WATSON'S BOLD MOVE

Here's how Deshaun Watson is taking another step as the leader of the Texans

Coty Davis
Oct 22, 2020, 12:15 pm
Watson addressed trade rumors on Wednesday. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.

In the midst of preparing for their Week 7 match against the 4-1 Green Bay Packers, the Houston Texans are dealing with trade speculations with the NFL trade deadline less than two weeks away.

According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Texans could be heading towards a rebuild sooner than anyone could have expected, despite sitting at a 1-5 record on the season. Canfora reported that Houston could depart from several of their key players. In particular, Whitney Mercilus, Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller, and Randall Cobb — to name a few. During his media availability Wednesday afternoon, the one guy who is safe from all trade rumors, Deshaun Watson, tried his best to silence all the hoopla via Zoom.

"Them boys ain't getting traded," Watson said. "Nobody's going anywhere. We're going to stick with this team and keep pushing forward. We just basically squashed it and letting everyone know to focus on ball, and focus on this team."

Watson said everybody on the team participated in a post-practice meeting to squash any rumors of a trade that might have a player's mind running rampant. Randall Cobb — who has been in a few trade speculations — says he does not know what to believe but plans to stay in Houston for the "long haul."

J.J. Watt has been at the forefront of all trade rumors. The future Hall of Famer is in the twilight of his career, and the idea of playing his final years through a Texans rebuild is mind-boggling to many. And with his favorite team from his childhood making their way to NRG Stadium this Sunday, many believe that the Packers could make an attempt to acquire the All-Pro defensive end.

"My goal since I got here was to bring a championship to the city of Houston," Watt said. "That remains my goal until the day I'm not a Houston Texan anymore. That will always be my goal. That's what I'm working towards. That's what I'm working towards today and that's what I'll work towards tomorrow."

As of now, it is uncertain what moves the Texans will make ahead of the November 3 trade deadline. But if the Texans enter the bye week with a 1-6 record, it may be best for interim general manager Jack Easterby to get a jumpstart on rebuilding the Texans' roster.

Coty M. Davis is a reporter for ESPN 97.5 Houston/SportsMap covering the Houston Texans. He is also the co-host of Locked On Texans, a part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Follow Coty on Twitter @CotyDavis_24.

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TRAINING CAMP WATCH

Inside Texans Training Camp: Updates from Aug 6th

Here's why the Texans will make the playoffs under Lovie Smith

1. The Houston Texans had a mentally tough practice Saturday. The team has worked a lot in pads and Lovie Smith noted the days starting to build up on them during this practice. The head coach said this is a good practice because it is like the fourth quarter of the games the team will end up playing.

2. Davis Mills threw one of the best passes he has thrown all camp on Saturday. In a red zone drill, he dropped back and whipped a pass between two defenders into the tightest window he has had all camp. Nico Collins hauled in the threaded pass for a score.

3. A few reps later Davis Mills struck again. With traffic from linebackers and defensive backs, he found Chris Conley for a score. It wasn’t as tight of a window as the first one, but Mills snapped it off nonetheless.

4. Pharaoh Brown made something hard look very easy on Saturday. With Mills rolling out and tossing the ball to Brown in the back corner Brown hauled in a one-handed catch and had both feet down. Touchdown. Brown then acted like it was no big deal.

5. Pharaoh Brown has had a wonderful camp. Lovie Smith named him the starting tight end. The thing that really jumped out to me today is he makes his work look easy. He isn’t straining to excel in his opportunities. The good ones always make it look easy and it has looked easy for Brown so far.

6. Rookie linebacker Christian Harris is on the shelf for a few days. He joins fellow rookie Kenyon Green as players who are injured. Max Scharping played left guard with Green down. Wide receiver Phillip Dorset practiced while veteran wideout Chester Rodgers did not.

7. Roy Lopez flashed again today. While Friday was about the rushing attack and Lopez made his presence felt at defensive tackle, he got into the pass rush Saturday. Lopez would have had a bone-crushing sack in a live rep.

8. Ross Blacklock hasn’t been consistent. A statement like that is good and evil. There are some plays where Blacklock looks like he isn’t a factor. I watched one today. A play later he had what would have been a sack on the play. He’s a player to watch in the preseason games closely.

9. Don’t expect to see Derek Stingley in the preseason opener next Saturday. Lovie Smith wouldn’t commit to the rookie cornerback playing in the preseason. Smith did say Stingley is on track to play week one in the regular season.

10. Brevin Jordan has had a nice camp and should be an important piece for the team. Jordan had a bad drop in 7-on-7 drills that he was beating himself up over for a few minutes. That was out of the norm. He’s been used a lot and will be on the field a bit it seems for the Texans.

11. Brevin Jordan also rattled off a few contenders for the quote of the day. He exclaimed he had taken care of himself this offseason and he finally had abs. He also revealed he’s quite the fisherman and once caught a 125-pound tuna. When asked what he did with the tuna Jordan laughed and said “RIP tuna!”

Listen to Cody Stoots weekdays afternoons 3-7pm on his show "The Wheelhouse" live on ESPN 97.5 + 92.5 FM or anytime on demand at the podcast here.

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