Texans Begin OTAs Today

With organized team activities for your Houston Texans officially beginning today, Gary Kubiak had some novel things to say within Dale Robertson's piece in today's Chronicle. The lockout last year meant no OTAs, which meant less official preparation and, lo and behold, the Texans had the best season in franchise history. That fact was not lost on Kubes:

"It does make a coach stop and think a little bit," Gary Kubiak admitted. "The NFL season is so long and such a grind. I think we all learned something from the experience. Keeping that momentum going, keeping everyone’s dauber up for six months … hopefully, we learned some things last year that we can put in place with this year’s bunch."

It’s possible Kubiak won’t push as hard early as he might have in the past, recalling how he sensed even his assistant coaches — never mind the players — looked fresher in December than he’d observed in previous seasons. Little will be asked of several key veterans, and quarterback Matt Schaub won’t be testing his surgically repaired foot at all until camp begins.

“We’re going to be smart with Matt, obviously, and with Andre (Johnson),” Kubiak said. “Certain guys don’t need to be out there every day. But the guys who need the majority of reps will be getting those reps. We spent a lot of time in the classroom with the rookies last week to catch them up, to get them in position where they’re comfortable.

Another offseason nugget of good news: The Texans reportedly had 100% of their players participate in voluntary workouts at Reliant leading up to OTAs. As we edge closer to training camp and the preseason, that's the kind of news that could send our already sky-high optimism into another gear.