The third OTA for the Houston Texans was held before the weekend starts and there was a new life during the practice. It was another tolerable day for the practice with a nice overcast and good breeze. Here are some notes on OTAs from today:   Day Three – Inside linebacker Tim Dobbins was absent today for the third straight practice. There is plenty of chatter going on how he should be there at “voluntary” OTAs but one thing is for certain training camp is where it counts. Dobbins, a special teams captain, is catching heat for not being with his teammates. There is no…

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt tweeted out his new shoe that Nike will be releasing.   Introducing the Mega Watt Coming Soon. #MegaWatt twitter.com/JJWatt/status/… — JJ Watt (@JJWatt) May 23, 2013  

Houston Texans and 1st round draft pick wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins threw out the first pitch of the Houston Astros game versus the Kansas City Royals.   Here are some pictures of the pitch   Sick jersey twitter.com/Nukdabomb/stat… — Deandre Hopkins (@Nukdabomb) May 22, 2013   The @houstontexans‘ DeAndre Hopkins signs autographs for #Astros fans before the game. twitter.com/astros/status/… — Houston Astros (@astros) May 21, 2013 @nukdabomb (DeAndre Hopkins) is throwing the 1st pitch out tonight at the @astros game Heres his #astros jersey twitpic.com/cs9hp7 — Michael Williams (@MikesAtexan) May 21, 2013   RT @ortizkicks: Texans first round pick DeAndre Hopkins will…

Today was day number two and practice number two for the Houston Texans OTAs. There was some news today out of camp and one scary collision that left one Texans player left for further evaluation. Also, some key veterans took the day off to observe practice but helped when needed with the younger players. The temperature was a little humid and the wind once again provided a nice breeze for the players. Here are some quick notes on day two.   Day Two – The Texans had two injuries with Phillip Supernaw and Sunny Harris that were labeled as foot injuries from yesterday. Neither player…

The Houston Texans, all 89 of them, came together for their first OTA session of the 2013 season. This is the first of 10 practices but it is a good sight to finally see more Texans football being put out on display. There are some new faces at Reliant and some that were missing, but still a new outlook for the 2013 season is at hand. Here are some early thoughts on the opening of OTAs.   Day One – Ed Reed was in Colorado finishing some rehab on his hip and is expected to fly back in the middle of…

OTAs open up today for the Houston Texans and one of the big storylines heading into them are the injuries the team is dealing with. There have been offseason surgeries the team has dealt with and a few injuries that will effect the roster heading into week one. Here is a look at some injuries to watch moving forward.   Brennan Williams The drafted rookie right tackle took a mini-camp scare to his knee when he was rolled up on in drills. Williams is scheduled to get some important snaps with Derek Newton out for OTAs, but it will be interesting to see how much…

DeAndre Hopkins traveled out to Los Angeles to the 2013 Topps Rookie Premier Event to mark the opening of football cards season. Hopkins joined 35 rookies from the 2013 NFL draft class to sign football cards and memorabilia for the trading card manufacturers and others. This is a two-day function that ended at the Rose Bowl to take more actions shots for the card company in their uniforms.   Here are some Snap Shots from the Event   Wow! Chillin’ with @nukdabomb and talkin about that #Texans offense at the @nflplayers #RookiePremiere! #WhosNext twitter.com/ToppsFB/status… — Topps Football (@ToppsFB) May 17, 2013   @deandrehopkins…

On Monday, the Houston Texans open their 2013 OTAs and more football news to come out before training camp opens. The Texans have 10 practices that make up OTAs on the following dates: May 20th- May 21st, May 23rd (Practices 1-3) May 27th- May 29th (Practices 4-6) June 3rd – June 6th (Practices 7-10) A new season is upon Houston and, with rookie mini-camp in the books, the Texans will introduce their veterans into the mix with the rookie group. There are few story lines that will be worth a follow heading into this week.   OTAs  Injuries Ed Reed (Hip),…

Rookie wide receiver Alan Bonner took some time out with us during rookie mini camp to discuss how his first days as a Houston Texan were going. We asked Bonner how his adjustment to an NFL wide receiver was going, about his relationship with DeAndre Hopkins and what it meant to be a small school player (Jacksonville State) in the NFL. Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

On the first day of rookie mini camp, we caught up with second round draft pick safety D.J. Swearinger. Impressive the entire three days, we talked to Swearinger about his leadership, his promise to South Carolina before he signed, what it means to be with Sam Montgomery in Houston and much more.     You can follow Patrick on Twitter.  He is the Editor of State of the Texans.   Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Thankful for the opportunity and privilege to join the @houstontexans #Texans #timetogettowork — Tyler Horn (@Tyler63Horn) May 15, 2013   The Houston Texans have announced the signing of center, Tyler Horn. Horn is a first year player out of the University of Miami and is 6-4 and 305 lbs. Horn signed with the Atlanta Falcons after the 2012 NFL draft, but was waived on the final cuts heading in the season. In October, Horn was signed to the Tennessee Titans practice squad and he finished the 2012 season with the Titans. Horn was a veteran invited to rookie mini camp last weekend and ended…

Rookie offensive tackle Brennan Williams is an imposing figure at 6-6 and 316 lbs. and looks the part of an NFL offensive tackle. Williams will be working at right tackle and we had the chance to catch up with him on the last day of rookie mini camp. We talked about his knee injury scare, how the offensive zone schemes from North Carolina and Houston compare, and how he is looking forward to working with Duane Brown.   Listen to Williams.    You can follow Patrick on Twitter.  He is the Editor of State of the Texans.   Podcast: Play in new…

Alan Bonner was an unknown name to the Houston Texans fan base before being drafted in the 6th round out of Jacksonville State. There was little information on Bonner prior to him being taken by the Texan so we had to find out more. We talked to Al Muskewitz from the Anniston Star who covers Jacksonville State football for the Star. We asked Al what he saw in the newest Texans wide receiver.   Digging Deep   When you watch Bonner play, who does he remind you of? I don’t know that I can say because I really don’t watch much…

RB/KR Deji Karim @kingkarim36 has signed with the Houston #Texans…congrats to Deji, well deserved! — Jason Bernstein (@JB_XAM) May 14, 2013   The Houston Texans have signed free agent running back Deji Karim to a deal. Karim was invited to rookie mini camp this past weekend on a tryout basis that resulted in an offer being made. He is 5-8 and 209 lbs. and in his 4th season in the NFL from Southern Illinois. He was selected in the 6th round of the 2010 NFL Draft (180th overall) by the Jacksonville Jaguars and played last season with the Indianapolis Colts. Karim…

During mini camp, we had a chance to catch up with rookie defensive tackle Chris Jones. We talked to the newest Houston Texans defensive lineman about how mini camp was going, signing his new contract, his new position coach in Coach Bill Kollar, the approaching OTAs and representing Bowling Green in the NFL. See what Jones had to say.   You can follow Patrick on Twitter.  He is the Editor of State of the Texans.     Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed