on red for night games on national television. Other than that small quip, the combinations seem solid. Another great season of... uniforms.

Here's the day's recap from the Chronicle and the Texans' website. Nothing too special or extraordinary happened, but there were some good jokes dished out by Frank Okam and Gary Kubiak, which we'll get to in a second.

And now for the best quotes of the day:

(on the plan for the starters' reps for the coming week) "We'll up the reps. We came out of the game with our first-team offense playing 18 snaps. Our first-team defense only played 10, so they got a little bit out of whack. But we'll definitely pick it up, probably start with the idea of a quarter-and-a-half for the first group and go from there." - Gary Kubiak

We'll get to see Schaub and the first team offense pick up from where they left of last week - a perfect 7-7 throwing the ball. Also, this could be an opportunity for a bounce-back game from Steve Slaton.

(on DT Frank Okam's approval that his comment came from an Aggie to a Longhorn) "That's what I told him. I don't give out those attaboys very often, especially to a Longhorn, but he and (G) Kasey (Studdard) earned a couple of them. I told him that those last about as long as a butt chewing, not long, so get back out there and keep doing it." - Kubes

Bye, Travis Johnson.

(on DT Frank Okam's recent performance) "Frank was impressive in the game. Played a lot of plays. I told the team this morning, you're starting to see young veteran backup players starting to play like they belong on the field a lot. We're talking about a (G Kasey) Studdard or a (C) Chris (White) or a Frank or a (DT) DelJuan (Robinson), and that's important for our team. So it's a big step forward for Frank." - Kubes

No, seriously, pack up TJ.

(on the status of DT Travis Johnson) "He's upping his work this week. He's working with (defensive line coach) Bill (Kollar) after practice, doing more, so that'll be our schedule with him this week, and we'll see."

Don't even attempt a comeback. You're done, man.

(on having three quarterbacks on the roster during the season) "Well, it's like I told ya'll, from what I've been through the last two years, I would like to, but I'm not going to keep three guys just to have three bodies. Whoever that guy is, I'm going to have to feel good about (him) playing. We have a long way to go. We'll see how that pans out here in the next few weeks, but I'm not just going to keep three guys to keep bodies around." - Kubes

I think it's safe to say Kubiak is on the verge of trashing the three quarterback experiment after Sexy Rexy's bomb on his first play in the Chiefs game.

(on getting K Kris Brown and RB Chris Brown's names mixed up) "Between he and Kris? Oh, it's very difficult. Many times, someone says ‘Chris Brown came up to your office' and I'll get the wrong Chris Brown. So just tell me kicker or back and you can usually find them." - Kubes, again

Hah.

(on his weight compared to last year) "It's close to the same. It's about 335 pounds, just put in better places. I'm a little quicker and a little more solid. I'm stronger and I'm faster, so I think that'll pay dividends this year." - Frank Okam

I think BFD might have just passed out laughing.