--Rookie Duane Brown got his wakeup moment of training camp on just day two. He struggled to deal with the heat during the morning practice, and had to leave the field before it was over. He returned to participate in all of the afternoon practice inside the bubble.
"Ah, man, it was terrible," Brown said. "It didn't get this hot in Virginia. ... Me, being young, I thought I could just come out there and do my thing, but there's a lot more to it."
The Texans are giving Brown a lot of repetitions at left tackle, and Saturday was the first day they donned shells under their jerseys. The coaches are also working with Brown to lose about 10 more pounds. He said he hopes to get down to 315 pounds soon.
"(He) just got gassed," Kubiak said. "Taking a lot of reps, which he's going to do, and he's a little bit overweight right now. So we've got to push him, and he's got to catch up with the rest of his teammates. In this business, you've got to be able to go all day and he's figuring that out, and we've got to catch him up with everybody else."
--Second-year DT Amobi Okoye is enjoying walking off the practice field with just his helmet and his pads. A year ago, his hands were filled as veterans dumped their gear on him.
"I just watch as the veterans ask the rookies to carry their helmets and I think, 'Ha ha ha. That was me last year,'" Okoye said.
He hasn't gotten up the nerve to ask anyone to carry his gear though. And he has no intention of asking fellow DT Frank Okam to do it down the road.
"I'll just carry mine," Okoye said. "If they volunteer to carry it then I'll give it to them. But I'll keep mine for another three or four years, because those guys are all still older than me."
Okoye is 21 years old. Okam is 22.
--Veteran pass rusher Rosevelt Colvin did not participate in the team's morning practice Saturday. Coach Gary Kubiak said he plans to alternate the days that Colvin and N.D. Kalu work. There are other veteran players, like Ahman Green, who will be in similar situations.
Kalu and Colvin are both working to make the team as pass-rushing specialists.
"They're a lot alike as players," Kubiak said. "They're undersized ends that rush the passer. So from that standpoint, they're very much alike and they've both been playing a long time, so I think it's natural for us to stagger them in practice and let them get to the point where they can be as good as they can be and then let it work itself out."
--G Mike Brisiel returned to practice Saturday morning after fracturing his nose during Friday afternoon's non-contact practice. He wore a white splint over his nose during both practices Saturday.
In the afternoon when the rest of his teammates wore baseball caps during drills, Brisiel wore a helmet to protect his nose.
"You guys can see what he's all about," coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's out here today, and he's going to be kind of tough to get off the field."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think we have a lot of talent. I just think we don't have a bunch of guys with big names. We have a bunch of guys that can go out and make plays and I think that's the big thing. Just because you have (a) big name, I don't really think that matters. If you have guys that make plays for you, that is all that matters." -- WR Andre Johnson.
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