The Houston Texans will play their starters Friday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, according to Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. Ryans shared the news during a Monday press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
“I truly believe a guy needs to get reps in a preseason game,” Ryans said via the channel, explaining why he’s playing his starters. “We don’t go to the ground; you see that in the way we practice. We try to keep guys up and be as safe as possible in practice. I think everyone needs an opportunity to go the ground a couple times in a game…You’ll see our 1s go out and get reps this week against Pittsburgh.”
The Steelers will hold their preseason opener while the Texans will be playing in their second exhibition game, taking part in the Hall of Fame Game last Thursday before severe weather cancelled the contest late in the third quarter. Houston’s starters largely sat out that game.
The Texans are coming off a major turnaround under Ryans, going 10-7 and winning the AFC South last season. That included a regular-season blowout win over the Steelers, beating them 30-6 in Week 4. After ringing up the scoreboard against the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round, the Texans’ season ended against the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round.
While Ryans didn’t explicitly mention QB C.J. Stroud, it sounds like he’ll receive at least some playing time in this game. It may only be a series or two but if he suits up, he’ll offer a good look against the Steelers’ defense. Other notable starters on the Texans’ offense include stud LT Laremy Tunsil, newly acquired WR Stefon Diggs, and longtime Cincinnati Bengals RB Joe Mixon.
Defensively, the Texans are led by a great DE group of Will Anderson and free agent prize Danielle Hunter. They should offer Dan Moore Jr., Broderick Jones, and potentially first-round pick Troy Fautanu all they can handle. In the secondary, Houston has versatile S Jalen Pitre and former first-round pick CB Derrick Stingley. For WR George Pickens, that could be a great early matchup.
Mike Tomlin has yet to comment on how much his starters will play this week. Based on past years, he could hold out key veterans like DT Cam Heyward, OLB T.J. Watt, and FS Minkah Fitzpatrick. But much of this young and new offense are likely to see the field, though QB Russell Wilson’s calf injury may hold him out of the opener. That’ll leave plenty of reps for QB Justin Fields, enjoying a great past week of training camp. Tomlin should provide some clarity later this week.
