–Safety Tyrann Mathieu appreciated the Texans making a move to land wide receiver Demaryius Thomas from the Denver Broncos. Mathieu said it showed the commitment to winning this season.
“I think it says they want to win right now,” Mathieu said of the organization moving to land Thomas. “It speaks volumes in our locker room; we feel the same way. I think it is important to add pieces to try and help your team win.”
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins also liked the move the Texans made to land Thomas from the Broncos. Hopkins has worked out with Thomas in the past in the offseason and he likes what the veteran wide receiver does on and off the field.
“I think it is awesome.” Hopkins said. “Demaryius brings a lot of skill to this team. Experience in the NFL, he is a great guy off the field. I have trained with him before, I think it is good move.”
–Thomas is set to play on Sunday for the Texans against his former team. The Broncos are planning a ceremony thanking Thomas for an impressive career with the organization since being drafted in 2010. Thomas will be working on learning the game plan for this week and is expected to be active.
Thomas is set to be part of the Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins aerial attack.
“I’m excited,” Thomas said of playing alongside Watson and Hopkins. “They always say change can be different. I know those guys have been doing great since they’ve been together, so I’m excited to be a piece and be a part of it.”
–Wide receiver Will Fuller V was placed on injured reserve to open up a roster spot for Demaryius Thomas. Deshaun Watson injured his ACL in 2017 and plans to be there for Fuller as he starts his rehab process to get back on the field in 2019.
“I’ll always be in his ear, I’ll always be around whenever I can and I’ll always encourage him to be able to do the same thing I did – come back in OTAs,” Watson said of Fuller. “Being able to do some things, then also being ready for training camp. So, he has a lot of time to kind of reflect and try and improve his mental game, his physical game and I think he’ll be just fine.”
–Tight end Jordan Thomas needs a touchdown reception to become the second tight end in franchise history to record back-to-back games with a touchdown in his rookie season. Thomas would join former tight end Owen Daniels as the only two to accomplish this feat.
–Running back Lamar Miller needs 100 yards on the ground to rush for three consecutive games of 100 yards-or-more for the first time in his NFL career. Miller has rushed for 504 yards and two touchdowns with 233 (46.2 percent) of those yards coming the past two weeks.
BY THE NUMBERS: 82 — The number of yards DeAndre Hopkins needs to break his own franchise record of the most receiving yards (870) through the first nine games of any season in Texans history.
