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Newest NFL franchise begins first training camp Associated Press |
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HOUSTON -- Owner Bob McNair's plan to reach the Super Bowl begins Saturday when the Houston Texans assemble for their first training camp as the NFL's 32nd expansion franchise.
While McNair preaches patience, expectations already are through the retractable roof of Reliant Stadium, with 57,000 season tickets already sold and fans clamoring to see first round pick David Carr in action.
"It's easy to get carried away with things," McNair said. "We're optimistic but at the same time realistic. We don't know which games we'll win or lose but each week we'll take the field with a mindset to win."
Almost three years after McNair paid $700 million for the franchise the Texans will report for their first training camp Saturday. They take physicals on Sunday.
The team hit the practice field in pads for two-a-days on Monday. They are training at home, across the street from Reliant Stadium at their lush practice facility that includes two natural grass fields and an air-conditioned indoor practice field.
McNair wants the Texans to be competitive for the Super Bowl in five years, but he realizes the Texans are beginning like other expansion franchises before them, without much depth.
"It takes three years to develop depth," McNair said. "Hopefully, we'll be competitive at that point, but a lot depends on luck too. We've got some quality players, probably better quality that I expected.
"At this point, we just don't have depth. You can't develop depth overnight."
There are reasons for the early optimism.
"This is football country, people have a passion for the game," Capers said. "If you are going to put in the long hours to start something, it's nice to have fans with passion."
The downside is that both Boselli and Walker, the team's best offensive and defensive linemen, won't be ready to start drills on Saturday and staying healthy is foremost in Capers' mind.
"We need to stay healthy, stay on the field and approach the season with an idea of urgency," Capers said. "We did more than any other team in the off-season. We asked them to do a lot and they responded.
"They realized it was an investment."
Boselli's shoulder problems limited him to just three games with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. Since the Texans made him their first pick in the expansion draft, he's had three surgeries on his left shoulder since last November.
Walker is recovering from a groin injury and hernia surgery. He expects to be limited in training camp.
"Tony is doing well," McNair said. "When he is ready to play is something that we just don't know and we don't want to rush him. When he gets on the field, we want him to stay.
"Certainly, he is a mainstay for us in terms of our offensive line. We are a much better team with him in there. He's getting good results from the operations but he still has to recover."
The Texans have had years to plan their beginning and now the pace quickens drastically.
They will hold a highly publicized scrimmage against the Dallas Cowboys Aug. 2 and play their first game ever Aug. 5 against the New York Giants in the Hall of Fame game at Canton, Ohio.
Their season opener is Sunday night Sept. 8 in $365 million Reliant Stadium, the only retractable roof stadium in the NFL, against the Cowboys.
Although the NFL is still studying the possibility of a team in Los Angeles, Capers doesn't expect to see expansion excitement for a long time.
"I don't think you will ever see a situation (expansion) like this again in our lifetime," Capers said. "You have eight divisions with four teams each. This is an exciting time.
"There will be a lot of excited players sitting out there when we have our first team meeting Sunday morning." |
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