The Texans didn’t have their starters on the field against the Bears in the Hall of Fame Game, but they plan to handle things differently against the Steelers on Friday.
Head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Monday that first-teamers on offense and defense will both be on the field for the team’s second preseason contest.
“I truly believe that a guy needs to get reps in a preseason game,” Ryans said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “We don’t go to the ground as you see with the way we practice. We try to keep guys up and be as safe as possible in practice, but I think everyone needs the opportunity to go to the ground a couple times in a game. Get up, dust yourself off and know you’re good. Like ‘I’m okay and I can go to the ground and get up.’ You just have to go through and play live reps of football before live action comes in September. You’ll see our ones go out and get reps this week versus Pittsburgh.”
Assuming all stays on plan, Saturday’s game should feature the first chance to see quarterback C.J. Stroud and wide receiver Stefon Diggs in the offense together. Their results against the Steelers won’t factor into the team’s hopes of winning another divisional crown, but the chance to see the tandem in action should still draw some interest this weekend.