Okay, for those of you emailing me asking, I just got back from my vacation. My pasty blogger skin avoided sunburn, but unfortunately, almost half the group we went with got some sort of really repulsive stomach bug. I've avoided it so far and am considering covering my entire self in hand sanitizer.
In any event, here's various news I missed this last week:
* Johnson's Groin Provides Big Scare. That's the dubiously titled article from HoustonTexans.com that describes the training camp scare that Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson had in the last public practice on Saturday. (HT video above). After having a circus catch, mid season form sort of practice, near the end he felt tightness in his groin and slowed down. He doesn't believe it was a big deal, and went to go sign autographs afterwards without limping.
* Texans sign Mike Bell. Some fans don't care for the Texans signing Denver castoffs, but for a late free agent signing, it helps getting someone that already knows the system. Unfortunately for Bell, he was not in camp condition and tweaked his hamstring in Saturday's practice session.
The Texans were looking for camp legs with the Bell signing and the ongoing problems with Chris Brown's back.
Safety Brandon MITCHELL was released by the team to make room for Bell. Not safety Brandon HARRISON. The Houston Chronicle online misreported it at first, and that was terribly confusing giving the reports that Harrison was having a good camp. Nothing like having limited internet access and seeing one guy get cut, and then see it re-written with no notation that they made an error.
* All Training Camp Reports Should Be Written Like This One. Keith Weiland of InTheBullseye.com does a nice job of catching the flavor of camp without you actually being there.
* Training Camp Reports. Looking for training camp reports on the Texans? The Houston Chronicle doesn't use its access to do practice by practice detailed training camp reports found in just about every major city with an NFL team. Best place to get reports from public practices is from the TexansTalk training camp thread. It's just a bunch of fans jabbering, but when you are desperate for the season to start, it's water in the dessert to the fanbase. Here's a list of other good Texans resources.
* Bookmark the ESPN AFC South blog and the Houston Texans tag. Paul Kuharsky used to write about the Titans for the Tennessean. Now that he is with the WWL, he is heading up their effort to blog the AFC South. So far, I like a lot of his writing about the team. It's nice to read national coverage of the Texans that includes things I didn't know. Such as the Texans leading the division in coaching staff. Enjoyed reading the spotlight on the Texans using cut blocks, including whining quotes from Titans DT Albert Haynesworth.
* Dancing with the Texans. One change in camp this year is the Texans' stretching routine that used to look like traditional stretching and now involves more movement. Nick Scurfield of HoustonTexans.com talked to strength and conditioning coach, Dan Riley who explained the change:
"There are more than 360 studies done to determine if stretching prevents injuries. Stretching before practice or games will not prevent injury. Our players need to be warmed up before a game or practice. The literature states that for an exercise to be considered a warm-up, the core tissue temperature must be increased two degrees or break a sweat at room temperature. Stretching does neither. The next best warm-up is active stretching where the athlete moves and takes his muscles through an active range of motion. Those are the types of activities our players perform in the three lines before practice. The best warm-up is performing the position specific skill patterns our players perform on the field gradually performing them at faster speeds until they are eventually practicing at game speed. We only have a seven-minute period to warm them up. The activities we use are best for the allotted time. The time to stretch is after exercise, not before."My take? The Texans have had a ton of injuries over the last two years. If you keep doing the same things and getting non-good results, it is worth looking for change. I'm not sure how many of those injuries could have been changed by a change to stretching routines.
Less than a week for the first preseason game. Nice. With the smaller 80 man rosters, it's going to be quite the effort for teams to prep enough for the season, but not get players hurt.
