Texans Gab

TaylorMade-adidas Golf Company, a subsidiary of the adidas Group, has introduced a new line of hats and visors, which features the primary colors and logos of all 32 NFL teams. Golfers across the country can now fly the colors of their favorite teams on the golf course (not on Sundays of course).

Fans can choose from all 32 NFL teams at on-course and off-course retail locations, in addition to select sporting goods retailers. If you are a displaced fan and don’t think you will be able to find your favorite team locally, go to www.taylormadegolfgear.com for a complete selection.

Each hat and visor will feature an NFL team’s logo blazoned on the left panel. The team’s name will also be stitched onto the left corner of the hat/visor. The TaylorMade logo will appear in 3D embroidery on the front panel of the hat.

The hats will be available at retail at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $27.99.

Jim McCurdy

ESPN.com’s Page 2 interviewed with Houston Texans outside linebacker Kevin Bentley and reported last week that Bentley’s been practicing Bikram Yoga to maintain his durability and stay healthy.  The article notes that Bentley picked up this particular yoga practice seven years ago from Seattle Seahawks conditioning coach Mike Clark.  Bentley said of his yoga practice, which includes workouts in tights:

“Bro, do I look tough?” the 6-foot, 247-pounder said. “I’m not all about toughness. It’s about staying healthy, and doing what’s best for my body. At first, I took a lot of heat because guys were like, ‘Oh man, look at you. You’re in tights!’ Guys would come in and peek their head in and mess with me.”

Most commonly known as “hot yoga,” Bikram yoga usually incorporates posters and breathing exercises in a room with tempertures over 100°F and 40% humidity.  The heat when practicing Bikram, according to Bentley, better prepares him for the situations that will always occur on the NFL field:

“It gets pretty hot and humid in there with all those bodies.  With a packed class, you can’t move, can’t breathe, so it allows you to focus. When you get in those awkward positions in the piles, someone has you twisted up, you’re less likely to get hurt.”

Nick Scurfield of HoustonTexans.com reported Monday that Xavier Adibi will likely be the Texans starting outside linebacker in place of Brian Cushing during his four game suspension.

Linebacker Xavier Adibi, a leading candidate to start at strongside linebacker during Brian Cushing’s four-game suspension, returned to practice after missing the better part of a month with a groin injury. “He did good,” Kubiak said. “He took the whole practice and looked good moving around, so hopefully we keep going. That’d be a big plus if he’s at 100 percent by the end of the week.” Kubiak said that Adibi will definitely play in the preseason finale on Thursday.

Injuries at linebacker have the Texans staying put with what they have.  Look for Adibi to start and Sharpton, although injured, to continue to backup starting weakside linebacker Zach Diles.

A few injury updates on the Texans.  HoustonTexans.com reported that Andre Davis, according to Gary Kubiak, “is still up in the air.” His hip and tailbone injuries will likely keep him out for the preseason.  Kubiak said on Davis:

“We’ve been told by some (doctors) that he could possibly make it back in a certain period of time.  Other guys don’t feel that way. We’re trying to weigh all the information, talk to Andre. When we cut to our final 53, we’ll have to take all that into consideration.”

Danny Clark’s strained knee injury is along the way, but Kubiak said if he were to play today (Monday),”no way he’s playing.  Kubiak said, “So we’ll see.” Clark is planned to help the Texans fill-in at linebacker during Cushing’s absence.

Steve Slaton, too, is out of commission.  On Monday he was seen on the sidelines in a walking boot while dealing with turf toe.  Slaton expects to be ready to play Week 1 at Reliant against the Colts. Kris Brown joined Slaton on the sidelines Monday as he’s dealing with plantar fasciitis. He played through the injury that strains every movement of the foot against the Cowboys this past Saturday.  Kubiak expects Brown to be ready to go again Thursday.

The NFL mandated 53-man roster trim is set for Saturday, and the Texans’ front office have lots a work ahead of them.  For the most part, many cuts will be predictable. However, the Texans have loads of talent, concentrated in certain positions, leaving the possibility of seeing many good players released.  The Texans are talent heavy at defensive tackle, wide receiver, tight end, and in the secondary, and it will be hard to see some good talent end up being released and end up elsewhere besides the practice squad.  Additionally, the Texans will have to make cuts in the offensive line,

At defensive tackle and nose tackle, the Texans have defensive tackles Amobi Okoye, Earl Mitchell, Malcolm Sheppard, Matt Unrein and at nose tackle Shaun Cody, Frank Okam and DelJuan Robinson. The line has been something the Texans have been working on improving for some time now, and it has paid off. The potential is there and the coaching has been paying off. Let’s hope the Cowboys game wasn’t a fluke.

At wide receiver, the Texans have Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter, Jacoby Jones, David Anderson, Andre Davis, Dorin Dickerson and Bobby Williams. Will Davis be cut with his large contract? Or will Williams be the easy cut?

The Texans tight ends include Owen Daniels (on the Physically Unable to Perform list), James Casey, Joel Dreessen, Garrett Graham and Derick Fine. Fine is the obvious cut due to Daniels being eased back, Dreessen’s reliability and blocking ability, Casey’s potential and improvement, and Graham’s potential and insurance.

After Fred Bennett’s release, the Texans cornerbacks include Kareem Jackson, Glover Quin, Brice McCain, Antwaun Molden, Jacques Reeves and Sherrick McManis. The Texans are pleased with McManis’ play and might stay put with Reeves’ 2008 free agent contract. Strong safety Torri Williams and free safety Nicholas Polk may end up on the practice squad.

Otherwise, the Texans linebacker situation has “issues” according to Kubiak and will likely stay put with Isaiah Greenhouse and Will Patterson closing out the position. Running backs Jeremiah Johnson and Chris Henry are battling it out and Johnson’s may not have the speed but he’s leading by a mile now. Chris White and Brett Helms are battling it out for the last center spot, and experience is on White’s side. Helms was an undrafted rookie in 2009 and served on last year’s practice squad. White competed, and then won by default the Texans starting center before starting center Chris Meyers arrival. There’s been no change, except remnant memories of last season, in Kris Brown and Neil Racker’s kicking competition. At kickoffs, each kicker’s kicking for the end zone. Either hasn’t missed a kick. The Tampa game is going to be huge, I’d scrap the Week 2 mentality in going for it where a 51-yard kick could be there to test the kickers.  Tackles Steve Maneri and Cole Pemberton will likely find themselves on the practice squad. Will either backup tackle Adam Stenavich or Rashad Butler receive a pink slip?

For now the Texans’ front office have under five days to construct their final 53-man roster. From here on out, its only speculation but look for Preseason Week 4’s match up at Tampa Bay to be the final audition for many Texan players.

According to HoustonTexans.com Steve Slaton’s strained toe has been diagnosed as turf toe.  Turf toe has typically put an unbearable crutch on runners in the NFL, almost always inhibiting them below “100%” on the field.  For Slaton, he remains positive that he’ll be ready Week 1 at Reliant Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts:

“It’ll get better.  It’s not too, too bad. I’ll be ready. It’ll heal with treatment. (I’ve got) plenty of time.”

According to Orthopedics.about.com, Turf toe is a condition of pain at the base of the big toe, located at the ball of the foot. Turf toe is usually caused from either jamming the toe, or pushing off repeatedly when running or jumping. The most common complaint is pain at the base of the toe, but patients may also have symptoms of stiffness and swelling.

For those of you who are all-Texans, check out what Myplates.com/Texans has to offer. In fact, right now they’re registering fans for a chance to win one valued at $55.  When registering, you’ll also be signing up to find out when these plates are available for your vehicle.

The Houston Texans released three players on Sunday, one being third year corner Fred Bennett.  Bennett’s once hype faded after practices and little gametime showed a lack of confidence, immaturity and a failure to improve over his three seasons.  He became a fourth and fifth string corner and the Texans needed to make the move heading into Tuesday’s 4 p.m. league mandated roster trim down to a 75-man roster.  The Texans also released London Crawford and defensive end Panel Egboh.  Head coach Gary Kubiak said on Bennett’s release:

“Obviously, we’re going young at that position.  From that standpoint, it’s been tough for Fred. It’s been an uphill battle, but he’s been very professional. He’s handled himself with a lot of class. Fred’s had some highs and some lows here. He’s been in the starting lineup, out of the starting lineup, back in it, back out. It’s part of the process of this league.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind and in Fred’s mind he can play in this league, and I think he will continue to do that. But in fairness to him, we thought it was better to do it today to give him a better chance to move on somewhere else. We wish him the best, but we just made a decision to go with these young guys.”

CBS Sports reports that Owen Daniels could be at practice on Monday:

Houston coach Gary Kubiak said Sunday a decision will be made on when Owen Daniels returns to practice on Monday morning, but the Pro Bowl tight end will likely miss Thursday’s game vs. the Bucs. “Our fingers are crossed that he will be back with his teammates (soon).” Daniels remains on the PUP list at the moment. The Texans are really hoping that Daniels can be ready for the start of the regular season.

The Houston Texans have taken home the Governor’s Cup for the 2010-2011 NFL season.  In the third preseason game of the year, the Texans and Dallas Cowboys  have decided that this game, not Week 3 NFL Regular Season’s matchup between the two teams at Houston, will be the Governor’s Cup matchup.  The Texans pulled off the win with spectacular plays and consistency by the first and second string offensive and defensive teams.  From the Texans great defensive start with Mario Williams pressuring the quarterback and a Glover Quinn sack to the Amobi Okoye sack, the Texans’ powerful defense continued into the late third quarter with the Texans second string defensive unit.

The Texans starters played well into the third quarter.  Starting quarterback Matt Schaub played an excellent game, going 18-for-23 with 183 yards and a touchdown.  His main receiver, Andre Johnson, played more than well going 79 yards on seven cactches, moving the chains every other catch.  Jacoby Jones also had a good game on the receiving end, going for 63 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. The Texans’ run game didn’t die tonight.  Starter Arian Foster pushed the rock against the helpless Dallas defenders with 110 yards on 18 carries while Jeremiah Johnson ran 53 yards on nine carries, including a 27-yard scramble.

The starting defenders were equally effective.  DeMeco Ryans recovered a fumble, rookie corner Kareem Jackson picked a Romo pass at the Texans 12 and took it to the Cowboys 32, helping the Texans put three on the board after a great Foster scramble up the middle.

The Texans second and third string defense also impressed.  Defensive tackle Malcolm Shepphard made his presence known in his battle for a roster spot, and the Texans’ defense as a whole kept pressure on the Cowboys first and second string run and pass offense.  Great game on that point!

The Texans kickers ended up as Neil Rackers connected 2-for-2 and Kris Brown 1-for-1 while both kickers had great kicks after scores.  On the other end of the special teams, the Texans gave room to worry about whether they could stop a kick returner past the opponent 25-35 yard lines.

For the Cowboys, Romo and the boys had a terrible showing for the first three quarters.  In fact, the Cowboys’ first half offense amounted to -1 yards total offense, while Romo ended up with 13-for-18 passing with 148 yards, one interception, two sacks and two fumbles lost.

The Texans look to continue their momentum into next week’s match-up against the Buccaneers at Tampa Bay before wrapping up the preseason and heading into Week 1’s match-up against the rival Indianapolis Colts at Reliant Stadium. Steve Slaton’s bruised foot is not expected to keep him out any time upcoming this year. Expect the starters to sit the majority or all of next week’s final preseason game.