At the risk of angering everyone in Houston, who are toiling in mid-90’s heat all week long, I begin this article about my first person observations from Texans training camp in West Virginia by saying this — underneath overcast skies, and mid 60’s temperatures, on a crisp Tuesday morning, the Texans took the field for their second practice in West Virginia this week.
There, now that I got the weather report out of the way, I can get to the football parts, and tell you that Tuesday was a much better day for the offense, which featured a heavy dose of.Nick Chubb, and some deep shots to rookie Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Let’s get to the thoughts!
4. We got out first real training camp brouhaha!
We have yet to see a real fight break out at camp, which surprises me a little bit seeing as the temperatures in Houston were hot enough to maker even the most docile church nun ready to take someone down in a Texas Death Match. On Day 2, in much cooler temperatures, it was safety Russ Yeast lunging at Dalton Schultz’s head as the tight end went to the ground. Schultz got up and threw the ball at Yeast, Yeast clearly said something to Schultz, and then it was ON! The fight was broken up quickly, but at least we got some pushing and shoving! I’ll take it!
3. Kamari Lassiter is the best defensive player in camp, not named Will Anderson
Lassiter didn’t get nearly enough credit for the outstanding rookie year he had in 2024, compared to other highly touted rookie cornerbacks like Quinton Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Lassiter looks primed to break out even further in 2025, and on Tuesday he put everything on display. Lassiter had an interception of a deep ball to Nico Collins, in which he was stride for stride. He had an interception of a short pass over the middle, where he bodied the receiver out of the way. Beyond that, he had pass breakups and coverage plays where he was in the hip picket of the intended target. Lassiter’s energy is infectious, and he is absolutely one of the core players this team will build around moving forward.
2. Jayden Higgins had a massive day catching downfield bombs
Last year, Lassiter was the second round pick the Texans took as their first selection. This year, it was Higgins, with the 34th overall pick in the draft. Higgins has looked very ready to contribute throughout the offseason activities, including this training camp. Tuesday was his best day yet, with contested downfield catches on three dimes from Davis Mills. If this is who Higgins is on track to become, he and Nico Collins will form one of the more physical pass catching duos in the league.
1. Nick Chubb is ALIVE!
The running back room for the Texans is in an interesting state right now, especially with the return of Dameon Pierce off the PUP list. With Joe Mixon likely out for the remainder of camp, the first team reps have gone to the veteran and former Pro Bowler Nick Chubb. Throughout camp, Chubb has looked very average, with his signature burst robbed from him by the massive knee injury he suffered in 2023. He’s looked okay, but not great. On Tuesday, he took things up a notch. It still wasn’t VINTAGE Chubb, but he broke through to the second level a couple times, and his grind-it-out runs looked to go for four or five yards, which is perfectly acceptable.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.