Houston Texans Media Conference

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Houston, Texas, USA

Tim Kelly

Press Conference


TIM KELLY: Tyrod's doing a good job coming in here and being professional, getting a good grasp of the offense, how things are shaking out, the different reads. For a guy who's played as long as he has, a lot of it just ends up being translation. He understands the plays, just now how do we call it and what are kind of the specifics from this offense to the different offenses he's played in.

He's doing a really good job of that. He's got a good control of the huddle. He's doing a good job of leading that offense.

Davis is coming in each day, again, if you think back with our spring, these practices -- typically, the first time he sees red area is typically the middle of May. Now he's seeing it for the first time last week, whenever it was, Saturday. He sees it again today. You can see improvement, threw a couple touchdowns for us.

Again, the big thing with him is just going to be continuing to get better every single day he's on the field. He's doing that. He's working at it. It's a lot. We put a lot on that position and that respond.

With Jeff, you can really see his athleticism take over at times. He's got a strong arm. For him, for a guy who's played in the league, just really getting comfortable with our terminology and kind of what we're looking for when we call certain plays.

Q. What sets Laremy apart?

TIM KELLY: Yeah, he's a freak. He's really big. He's really strong. The one thing that kind of comes -- the more we get to work with him, you really see how detailed he is, particularly in his individual technique. So the way he prepares, how seriously he takes practice, the way he's out there, it's been really good. It's been really good for those younger guys to be able to see how a man as talented as he is still comes out and works, and you can see him just drenched at the end of the day because he's taking all those reps and the one-on-one reps.

It's really important to him. He's doing a good job paying attention to details. Not just his individual technique, but really the scheme and what we're asking for that group.

Q. As Davis goes through the preseason, I recognize he makes mistakes, but what are the ways you track him making progress? What are some of the bars you want to see throughout preseason?

TIM KELLY: Really just coming in, and as elementary as it sounds, not making the same mistake twice. For us as coaches, when we can get that from our players, it shows that they're coachable. It shows that they have a good grasp and a good understanding of what we're asking them to do. At that position in particular, right, you don't see the panic mistakes anymore. Things are starting to slow down, and he's really starting to feel comfortable when he's back there, particularly when he's in the pocket.

Q. Is it strange having Deshaun out there in the role where he was playing?

TIM KELLY: No, not for us.

Q. Tim, last season, you had not a very successful passing game. What does your off-season look like as you adapt to having Tyrod Taylor? You're one of the very few that came back on the staff. What does it look like from last year to this year?

TIM KELLY: Each year your team is going to be different, so you have to find ways to really play to your strengths and find ways to cover up your weaknesses. So the nuts and bolts of the offense are going to be similar, but, again, we're going to put our own touches on it to take advantage of the different players we have in the room now.

You look at our wide receiver room, and there's been a dramatic change in that room, and not just the people in there, but the types of bodies, things along those lines. So it wasn't much different than any other off-season other than the fact that we're looking to take advantage of the people we have in the building to put them in the best spot to go out there and make plays for us.

Q. What did you like about getting to work with Tyrod during this process?

TIM KELLY: I mean, it's been great. With his professionalism, he comes in, he wants to be great. He wants to come in and know exactly what's going on. He's got command of the entire offense. Again, just the way he approaches every single day, it's been really good for me. It's been really good for everyone in the room.

Q. What are your challenges moving forward? (Inaudible).

TIM KELLY: Yeah, that's part of the job description too. You've got to be able to go out there and adjust. We're going to do everything we can to get him prepared and give him as many looks and put him in the best spot. At the end of the day, we have to get out and get reps. That's why we're so glad today that coach let us go back in the red area so we can go back and let those guys get reps and let Tyrod get reps in the red area.

That's what we're going to look to continue to do, and really for every position, not just the quarterback room, but just continue to improve in the different techniques we're asking them to go out there and execute in.

Q. What have you seen from Anthony Miller at this point, and how do you kind of help get him up to speed to make plays for the offense?

TIM KELLY: He's a guy who's incredibly competitive. You can see it, some of the different catches he makes. He's got really good play strength. He's got good change of direction. He's got good size for the position we ask him to play. R.P., Ben, Anthony, they've all done a good job coming in here.

When the trade happened, I was on the phone with them. We were e-mailing formations and trying to get them caught up to speed right away. There's never a wasted minute. He's doing a good job, putting in the work he should to get back to the spot he needs to be in to trust him to go out there and make plays.

Q. (Inaudible question).

TIM KELLY: Yeah, it allows us to get our five best on the field. Especially at that position, it's the sum of all five parts. So having a person who not only can handle it physically but can handle it mentally allows us, again, to get the five best players on the field and not necessarily just pigeonhole someone into one specific position.

Q. What about the running backs?

TIM KELLY: A veteran group. They all have a unique skill set, and they've all bring really good experience, and they all bring good leadership, right? So Philip comes out here, they all have a huge chip on their shoulder for one reason or another, and they're all phenomenal pros that come in and practice the right way.

You can see Mark out there finishing his runs. You see Phil exploding with the ball in his hands. David's making plays for us, and obviously Rex has been good for us when he's been practicing.

They all come from different backgrounds, and they all bring a wealth of experience, and they're good football players. They're doing a great job. Danny has been working with them, again, teaching them the ins and outs of the offense, and they've all picked it up rather seamlessly.

Q. What's it like (inaudible)?

TIM KELLY: Yeah, we'll see him in a couple weeks.

Q. You've worked a long time with Deshaun. How strange is this? He's not out there today, but the last couple days, but how it's been handled, he's not taking all his reps?

TIM KELLY: For us, we're worried about the guys that are out there practicing. We're out there, and Tyrod's taking the snaps, and we've got J.D., we have Davis, and they're doing a good job for us. That's really all we can control and all we can focus on is make sure we're getting those three new players ready to go.

Q. You've got three new quarterbacks. Has Deshaun been helpful with the quarterbacks?

TIM KELLY: Absolutely. He's been a great asset for us in the room with some of the stuff we do, some of the stuff, how he sees it, how he sees the intent of the plays, it's been great. He's been very helpful for those players. Again, we're doing a good job keeping him engaged and going through some different stuff with him. He's been good for those players.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
111096-1-1182 2021-08-04 17:36:00 GMT

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