houstonsportsfan09
07-31-2008, 11:55 AM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp08/columns/story?columnist=kuharsky_paul&id=3512379
"HOUSTON -- Never mind, for the time being, the three teams ahead of them.
The Houston Texans have a positive buzz at training camp, the sort that's never existed before for a seven-year team. Some players have tiptoed around it and stopped just short of saying the follow-up to an 8-8 season is playoffs or bust. But the Texans' expect to be a breakout team that the rest of the league will have no choice but to talk about.
AFC South
In his third year as coach, Gary Kubiak's plan is moving along. This team is deeper, understands that plan better and, after a year of key players getting injured, anticipates better health.
"The expectations aren't just to survive or get by," said offensive lineman Chester Pitts, one of the four remaining original members of the team. "The expectations are to play well and do well. I kind of like the vibe, the added pressure. Good players, when the pressure is on, the cream rises to the top, right?"
Backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels arrived in 2006 as Kubiak and GM Rick Smith were in the early stages of building their team.
"It's a whole different world from two years ago to now -- players-wise, coaching-wise and absolutely expectations-wise," he said. "The attitudes of players are so much better as far as guys just want to win and do the right things and go to work every day and play like a champion."
Should they lose key people to injuries again, middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said the Texans are better equipped to handle it.
"When I first got here, you had 'OK guy here, OK guy here,'" he said. "You come out to practice now, you've got to step up and compete, you've got to bring it every day."
To improve on 2007, the Texans need to do better at forging their identity. They are in a division where Tony Dungy has led the Colts to five straight titles and a Super Bowl win, where Jeff Fisher is the league's longest-tenured coach with his team and where Jack Del Rio has led his team to a road playoff win.
"I speak for everybody, I think, when I say we all trust Kubiak," tight end Owen Daniels said. "With what he's done in the past [as an assistant] in Denver, he knows how to win and he's obviously improved this team a great deal." "
Theres more including key questions.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3499544&categoryId=2459789
^ is a video preview.
"HOUSTON -- Never mind, for the time being, the three teams ahead of them.
The Houston Texans have a positive buzz at training camp, the sort that's never existed before for a seven-year team. Some players have tiptoed around it and stopped just short of saying the follow-up to an 8-8 season is playoffs or bust. But the Texans' expect to be a breakout team that the rest of the league will have no choice but to talk about.
AFC South
In his third year as coach, Gary Kubiak's plan is moving along. This team is deeper, understands that plan better and, after a year of key players getting injured, anticipates better health.
"The expectations aren't just to survive or get by," said offensive lineman Chester Pitts, one of the four remaining original members of the team. "The expectations are to play well and do well. I kind of like the vibe, the added pressure. Good players, when the pressure is on, the cream rises to the top, right?"
Backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels arrived in 2006 as Kubiak and GM Rick Smith were in the early stages of building their team.
"It's a whole different world from two years ago to now -- players-wise, coaching-wise and absolutely expectations-wise," he said. "The attitudes of players are so much better as far as guys just want to win and do the right things and go to work every day and play like a champion."
Should they lose key people to injuries again, middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said the Texans are better equipped to handle it.
"When I first got here, you had 'OK guy here, OK guy here,'" he said. "You come out to practice now, you've got to step up and compete, you've got to bring it every day."
To improve on 2007, the Texans need to do better at forging their identity. They are in a division where Tony Dungy has led the Colts to five straight titles and a Super Bowl win, where Jeff Fisher is the league's longest-tenured coach with his team and where Jack Del Rio has led his team to a road playoff win.
"I speak for everybody, I think, when I say we all trust Kubiak," tight end Owen Daniels said. "With what he's done in the past [as an assistant] in Denver, he knows how to win and he's obviously improved this team a great deal." "
Theres more including key questions.
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3499544&categoryId=2459789
^ is a video preview.