The Houston Texans will not have to go far for any of their preseason games this fall.

They'll open their preseason with home games again the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos, in that order. They'll face former Texans coach Gary Kubiak in the second game.

Then they'll finish the preseason with road games against the New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys.

That third game in New Orleans could be very important for the quarterback battle between Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett. It will be on August 30 and nationally televised on FOX. It marks the ninth time the Texans have had a nationally televised preseason game.

The fourth game, in Dallas, will help determine the bottom of the roster.

Last season the Texans conducted joint practices with the Atlanta Falcons and the Broncos before games against each of those teams. They hosted the Falcons and traveled to Denver early.

Texans coach Bill O'Brien especially enjoyed the joint road practices for team building purposes. They'd like to do joint practices again this year, but nothing has been finalized on that front.