7. A few reps later, Harris threw a dangerous dip and rip late in his rush that opened up the lane to the quarterback. I would have liked to have seen this right after the snap, but I loved seeing it as a counterattack to his initial rush.
8. Another player who is showing progress is rookie DE Solomon Byrd. Last Saturday against the Giants, he pulled off a strip sack in his first appearance at NRG Stadium. That play seemed to be the culmination of his work so far. He has really grown as an edge rusher this training camp and looks like he is much more comfortable with his rushes. That was also evident in his one-on-one drills. He showed some power with a quality bull rush against OT Blake Fisher on their first rep against each other.
9. Later in practice, I saw Byrd slow down some long runs on the other side of the field as well. I love seeing rookies at this point in training camp have a lot of positive days despite their health.
10. In a partner stunt drill, DT Khalil Davis and Hunter faked a twist stunt and then executed individual pass rush moves to the right side of the line. Both won, proving they didn’t need a stunt to get to the QB. Davis did a rip under and then spun to face the QB while Hunter used a sort of swipe move and also broke free.
11. I really liked seeing Kenyon Green and Scruggs run an interior tackle stunt and lock them up nicely in their last rep together in this one-on-one drill. This was similar to how they worked together on pass defense against the Giants last Saturday.
12. OK, let’s get to the team drills…on the second game of the series, RB Joe Mixon had one of my favorite runs of the day. He made a cut back against the grain that was nasty. Well, it wasn’t even a cut; it was more of a Top Gun Maverick “I hit the brakes and he just flies by” cut. He saw a defender to his left, stopped, let the defender fly by, and accelerated through a pretty big hole. I really liked that.
13. On the final play of the series, QB CJ Stroud threw a quick slant to WR Tank Dell. It looked like the ball deflected off a DT toward the LOS. Then it went through Tank’s hands. Then it went through Derek Stingley Jr.’s hands. Tip drilled three times, but the throw eventually fell harmlessly to the turf.
14. A few plays later, CB CJ Henderson reached over WR Steven Sims and scored a clean, one-handed knockaway PBU.
15. The DBs then had their first interception of the day when Stroud tried to hit WR Stefon Diggs on a lateral route. CJ outran Diggs as it appeared he was trying to throw the ball away. But rookie CB Kamari Lassiter dropped out of his coverage and made the interception.
16. A few plays later, Stroud showed his cool, didn’t get rattled when no one was free, and held onto the ball until the last possible second before finding RB Dameon Pierce on the sideline. Pierce raced down the field until he was forced out of bounds by S Jimmie Ward, who took a few “feel me” hits in practice today.
17. OK, my first three-star play of the day was a Stroud-Mixon connection. The Texans were working on a third down situation and the defense had a look at CJ to investigate the ball out of the pocket. He got some solid protection, but there was a little gap near the end of the play. So CJ started moving forward in the pocket and as he did, Mixon darted through the middle. Stroud threw deep to keep the ball away from the defenders and Mixon slid right into that catch. That was really, REALLY nice… three-star nice!
18. I mentioned Solomon Byrd above, and a few plays after Mixon’s catch, the USC freshman stopped a long run by Dameon Pierce. Then he completely destroyed the tackle on his side with a “now you see me, now you don’t see me” rush. QB Davis Mills sensed Byrd’s presence in the zone and was unable to throw accurately to Xavier Hutchinson.
19. Early in the third period, DT Khalil Davis went on a run and not in a bad way, I mean. He went out the back door on a run period and stabbed into the backfield in a matter of seconds. As he sprinted to RB Joe Mixon, the Texans RB stopped and backed away as Davis was in full sprint mode. As a result, Davis tried to hold his ground as Mixon ducked and jumped on Mixon’s back to end the play. Everyone was OK, so I have to say I had a bit of a chuckle watching this play unfold, but what was no joke was Davis’ power and quickness getting into the backfield to stop this run for a loss.
20. The next play was probably Stroud’s best shot – a laser shot over the middle to Stefon Diggs, who finished the ball. Stroud broke the cord on that shot and finished the ball.
21. Well, I say what a great throw that was, but two plays later Stroud threw to Dell on a post route and that was a DIME. Beautiful throw and catch. Stroud then hit Nico Collins on the last play of that drive.
22. Then QB Davis Mills had one of his best throws of the entire camp…and overall he had a brilliant camp too. On the second play of the series Mills ran to his right, not sure if it was the boot or the pressure but as he ran to his right he saw John Metchie III running down the field heading for the end zone and one step ahead of the defense. Mills threw a DEEP throw and connected with Metchie III for the touchdown. That completion surely got the crowd rocking.
23. After a series of running plays, Mills went DEEP AGAIN, but this time he looked to his left, looking for Xavier Hutchinson on the fan side of the field. Mills threw the ball wide out and dropped it right into the waiting arms of Hutchinson, who scored a touchdown. DIME TIME! The crowd erupted in cheers!
24. Then the drill went into the lower red zone and Mills looked at Hutchinson again on the goal line fade route. MONEY AGAIN! Those three throws by Mills were A++, executed superbly and resulted in touchdowns.
25. As the team ran into a last-minute situation at the end of the game, Stroud threw three consecutive passes to Tank Dell and Dalton Schultz before S. Eric Murray snagged a last-second throw for an interception at the end of the drill.
26. Mills then led his unit down the field in the same situation at the end of the game. After a few completions, CB Kris Boyd made one of the most athletic pass defenses of the day, jumping HIGH in the air to intercept a pass intended for Hutchinson.
27. Then, a few plays later, with just two seconds left on the clock, Mills threw a pass to wide receiver Quintez Cephus in the end zone, ending the game, er, practice with the touchdown catch.
OK, that’s it for those Harris hits, but there’s a training camp version tomorrow because the Rams are coming to town for a joint practice on Thursday. I can’t WAIT!! See you then, everyone.
