Food for thought

[JMLOCKETT]

If Mario was to show that he was more of a player this season than last now during preseason, would that tip off the other teams and provide them with the tape that they would need to be prepared?

Am I wrong in thinking that Coach K stated that we are going to take a vanilla stance on how we are going to play?

What do ya'll think?

[tsip]

If Mario was to show that he was more of a player this season than last now during preseason, would that tip off the other teams and provide them with the tape that they would need to be prepared?

Am I wrong in thinking that Coach K stated that we are going to take a vanilla stance on how we are going to play?

What do ya'll think?

With Mario, Kubes said Sunday he is not that concerned about sacks with Mario--instead, he wants him to be like Feeny(sp) of the Colts, who is very disruptive and has to be accounted for on every play. He also wants Mario to find some of his 'own' ways to pressure the qb, instead of treating each qb the same. They're starting to coach the OL the same way, letting them decide some on field nuances. He emphasized the coaching would still be intense, but the player could determine his own decision making based on each play.

[Grid]

I think that there is no secret plan to unleash the beast in week 1. It just doesnt work like that. A team may keep plays secret. they may even severely limit the reps of a player to keep them fresh, ready, and to keep teams from gameplanning for that player..

what you wont ever see is a team telling a player to play terribly so that their opponents wont know how good he is. That is just a SEVERE case of wishful thinking.

I personally voted that he has "gotten lazy".. though that doesnt really fit my personal outlook on it.. it just fits better than "what we see is what we get"..since I dont think Mario is anywhere NEAR "complete"..he is still learning.

What I DO think is that Mario has forgotten that he is one of the most physically gifted people in the league.. and that he can use that to his advantage. He is trying so hard to be technically sound that he seems to have forgotten that, in the end, his job is all about muscling that tackle out of your way and getting the soft, gooey, QB flavored nougat in the middle.

Id rather Mario played to his strengths and slowly learned the nuances of the position..rather than throwing it all at him now and having him suck for 3-4 more years.

But im not a coach..I dont know if there is a good reason for what they are doing. Im just gonna sit back and wait..and see. If we dont get pressure on the QB and teams continue to walk all over our defense though, im not gonna be blaming Mario.. im gonna be blaming the coaches.

[JMLOCKETT]

thanks for the answer. I wasnt actually refering to playing terribly I was leaning towards playing more vanilla or a term that has been used of base play.

[TexansFanatic]

I saw this exact same proposition posted last preseason. It was mused that perhaps Mario wasn't being allowed to show everything he had so he could be sprung on the first opponent in a game that counted.

Well, it didn't pan out like that last year and it's not going to again this year.

We as fans, and the Texans as an organization, are faced with the real possibility that Mario will never be the player we all wanted him to be and, further still, that he might achieve less than average production for a professional NFL player at his position over the course of his professional career.

Oh well.

Winning trumps everything. Even colossal blunders (which is what taking Mario with the first overall pick may have been) are forgotten if the team wins. If the Texans go to the playoffs this year and the Titans don't you'll hear a lot fewer people whining about Mario. And this includes me....

[JMLOCKETT]

It seems that I might beating a dead horse then I am sorry for wasting space. I can honestly say I hope the boy does well. I thought I might of been on to something here.

[tsip]

I pretty much agree with Grid. Kubiak keeps promising to coach to a players strength, but I don't think he's done that with Mario. True, there are certain variables you expect from a 1st round draft choice, but-as I've already posted-expecting him to come out of college and learn 3 line positions was a 'bit' much.

But, no, he's not being held back in pre-season. Eventually, though, I think we'll get our best out of Mario and the other linemen when we put them in the positions that allow them to use their maximum potential.

[South Texan]

They have him on Valium and mood music to keep him calm till the KC game so he doesn't get hurt, or worse yet, get charged with manslaughter.


Starters with a lock on their position don't typically play nearly as hard as players competing for spots on the roster. We may have to wait till regular season to see what's up with Mario. If they really wanted to motivate him at this point they would move him to the #2 spot on the depth chart.

[BornOrange]

With a year of experience and being healthy, we have to hope and pray that Williams is holding back and just trying to get through the preseason injury free. Sacks are not the be all end all in measuring a DE's effectiveness, but he is not pressuring the QB and shutting down the running game like a dominant DE should be doing.

[NBT]

I am concerned about Mario, as we all are. Last year he had that peculiar plantar fascitis in his foot that didn't allow him to use his natural talents too well, and he still ended up with four sacks. So what is wrong with Mario this year, now that his foot has healed. Perhaps the coaches have told him to take a more measured apporoach and not get too carried away with it during two a days and preseason. Lets hope that might be the case. The 3rd preseason game is the one where the starters play 2 to 3 quarters to really tune up for the regular season. If we don't see a more motivated Mario, one who is satisfied to just chicken fight with the opposing offensive lineman, then perhaps it will be time to really get worried. However, if what I think will happen, Mario will get after it, and really try to show the coaches he is ready to go. This is the Mario I will be looking for next Saturday night.