Tytus Howard and Matt Kalil remain out for the Texans but get success from their fill-ins

4 observations from Texans practice Aug. 20

4 observations from Texans practice Aug. 20
@EdClarke03/Eddie Clarke

If you missed the observations from Monday you can find them here

Matt Kalil is the starting left tackle and might be hurt but might not be

Bill O'Brien hates questions about injuries but this one really set him off. His defensiveness about Matt Kalil is interesting. Roderick Johnson has played well recently and arguably better than Kalil the last time Kalil saw the field. If Johnson is better he should play and someone else can backup Johnson and Kalil can be gone. If Kalil is truly better then he should start at left tackle but he hasn't looked solid in weeks.

O'Brien getting defensive leads credence to the thought Kalil is dealing with an injury. If he is injured, Johnson might and maybe even should pass Kalil on depth chart.

Howard's left hand injury

Tytus Howard has a cast on his left hand. It covers his index finger and middle finger on his left hand. It seems he has a broken finger. He likely won't play and might not practice until the week of the Saints game. Depending on how it heals, and how painful it is, he shouldn't miss regular season time.

1-on-1 winners

Roderick Johnson won a solo rep against Whitney Mercilus.

D.J. Reader worked center Nick Martin.

Max Scharping stuffed his defender.

Seantrell Henderson did an admirable job against J.J. Watt but I would say Watt won the rep.

The offense and defense split the 2v2 reps.

Offensive line projection

Starters in bold. Positions I believe they are comfortable playing and have at least seen them have some success at during camp. I projected eight players. They kept eight players last year in a more dire offensive line situation. I don't see why that can't be the case again.

Matt Kalil (LT)

Tytus Howard (LG)

Nick Martin (C)

Zach Fulton (RG,C,LG)

Seantrell Henderson (RT)

Max Scharping (RG)

Roderick Johnson (LT,RT)

Greg Mancz (C)


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The injury bug bites again.Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros announced on Monday that additional imaging has revealed that Jeremy Peña is dealing with a small fracture in one of his ribs.

Peña left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch in the ribs. The club originally believed they had avoided any fractures or breaks, but new information has informed them otherwise.

Peña is heading to the 10-day injured list retroactive to June 28. This news comes at an unfortunate time, with Jeremy posting the best regular season numbers of his career. He's currently slashing .322, .378, .489 with an .867 OPS.

Peña will miss the Rockies and Dodgers series at a minimum.

Let's hope the team doesn't rush him back too soon and create an even bigger problem. These quotes above from Dana Brown have me concerned. Playing through injuries can create bad habits, and Jeremy has clearly found his swing this season.

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