Reading the coverage of the Houston Texans...
Lots of content today. It's getting to be that time of year. For that, the RTC is grateful.
Whitney Mercilus had his best game of the preseason on Saturday. Humbled by losing his starting job, he took that performance as a confidence booster, writes Dave Zangaro of CSNHouston.com. "The thing is, that’s how this thing works," Mercilus said. "Nobody’s job is guaranteed. That’s exactly what the point is when we acquired the new coaching staff that we have. They made it a point that everybody’s job is on the line and you have to fight for your job."
One more story from CSNHouston.com's Adam Wexler, who discusses D.J. Swearinger's growing reputation. Wexler does not think this is good, given the added attention that will be heaped on the Texans' safety. O'Brien repeated his support for Swearinger on Monday and Swearinger reiterated that he won't change the way he plays.
Another perspective on Swearinger and Manning, this one from Chris Baldwin of Houston's Culture Map. Baldwin says Manning's interaction with Swearinger exposed the quarterback as a crybaby.
The Houston Texans have not revealed all of their offense yet, writes Randy Harvey of the Houston Chronicle. After all, you wouldn't want to give too much away during games that don't count. This pared-down playbook is why Bill O'Brien cautions against drawing sweeping conclusions about anything that's happening with the offense -- especially quarterback Tom Savage.
The Chronicle's Brian T. Smith offers a light look at Travis Labhart, the undrafted rookie who's forced his way into the conversation about which receivers will make the 53-man roster. Labhart has passed his former college teammate EZ Nwachukwu by now. No small feat for a guy who was so tiny as a high school freshman he says he was given kids menus at restaurants.
Bill O'Brien went through his goals for the Texans' fourth preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday. Drew Dougherty of the team's official website deconstructs a long quote by O'Brien and ticks off the goals in list form.