HOUSTON – The Houston Texans have officially kicked off their 2019 training camp at NRG Park.
After practice each day, head coach Bill O’Brien spends a few minutes answering questions with those of us in the media.
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Here is the best of Bill O’Brien from Thursday’s media session after the Texans' opening workout:
O’Brien on the status and team stance on Jadeveon Clowney
"I can tell you unequivocally that we want Jadeveon Clowney here. He's a part of this team. We want him here. There's always a difference when you’re talking about money relative to wanting him on the team. That's something that the agent and our organization are working on, but relative to the player and the history that he and I have together, we would love to have him here. He's a really talented football player that's made a lot of good plays for us in the past, and like I said, the sooner the better. I'd love to have him here."
O’Brien on if he has spoken to Clowney
"I'm not going to get into that. I will tell you that he's working and he's doing what he needs to do. When he decides he wants to be back, he'll be back. But like I said, we'd love to have him back."
O’Brien on what he envisioned and expected from QB Deshaun Watson in the opening workout of camp
"I thought what we saw today is we did a lot of red area work, so a lot of quick decisions, knowledge of the offense. I thought he did a really nice job today. Mechanics were good, communication in the huddle was good. Again, it's still T-shirts and shorts. It's not the real deal yet, no full pads. That comes on Saturday. This is the second day of the acclimation period, so I thought he came out here ready to go."
O’Brien on how he feels about the offensive line and where everyone is right now
"It's hard to say exactly how you feel, only because you don't have pads on yet and that's really the test. But relative to how they've worked, how they are in the room, the shape that they came back in, the way that they operate out here in T-shirts and shorts, I'm really happy with where they are right now. So, I'm looking forward to Saturday. That's the true test and see where you're at, see how guys work together. That's a different type of football shape -- see what type of shape they're in relative to being in full pads -- but I'm really happy with where they're at right now."
O’Brien on what he saw from DE J.J. Watt on Day 1 and how nice it was to have him out there on the first day
"Yeah, he batted two passes and he was in the backfield quite a bit. So, it was good to see him back there. From an offensive perspective, it's always hard when he's back in there because we’re trying to execute the play, but it's great to have him out there. He's an awesome player, great guy, a guy that's really put the time in in the offseason and he's really looking forward to having a great year. It's great to have him back out there."
O’Brien on what it means to have training camp back in Houston after years at The Greenbrier in West Virginia
"It's really good. I think that Greenbrier was really good. We got a lot of work done at Greenbrier last year. We did a decent job coming back in shape and all those things and then we were in the coolness of Greenbrier. Now, it’s cool out here today for Houston, but I think as it gets hotter and things like that, I think there's something to be said for practicing in Houston. I would say the most important thing is we'll be able to be here in front of our fans. I think that's the big thing. I think that was something that Bob (McNair) used to talk to me a lot about, and Cal (McNair), how important our fans are. Like I've said for six years now, it's the best fans in the NFL, and to be out here and be able to start practicing in front of them when they get out here, it's going to be big for our players and great for our fans."
The Texans return to practice at 9:10 a.m. Friday at The Methodist Training Center and are scheduled to wrap up around 11:45 a.m.
KPRC 2 Sports and Click2Houston.com/Sports will, of course, have coverage with camp notebooks, features, interviews and much more.