HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans' offense was prepared for a test to end a sweltering practice Wednesday.
But in a new-look offense, some familiar names had already excited the crowd in moments, such as when quarterback C.J. Stroud found wideout Nico Collins down the sidelines. Or when tight end Dalton Schultz made a juggling one-handed catch from Stroud.
Things hadn't been all positive for the unit, so the hope was the starting offense could execute a 2-minute drill and punch it in for a touchdown. Despite Stroud turning some broken plays into first-down scrambles, the defense made a few pass breakups to force a field goal to end their day. Overall it was a day of growing pains, and that's how the offense has looked throughout camp.
That's all part of the process as they go through training camp under first-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley, and a lot of new pieces have arrived with him. There's potentially four new starting offensive linemen, two new starting receivers, and if injured running back Joe Mixon -- who's on the non-football injury list -- isn't ready for Week 1, there would be a new starter in Nick Chubb.
So there have been flashes of brilliance and moments of frustration, all to be expected for an offense full of newness. But through the first days of padded practices, the progression has pleased coach DeMeco Ryans.
"You see things evening out more when you put the pads on," Ryans said. "Defense kind of had the advantage there early on. We weren't in pads. Defense was making a lot of plays. Now just see things balancing themselves out. Offense is making plays daily."
One thing that will be new for Stroud in Year 3 is setting pass protection -- something he rarely did under former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
"This is more of a quarterback's offense where you're [identifying], calling the shots, switching protections if you need," Stroud said. "It's just me and the center. So if that's [center Jarrett Patterson] or [Juice Scruggs], I must have good communication with those guys and relay to everybody else what's going on. Nick is doing a great job teaching us that, so it's a lot more ownership."
Still, the Texans have to sort out their offensive line. Ironically, the two centers Stroud mentioned aren't the ones opening with the starting unit. It's Jake Andrews, whom Houston claimed off waivers in April.
As of now, Andrews has the edge on Patterson, but the 2023 sixth-round draft pick is competing after starting nine games last season. The other spots are settling in as left tackle Cam Robinson, left guard Laken Tomlinson, right guard Tytus Howard, and rookie right tackle Aireontae Ersery have separated from their competition as they don't rotate as much with the first team.
"[The offensive line is] continuing to get better," Ryans said. "You see, it's real football. You get to block guys with pads on. I think that's just real, and that's what you see. Our guys are doing a solid job, and they're continuing to get better."
As for the receiver room, there have been positive moments, but the secondary has gotten the upper hand, so far. One example was Stroud firing a tight throw onto rookie wideout Jayden Higgins' body. Cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. made contact and nickel Jalen Pitre knocked Higgins to the ground, causing celebration by the defense as the ball dribbled onto the grass.
There also have been moments of the timing being off, leading to incompletions. But overall, receiver Christian Kirk, who's had some dynamic receptions throughout camp, feels the offense is coming along "great."
"It just starts with communication," Kirk said. "Banking reps like those real reps. That's a rep that we'll probably see at some point on a Sunday here in the season."
As for Collins, the new playbook has been the biggest adjustment. He compared this process to forgetting a previous language to rid himself of any confusion.
"[There's a] new offense, new cadences, new words I'm saying, new terms, so you got to erase your old playbook," Collins told ESPN. "You have to reset that, erase all that terminology you've been programmed with to learn new words that mean different things. So that's why we camp, so we can iron out the details."
Though Ryans has been pleased with the offense, he is also encouraged by the improvement of the new receiver group.
"Our quarterbacks are doing a really nice job placing the football in the right spot," Ryans said. "Our receivers are making some really tough, contested catches. We got a lot of guys on the offensive side who are getting really better and it really jumps out in that receiver room to me."