Vermeil to leave starters in longer
Kansas City, Mo. ? Dick Vermeil himself could hardly believe the near-perfection his first-team offense flashed against San Francisco.
Was it real or a mirage? Maybe a more protracted appearance tonight against the Houston Texans will tell the tale.
| When: 7:30 tonight.Where: Arrowhead Stadium.Television: Channel 4. |
Vermeil figures to let his first teamers go at least one full quarter against the Texans.
“If you improve on (last week), it would be two drives and score,” Vermeil said. “But that probably won’t happen. It doesn’t happen often. But we’d like to sort of expand and get into some of the other things in the offense and see how it goes.”
In a three-point victory over the 49ers last weekend, quarterback Trent Green played only one series but was 4-for-5 in a crisp touchdown drive. The entire first team looked sharp in its brief appearance.
The Texans (1-1), who got their franchise’s first victory with a 13-10 win at New Orleans, will probably give rookie quarterback David Carr a good look as well tonight.
Carr, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, is 18-of-31 for 191 yards, one interception and one touchdown in two exhibition games. He’s also shown remarkable poise in the glare of so much of a spotlight.
“David knew that he was going to get a lot of attention,” Texans coach Dom Capers said. “We knew he would get more than he thought he’d get. We’ve talked about that.
| Preseasonat San Francisco, W 17-14, OTToday Houston, 7:30 p.m.Aug. 24 at Seattle, 9 p.m.Aug. 30 St. Louis, 7:30 p.m.Regular SeasonSept. 8 at Cleveland, noonSept. 15 Jacksonville, noonSept. 22 at New England, noonSept. 29 Miami, noonOct. 6 at New York Jets, 3:05 p.m.Oct. 13 at San Diego, 3:15 p.m.Oct. 20 Denver, noonOct. 27 Oakland, noonNov. 3 OpenNov. 10 at San Francisco, 3:15 p.m.Nov. 17 Buffalo, noonNov. 24 at Seattle, 3:05 p.m.Dec. 1 Arizona, noonDec. 8 St. Louis, noonDec. 15 at Denver, 3:05 p.m.Dec. 22 San Diego, noonDec. 28 at Oakland, 3 p.m. |
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the way he’s handled it. The toughest thing for a young player is to stay focused on the thing that’s most important, and that’s getting ready to perform.”
The Texans have been struggling with a makeshift offensive line.
“Our goal in this game is to make improvements over the Saints game,” Capers said. “We felt we made great strides the first game against the Giants to the game last week and we expect to make the same strides this week.”
Making his first start for the Texans will be safety Eric Brown, a four-year starter at Denver who signed a free agent contract with the NFL’s newest team.
“You can see he has a presence about him,” Capers said. “You can see he’s been a starter on a good team in the NFL. When these guys change teams, everybody has their own terminology, so it takes a little bit of time.”
The Texans will also be taking another look at running back Jonathan Wells, a fourth-round draft pick who is challenging for a starting job.
Green, who has two starting wide receivers he did not have this time last year, was looking forward to a good test against the Texans.
“It’s going to be a good challenge for us. If you look at that defense, they have a lot of talent and it’s a much different defense than we normally play,” Green said.
“The only team we played last year that had that defense was Pittsburgh,” he added. “We had some success with it. We weren’t as productive scoring-wise, but moving-the-ball-wise, we did pretty well. It’s going to be good for us to go against that defense.”