The Houston Texans ended training camp with a sharp joint practice against the Carolina Panthers on the Panthers' Charlotte fields, and the offense spent most of the day making it look easy. After the Panthers opened with two pass breakups, C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills settled in and the Texans controlled the rest of the session.
That shift showed up fast. On the second play of the first team period, Stroud hit Nico Collins on a quick slant across the middle for an easy first down, and from there the Texans kept stacking completions. The quarterbacks had a clean pocket nearly every time they dropped back, and the Panthers defense did not get a hand on another Stroud or Mills pass for the rest of practice.
The sound on the sideline matched the result. The Texans offense was cheering on nearly every play, and John Harris was on point with the kind of sideline reaction that only comes when a group is controlling a workout. Harris could be heard yelling, “ATTABOY 12!” and later, “GOOD SHOT, 7!” as the passing game kept moving. On 95.7 The Fan, Harris and Marc Vandermeer had been live at 10am and 6pm every day during camp, and this session gave them plenty to talk about.
Stroud kept finding answers when the Panthers brought pressure. Early in the practice, Xavier Hutchinson caught everything thrown his way in every area of the field, including a difficult sideline catch on an out route against Chau Smith-Wade after Stroud beat the blitz. When the Panthers sent pressure again on the next series in the first team period, Stroud completed another pass to Collins. That was the tone for most of the day, and it left the Panthers secondary chasing rather than dictating.
The line also held up. Blake Fisher got a lot of time at tackle with all the groups and had a fantastic day, while Derrick Brown was not seen near Stroud during the practice. David Montgomery had a slower start against the Panthers run defense, though he nearly housed a run in the second team period. It was enough to show that the Texans could win in more than one way, even if the passing game did most of the heavy lifting.
The one concern came away from the action. Braden Smith left practice on a cart inside, and there was no immediate word on how serious it was. That is the detail that hangs over an otherwise clean finish to camp. The Texans got the evaluation they wanted in Charlotte, but Smith’s exit is the one thing they will have to sort out before moving on from training camp and into the next stage of the preseason.
