TEXANS VS. STEELERS

What (and who) to expect when Houston Texans square off with Steelers

What (and who) to expect when Houston Texans square off with Steelers
The Texans starters are expected to play against Pittsburgh. Composite Getty Image.

When it comes to NFL preseason games, you're never sure what you're going to see. Some coaches hold out their starters completely, while others like to get them reps in a game setting.

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans falls in the second category. Ryans told the media on Monday, that starters will see some action against the Steelers this Friday.

To what extent we see the starters is still unknown. Will it be one series, maybe two? Will this be the first time we see CJ Stroud throwing to Stefon Diggs in live game action? We'll have our answer soon enough.

If we are going to see Stroud this Friday, protection is going to be paramount. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil won't be playing this week, as he's still working his way back from offseason surgery. Right tackle Tytus Howard left Tuesday's practice, according to KPRC 2's Aaron Wilson.

 

Details of what caused Howard to leave practice aren't clear. He was in the medical tent before leaving the field, so something has to be bothering him.

There's no reason to rush him back this early in the preseason, so he may not be available to play on Friday. Tackle Charlie Heck is working through plantar fasciitis, we don't expect him to play this week either.

With that in mind, how much do the Texans want to put Stroud at risk behind backup tackles against the Steelers in August? Probably not much. Stroud tossed three interceptions in Tuesday's practice, for what it's worth.

We also shouldn't expect Joe Mixon to play, he's still dealing with a quad injury and not practicing. Which might be a good thing. Houston needs to see what they have at running back behind Mixon.

We expect to see Dameon Pierce this week after being held out of the Hall of Fame game. Hopefully he looks more comfortable in the offense after another offseason to get acclimated.

One of the most exciting battles to watch will be the fight for the number three running back. Dare Ogunbowale should have a good shot to return in that role, but Cam Akers showed some “juice” against the Bears. Especially in the passing game. Jawhar Jordan, JJ Taylor, and British Brooks should also see some reps.

Defense

Linebacker Christian Harris hasn't been practicing, and rookie corner Kamari Lassister hasn't practiced this week. DE Danielle Hunter returned to practice on Tuesday. Coach Ryans told the media on Monday that both Hunter and Will Anderson are fine, despite not practicing on Monday.

ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime is reporting that corner Jeff Okuhah and Desmond King both were out of practice on Tuesday.

 

We'll continue to monitor practice reports as we get closer to game day this Friday!


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A lockout appears unavoidable! Photo via: Wiki Commons.

Looming over baseball is a likely lockout in December 2026, a possible management push for a salary cap and perhaps lost regular-season games for the first time since 1995.

“No one’s talking about it, but we all know that they’re going to lock us out for it, and then we’re going to miss time,” New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said Monday at the All-Star Game. “We’re definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the league’s obviously not going to like that.”

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners have cited payroll disparity as a problem, while at the same time MLB is working to address a revenue decline from regional sports networks. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had a salary cap because its players staunchly oppose one.

Despite higher levels of luxury tax that started in 2022, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets have pushed payrolls to record levels. The last small-market MLB club to win a World Series was the Kansas City Royals in 2015.

After signing outfielder Juan Soto to a record $765 million contract, New York opened this season with an industry-high $326 million payroll, nearly five times Miami’s $69 million, according to Major League Baseball’s figures. Using luxury tax payrolls, based on average annual values that account for future commitments and include benefits, the Dodgers were first at $400 million and on track to owe a record luxury tax of about $151 million — shattering the previous tax record of $103 million set by Los Angeles last year.

“When I talk to the players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday. “I identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem.”

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2026, and management lockouts have become the norm, which shifts the start of a stoppage to the offseason. During the last negotiations, the sides reached a five-year deal on March 10 after a 99-day lockout, salvaging a 162-game 2022 season.

“A cap is not about a partnership. A cap isn’t about growing the game,” union head Tony Clark said Tuesday. “A cap is about franchise values and profits. ... A salary cap historically has limited contract guarantees associated with it, literally pits one player against another and is often what we share with players as the definitive non-competitive system. It doesn’t reward excellence. It undermines it from an organizational standpoint. That’s why this is not about competitive balance. It’s not about a fair versus not. This is institutionalized collusion.”

The union’s opposition to a cap has paved the way for record-breaking salaries for star players. Soto’s deal is believed to be the richest in pro sports history, eclipsing Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal with the Dodgers signed a year earlier. By comparison, the biggest guaranteed contract in the NFL is $250 million for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Manfred cites that 10% of players earn 72% of salaries.

“I never use the word `salary’ within one of `cap,’” he said. “What I do say to them is in addressing this competitive issue that’s real we should think about whether this system is the perfect system from a players’ perspective.”

A management salary cap proposal could contain a salary floor and a guaranteed percentage of revenue to players. Baseball players have endured nine work stoppages, including a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that fought off a cap proposal.

Agent Scott Boras likens a cap plan to attracting kids to a “gingerbread house.”

“We’ve heard it for 20 years. It’s almost like the childhood fable,” he said. “This very traditional, same approach is not something that would lead the younger players to the gingerbread house.”

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