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HOT TOPIC
The difference was evident on the first day of practice this offseason. On a routine passing play, veteran tight end Mark Bruener was spotted about 10 yards down the field looking for the ball.
Quarterback David Carr connected with him for the pass, and then later both laughed.
"I've gotten in trouble, illegal man down field," Bruener said.
Bruener, who is entering his 12th season, is known for his blocking. He has 143 career receptions -- just six of which have come since he joined the Texans in 2004. Last season, Bruener arguably had his best season blocking in the NFL. But his role will expand this season.
With a slew of tight ends in mini-camp, including Bruener, former Bronco Jeb Putzier, Bennie Joppru and rookie Owen Daniels, the Texans are showing a glimpse of what will be a common theme throughout the season.
"If you can get a tight end involved, it opens up the passing game," Carr said. "We hit a couple of plays down field just because the tight end was involved in the route and took up a couple of guys on coverage."
The tight ends will be critical this season, with the Texans hoping their involvement will open up more opportunities for wide receivers Eric Moulds and Andre Johnson.
Training camp will be as competitive at tight end as it will be anywhere on the team. Bruener gives the Texans a veteran leader with a physical style. Putzier offers more of the experienced receiving tight end. No one will be able to count out Joppru either, despite the fact that the 2003 second-round draft pick is still waiting to make his Texans debut.
"I've been very impressed, and it doesn't surprise me because if I had to tell you the one player who is the first one here in the morning and the last one to leave in the evening, it's that kid," Kubiak said. "He's very dedicated to what he does. When that stuff happens to you in your career you kind of find out how important football is to you, and I think that's what's happened to him. Hopefully he'll stay in one piece and make the adjustments."
Putzier, 27, is the only one having to make only minor adjustments to his game. After spending the past four seasons playing in the exact same system under Kubiak with the Denver Broncos, Putzier spends most of his time in practice trying to help his teammates along.
"The tight ends, the fullbacks, the receivers -- they all come to me," Putzier said. "They usually understand what they're doing, but sometimes they don't understand why. So I help them out and let them know what they're helping when they're doing it and why they have to get into certain spaces when they're on the field and what they're going to open up for everybody else."
PLAYER NOTES
--With offseason workouts over, Gary Kubiak said he is still uncertain with how the training camp roster will shape up.
"How much (the roster) could change, depends on what's going on around the league," Kubiak said. "We're going to continue to look. I talked about a veteran running back. We're going to continue to look for a veteran fullback. And this team continues to look for a returner-type, receiver guy, so there won't be a day that Rick (Smith, the team's new GM) and I aren't seeing what's going on."
--The Texans still have their eyes on New Orleans running back Michael Bennett, who the Saints are interested in trading. New Orleans is in no hurry, though. Reggie Bush missed some of the offseason with injuries and Deuce McAllister is still rebounding from last season's injury, leaving Bennett to take the majority of repetitions in practice with the first team.
"We've talked to them over and over again," Kubiak said. "At this point, they aren't just going to let their starting running back go."
--Aside from becoming a consensus all-American for Alabama last season, DeMeco Ryans focused on his academics. He received his degree in Business Management in December after just seven semesters. A slew of athletic awards during his collegiate career are matched by an almost equal number of academic honors.
"My mom always focused on me getting an education and how important it was for me to get good grades," said Ryans, who is 6-4, 236 pounds. "I just stuck with that through elementary and into college. She really instilled that in me, and really did a great job."
Martha Ryans, who has spent much of her adult life working in a steel plant grinding metal for cars in Alabama, never stopped stressing education even when Ryans' football career started to take off. He never became distracted either.
Instead of always staying out late with friends in college, Ryans forced himself to return to his room and study. It wasn't always easy.
"You have to pull yourself back and discipline yourself with time management," Ryans said. "Know what's important and what's going to take you farther in life. Football can take you only so far. But no one can take your education away."
--The Texans continued to make changes with their roster by releasing tight end Matt Murphy and replacing him with offensive lineman Chris Watton, 6-foot-2 and 290 pounds. Watton played at Baylor, and was with the Denver Broncos last season.
Murphy had been trying to make the transition from tight end to tackle this offseason.
"We thought he might have a hard time making our team at tight end, and then all of a sudden we draft two tackles and we've been very fortunate with some of these free agents we've gotten," coach Gary Kubiak said. "It was going to be a tough transition.
"Had Matt had the ability to go on a practice squad, it might have been a transition he could make. So I wanted to be fair to him. I think he can make somebody's team at tight end as a physical tight end."
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
FRANCHISE PLAYER: None.
TRANSITION PLAYER: None.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
--RB Jonathan Wells (not tendered June 1).
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS
--LS Bryan Pittman is one of the Texans' most consistent performers.
DRAFT CHOICES SIGNED
--DE Mario Williams (1st): $54M/6 yrs, $26M guaranteed.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED
--RB Jason Anderson: ERFA; terms unknown.
--WR Derick Armstrong: RFA; $721,600/1 yr.
--LB Troy Evans: UFA; terms unknown.
--S Jammal Lord: ERFA; terms unknown.
--DE Alfred Malone: ERFA; terms unknown.
--CB Chris McKenzie: ERFA; terms unknown.
--WR Donovan Morgan: ERFA; terms unknown.
--LB Shantee Orr: ERFA; terms unknown.
--LB Antwan Peek: RFA; $1.573M/1 yr.
--LB Kenneth Pettway; ERFA; terms unknown.
--LB DaShon Polk: UFA; terms unknown.
--QB Dave Ragone: RFA; $721,600/1 yr.
--S Ramon Walker: UFA; terms unknown.
--G/T Seth Wand: RFA; $721,600/1 yr.
--OG Fred Weary: Potential UFA; 2 yrs, terms unknown.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED
--FB Jameel Cook: UFA Buccaneers; $5M/5 yrs, SB unknown.
--LB Sam Cowart: UFA Vikings; $1.5M/1 yr, $710,000 SB.
--C Mike Flanagan: UFA Packers; $8.85M/3 yrs, $3M SB; 2006 cap: $1.75M.
--LB Barrett Green: FA Giants; terms unknown.
--DE N.D. Kalu: UFA Eagles; $750,000/1 yr.
--OG David Loverne: FA Lions; terms unknown.
--FB Nick Luchey: Not tendered as UFA by Bengals; terms unknown.
--WR Eric Moulds: Trade Bills.
--TE Jeb Putzier: FA Broncos; $7.5M/4 yrs, $1.85M SB.
--LB Wali Rainer: UFA Lions; terms unknown.
--QB Sage Rosenfels: UFA Dolphins; $6.4M/4 yrs, $2M SB.
--OT Ephraim Salaam: UFA Jaguars; terms unknown.
--RB Antowain Smith: UFA Saints; terms unknown.
--S Michael Stone: UFA Patriots; terms unknown.
--WR Kevin Walter: RFA Bengals; Bengals did not match offer of $6.4M/4 yrs and will receive 7th-round pick in 2006 draft as compensation.
--DE Tony Weaver: UFA Ravens; $26.5M/5 yrs, $12M SB.
PLAYERS LOST
--QB Tony Banks (released).
--CB Jason Bell: UFA Giants; terms unknown.
--WR Corey Bradford: UFA Lions; $7.4M/4 yrs, $2M SB.
--OG Milford Brown: UFA Cardinals; $12M/4 yrs, $3M SB.
--LB Frank Chamberlin (released).
--S Marcus Coleman (released).
--NT Jerry DeLoach (released).
--WR Jabar Gaffney: UFA Eagles; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--RB Tony Hollings (released).
--DE Junior Ioane (released).
--TE Matt Murphy (released).
--FB Moran Norris (released).
--QB Dave Ragone (released).
--TE Marcellus Rivers: UFA Raiders; terms unknown.
--DE Gary Walker (released; post-June 1 designation).
--C Tyson Walter: UFA Redskins; $465,000/1 yr.
--C Todd Washington (released).
MEDICAL WATCH: No updates.
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