- 11 months ago
Seth and Sean talk with Texans Executive VP and GM Nick Caserio about CJ Stroud's improvement, the team signing RB Jawhar Jordan to the 53 man roster, when he knew Kamari Lassiter had the right mentality for the team, and more.
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00:00Texans executive vice president and general manager, Nick Casario.
00:04Nick, welcome in. Merry Christmas.
00:07I am curious, did you approve of the ending of John Cena's final match where he lost?
00:13And have you texted your close personal friend Triple H to either complain or applaud him for that ending?
00:19Morning, fellas. Happy holidays.
00:22Answer the question.
00:24Yeah, I mean, Gunther, like that's what we're going with to finish off John's career.
00:28I mean, but, you know, I guess there was a certain theme associated with it.
00:33So I'll take it up with my close personal friend in the offseason and see if there's an alternative for the next wrestler that goes through his retirement.
00:44Probably be your guy, CM Punk.
00:45Congrats to John.
00:46Yeah, yeah.
00:47CM Punk, yeah, AJ Styles, one of those two guys.
00:50They've been going at it here for a long time.
00:52Yeah, yeah.
00:53I'm sure John will show up now and then.
00:56They never retire, Nick.
00:57They always come back.
00:58What happened?
00:59How did he lose?
01:00He got choked out by Gunther, who's like this big German wrestler.
01:04Yeah, so he tapped.
01:04Is Gunther a big star?
01:06Yeah, he's a big star.
01:07Not my style.
01:09And that doesn't sound like he's Nick's style either.
01:11It doesn't sound like you're a big Gunther guy, Nick.
01:13Star is a, I would say, subjective term on this one.
01:17Okay, well, there you go.
01:18Not really a casario guy.
01:18I hope I don't run into him like down the street.
01:20Yeah, he'll choke you out.
01:22Yeah, so Cena tapped out, and the Cena fans out there were very upset about that, that
01:27he didn't go out on a winning note.
01:28But it's tradition in wrestling that if you're leaving, you put somebody over to leave the
01:32place better than you found it.
01:33Oh, okay.
01:34Nobody ever goes out on top.
01:36That's, yeah, the time-honored tradition kind of thing.
01:39But the Cena fans did not like that at all.
01:40Well, the Cena fans got to freaking sack up and quit being wimps about it.
01:44So I can make a movie about it.
01:45Maybe he can make a movie about it or do a documentary about it.
01:48I'm going to call out Cena fans right now, because I know that they're a pretty soft
01:51bunch.
01:52They're a lot like the Swifties.
01:54Be careful.
01:55Well, yeah, just I'm not worried about running into him on the street.
01:58No, you'll be able to take him, I think.
02:00All right, Nick.
02:01Hey, these are good times for you guys.
02:03Six wins in a row, nine and five.
02:06I want to start with CJ, because CJ's played really, really well lately.
02:10He was playing well before he went out those three games.
02:12In your mind, from what you've seen, what's been the biggest sign of growth from CJ Shroud
02:17this season so far?
02:18Yeah, the big thing, I'd say, over the last, call it a few months, has probably been the
02:22decision-making.
02:23He's played really clean football.
02:25I think as a team, one of the things that's helped us immensely is the turnover margin.
02:29We've gone from near the bottom of the league to now we're second in the league in terms
02:33of turnover margin.
02:34We're taking it away on defense and offensively, knock on wood, we haven't turned the ball over.
02:39And a quarterback's a really big part of it.
02:40I think the decision-making, making the smart decision, making the right play, sometimes
02:45the right play, or the smart play, is to, with the defense, present something.
02:50Let's say you have a play designed to create potential chunk opportunity, and if they drop
02:54into coverage, and they get the ball in a check down, and that completion turns into a four-yard
02:58throw, completion turns into a 12- to 15-yard gain.
03:01I think there was multiple examples in the Arizona game the other day, I think we had
03:06one where we had a concept called, he checked the ball down to Dalton, because they played
03:11the coverage a certain way, and then Dalton transitioned vertically into the defense, and
03:15it was a 12- to 13-yard play.
03:16So that's good quarterback play, it's good football, and that's how you want to play
03:21offensively.
03:22And I think that's probably one of the areas where he's probably improved and grown the
03:25most.
03:26You know, early in the season, I'd say we were just very sporadic and choppy as an overall
03:32team, but over the last few months, we've played, I'd say, better football, cleaner football.
03:37It certainly hasn't been perfect, there's always things that we can improve on a week-to-week
03:40basis, but overall, those are some of the areas that CJ specifically has certainly grown and
03:46improved.
03:47Yeah, it's interesting with quarterbacks, because it's never an issue about actual intelligence
03:53or anything, it's, for me, at least, when I watch it, it's young quarterbacks realizing
03:57that, all right, I can sacrifice a couple of downs here for the greater good, and is
04:04it, with CJ, have you seen it, maybe he can see that the proof is in the pudding?
04:08Like, you look at this last game, he threw the ball away a couple times, or he's checking
04:12the ball down, he ends up with 75% completion percentage.
04:15Is it, is it, and it always felt to me like CJ knew it intellectually or academically, but
04:20you, as a quarterback, you got to actually see the success before you really believe
04:24it?
04:25Yeah, I'd say quarterbacks in general, regardless of whether it's CJ or anybody else, that position
04:31is the harder position to play in sports, and there's a lot of intricacies that are involved,
04:35and sometimes, again, just generally speaking, the simple play is the right play, is a great
04:42play, and to understand that, sometimes it just takes a little bit of, I would say, time
04:48on task, and to your point, kind of seeing the fruits of the labor.
04:53So, overall, the quarterback, the ball's in his hands 99% of the time, so he's got the
04:59fate, you know, any offensive player that touches the ball, you have the fate of the team in
05:02your hands on every play, and each play, whoever touches the ball, and a quarterback, he has
05:05his hands on the ball in every play, so let's just make sure we make the good decision, and
05:09there's going to be times where you might, you know, want to try to force the ball into a
05:14situation, because you have enough confidence, either in your receiver or player, to make
05:17a play, or one of the things that CJ does as probably well as any quarterback in the
05:21league, when it gets a little muddy, he can make a play outside of the pocket, and he can
05:26either run and make a play with his legs, or he can move and run to throw, which I would
05:32say there's multiple quarterbacks throughout the league where you see that, so Josh Allen's
05:36that way, Lamar has probably grown into that a little bit, so like anything, the more you
05:41do something, and the more understanding you have, the better off you're going to
05:45be, so it doesn't really happen overnight, it takes, sometimes you got to learn by adversity,
05:50you have to learn by plays that, quite frankly, turn out to be a negative play for the team,
05:56but the most important thing is to mitigate the risk, and the decision-making is of the
06:01utmost importance, especially at the quarterback position.
06:03Well, and CJ, I think it was CJ, Nick, who talked after the game about the touchdown to
06:07Nico on the second play of the game, that that was something that the two of them had
06:10seen, you know, something about the cardinal defense that they had seen where they might
06:14be able to exploit that, the two of them have such tremendous chemistry together, can
06:20you take us behind the scenes a little bit about how that's built between a quarterback
06:23and a star-wide receiver like that, that they build that connection that those two seem to
06:27have?
06:27It's like anything else, so the more you work at something, the more that you communicate,
06:32and the more time that you put into it, then the better the results that you hopefully,
06:38you have a good outcome.
06:39So in their particular case, so Nico's been in our program for multiple years.
06:44Nico was here before CJ was here, and then in 23, when we drafted CJ, then I would say
06:50that was the start of, okay, as an overall offense, and then when a quarterback is, in
06:54the end, a quarterback skill, position, relationship is going to be important, and the more communication
07:01and more time they have, whether it's in practice, whether it's body language, or whether
07:06it's, hey, on this route, this is what I'm thinking, how are you going to run this?
07:09Well, when I do this, so you're trying to make sure that you're seeing things through
07:12the same lens, and that takes time.
07:15I think that applies to Nico.
07:16I'd say it certainly applies to Dalton Schultz, and the more time that players are around
07:22one another and are together, it just helps the overall operation.
07:26So they're two great kids.
07:28I mean, CJ and Nico, they work really hard.
07:30They care about being good at football, and they want to win, and they want to help the
07:34team, and they just, the more communication that you have, it's just like anything else.
07:39The more you talk about it, the better off you're all going to be, and you're just trying
07:43to look for clarity.
07:44You're trying to get clarity in every situation, and just trying to take the gray and the ambiguity
07:48out.
07:49Nick, as you know, D'Amico on Monday said that the defense's performance versus the Cardinals
07:54wasn't up to their standard.
07:56Then you said something on your show with John and Mark that I really liked, and my ears
08:01perked up, is when you said, yeah, the guys felt like that wasn't up to their standard.
08:06Is that, how exactly did you know or feel that the guys themselves didn't feel it was
08:12up to their standard?
08:14Well, after any game, everybody, in the end, it's about the players.
08:18So this is a players league, and they're the ones that, when they're on the field, they're
08:23relying on one another, and they know if you do it right or do it wrong, or if there's
08:27a gap and how to get it fixed.
08:29So I would say there was probably a number of loose plays in that particular game, and
08:34in the end, when the players take accountability, that's what you want.
08:39And the reality is the expectations and the standards are high in this building on a day-to-day
08:43basis.
08:43And if we feel like we haven't met that standard, sometimes, you know, D'Amico and our standards
08:50for the players are probably higher than the standards for the players themselves.
08:53But I would say in our situation, we have a number of players where they hold themselves
08:58to a high standard as well, and they hold each other accountable.
09:00So in the end, you're looking for accountability, and you're just trying to fix problems.
09:04So 65, 70 plays in the game, they're not all going to be perfect.
09:08There's going to be things that come up during the course of the game.
09:10But can you course-correct either within the game or after the game, go back and look
09:15at it and say, you know what, probably could have handled that better, or the film doesn't
09:20lie.
09:21So, I mean, everybody's watching the same thing.
09:23So in the end, it's getting in a meeting room, it's talking through it.
09:26Hey, in this situation, you know, this is probably how we should have handled it.
09:30But you can't fix what happened.
09:31That's all you can do is adjust moving forward.
09:34But I think the players are accountable to themselves, and that's the mark of, you know, hopefully
09:38a good team.
09:39Because in the end, it's about the players and what they do on the field, because they're
09:42relying on one another to perform well, and the outcome is going to be a direct result
09:48of their performance on the field.
09:50I was actually kind of excited about Trey McBride's performance because of this.
09:53I've told Sean this before, that there might be no more miserable person on earth than
09:57a head coach of a winning team in the middle of a winning streak.
10:00Because with each successive win, you start to worry about like, all right, well, how do we
10:05keep our edge?
10:05How do we how do we keep these guys motivated?
10:07And I felt like, okay, Trey McBride had the best game of a season, a lot of regards.
10:12And as you said, like the players hold themselves up to a different standard.
10:17But you still win the game.
10:18And now you face this week, a team whose best weapon is Brock Bowers, their their tight end.
10:25And and I like I'm imagining that there's going to be a lot of focus on unlimiting Brock Bowers
10:30and not have the best game of a season this week.
10:33Yeah, in the end, it's about individual your techniques and your fundamentals.
10:37So a lot of times plays bad plays are usually a result of bad fundamentals or bad techniques
10:42or poor communication.
10:44I would say in Trey's case, Trey's one of the best tight ends of the league.
10:46And we talked about it.
10:47I talked about it leading up to the game on the show with John and Mark.
10:51I mean, you know, guys had 100 reception that's three seasons.
10:55So you're talking about, you know, historical performance and Dallas Clark, Travis Kelsey
11:00and Trey McBride.
11:01So McBride's a really good player.
11:03We knew that going in.
11:04And I would say Bowers is probably one of the best young players in the league, not only a
11:09tight end, but the offensive skill position.
11:11So the big thing is just having an understanding and awareness of the personnel, how that team
11:17uses that personnel and what are some of the things that we can do to hopefully
11:20limit them.
11:21You're not going to totally erase it.
11:23I mean, it's the same thing.
11:24It's on a defensive side of the ball.
11:25I mean, Crosby is one of the best players in the league is on the field for every snap.
11:28Nobody plays harder to Max Crosby.
11:30Are you going to totally take Max Crosby out of the game?
11:32Probably not.
11:33But you just have to make sure you have an awareness of understanding of where he is.
11:36So this goes back to understand the team, understand the opponent, understand the personnel.
11:41What are some of the things that we can do to potentially mitigate that player from performing
11:47at an optimum level and just make sure that player doesn't completely wreck the game,
11:53if you will.
11:53So each week is his own entity.
11:55But I mean, it's a personnel driven league and certain teams have certain players that
12:00could potentially impact the game.
12:01And it's our responsibility to understand that.
12:03And this goes back to as players and as a staff is just having accountability and just
12:07making sure we're doing the right thing on a play to play, play to play basis to limit
12:11the performance of those players.
12:13Texan Executive Vice President and General Manager Nick Casario joining us here on Sports
12:17Radio 610.
12:18Nick, as far as the on the injury front, you're banged up now on the interior of the defensive
12:23line.
12:23Tim Settle, Mario Edwards Jr. have both gone out for the season over the last couple weeks.
12:29Can you just, I guess just for the audience and for us, just kind of do a reset of what
12:33that position now looks like?
12:35Because we're going to be digging into some probably unfamiliar names here and what you're
12:39maybe keeping an eye on as far as out there around the league.
12:42I know there's, you know, trade deadlines come and gone, but there's bodies that wind
12:44up out there that you can kick tires on.
12:47Give us a kind of a thumbnail sketch of where we're at on the interior of the D-line right
12:50now.
12:51Yeah, for sure, Sean.
12:52I mean, we're always looking at what the inventory of players available, whether it's
12:56players on the street, whether it's players on other practice squads that potentially you
12:59can add to your team because those players are free agents.
13:02So to your point, Mario and Tim have really done a really good job for our team over the
13:06last few years.
13:07So, you know, we have volume, I would say, on the defensive front.
13:13You know, I'd say Tommy's been a consistent performer over the course of the year.
13:17You know, we had a Naquan Jones last week just for death purposes more than anything else.
13:21You know, Autry's kind of played inside and outside.
13:24We have some players on the practice squad that have played at different points.
13:27So the reality is every team's kind of going through this right now.
13:30So we've got to make it work with what we have.
13:32I mean, Rankin's has been, you know, probably one of our more consistent players on the front
13:37from beginning to end.
13:38So we'll make it work with what we have.
13:40There's an opportunity to add a player that we feel either A, fits the front or B, that
13:45we have some level of experience with great.
13:47If not, so be it.
13:48We understand what it is.
13:49We'll go play the game with the players that are available, which is why, you know,
13:53we've talked about on this show.
13:54So we try to build as much depth as possible on the overall team from active roster to
14:00practice squad because typically you're going to pull from your practice squad first and
14:05then if there's something externally outside of the building.
14:08But this time of the year, I'd say the cupboard's pretty bare, but if there's an opportunity,
14:12we've made a couple waiver claims over the last few weeks of players that have come in
14:15and helped us at different points, whether it's Damone Clark in a kicking game.
14:18So, you know, we'll always be proactive and look for opportunities that make sense.
14:22And if not, we know what we have, players that have been here from training camp until
14:27now.
14:28So they're probably going to be as hopefully as prepared as anyone.
14:32I would say, you know, Jawar, I'm sure we'll get asked a question about him, but there's
14:35another example of a player who was on the practice squad, was on the practice squad for
14:39multiple seasons, you know, was with us during training camp, has been on a practice squad
14:43and we had a situation where because of injuries to Nick and whomever else.
14:47So there was an opportunity for Jawar.
14:49So, I mean, that's kind of how we approach it.
14:51So whoever's available, we'll go play with whoever is here and whoever we feel gives
14:55us the best chance to win that week.
14:57Yeah.
14:57With Jawar Jordan, as you mentioned, he's been like, you guys have kept him on the practice
15:00squad for a couple of years now.
15:03What was his growth curve, I guess?
15:05Like what, why wasn't he playing earlier?
15:08And at what point did you start to think, okay, wait, this, this kid's got something.
15:14Yeah.
15:14Well, I mean, he played a bunch in the preseason, a fairly productive preseason.
15:18And the reality is if you're not kind of a starter on offense or defense, then are you
15:24playing on fourth down and what's your role there?
15:26So I'd say when you look at that running back room, like we kind of have a couple of different
15:30types of players.
15:31I mean, Daray, I would say he's a utility player who has value offensively in the kicking
15:35game.
15:35You know, we felt good about Nick and then Woody is kind of giving us a certain level
15:39of performance.
15:39Then it's a matter of how many backs are you taking to take to the game?
15:42How many, you know, I know each week's going to be a little bit different.
15:45British kind of has his role where he's kind of a fullback, kind of hybrid back, you know,
15:49he's a kicking game player.
15:50So you kind of have to look at the entire picture and then just figure out, well, you
15:54know, what makes the most sense.
15:55I would say more than anything last week, you know, we probably knew Nick wasn't going to
15:59play.
15:59So then it's, what are our options?
16:01You know, we have Woody, we have Darway, and then we're probably going to need another
16:05back at the game.
16:06So I would say we went through the course of the week.
16:09You know, Jawar had a good week of practice.
16:10Jawar has been one of our better practice players during the course of the year on the
16:14practice squad.
16:15He's been recognized multiple times for the practice as the practice squad player of the
16:18week.
16:19So he's improved individually, I would say.
16:22He's helped our team at different points and he showed the ability to get yards and carry
16:27the ball when he had his opportunities in the preseason.
16:29So the reality is you're never really going to know when an opportunity is going to come.
16:34And a lot of this is we're just trying to manage the roster, manage our depth, and then
16:38just look at it.
16:39We know we're taking 48, however many, 47, 48 to the game each week.
16:43What does that look like?
16:44So you have a group playing offensively, group playing defensively, group playing on fourth
16:48down.
16:48I would say your best chance to get to the game, honestly, early is on fourth down and then
16:53you kind of work backwards.
16:54So again, kind of go week to week with it.
16:56But I would say that's probably like an overview of just the overall process.
17:00Oh, okay.
17:00I'm intrigued now by this practice squad player of the week.
17:03I'm not going to ask you who the current player is.
17:05You weren't the practice squad player of the week.
17:07The practice squad was like one and a half player of the week or scout team player of
17:11the week.
17:11Yeah.
17:12Yeah.
17:12The scout team played off.
17:13I thought the most I ever played on scout team was when Gary Kubiak came in here and
17:17they had this psychotic Richard Smith defensive coordinator that was trying to run me out
17:22of the league.
17:22Year 10.
17:22All of a sudden I'm year 10 playing practice.
17:24You're still salty about it.
17:25Yeah.
17:26Oh, no.
17:27You listen, Nick.
17:28You know.
17:28Oh, no.
17:29I told Gary exactly what I felt about Richard Smith.
17:32There's no secrets there.
17:33You know, no, I don't want to get up on a tangent.
17:38So I'm not going to go back to the scout team player of the week, but I would say it's honestly
17:43the most who's one of the most.
17:45And it can be a player that's now on the X roster.
17:47I know you don't want to show your hand if there's some guy that you're trying to keep
17:50quiet around the league about.
17:51Yeah, it's it's it's been Jackson watered who I think we're actually going to lose here.
17:56I think he's going to sign the Miami is going to sign him to their roster, but when
18:00they find out that he's the reigning champion, but I think what that what that wrecking the
18:06reason that we recognize that is because a lot of times those players on a respective
18:10size of the ball and a kicking game, they're preparing the players to play the upcoming
18:16opponents.
18:17So you're trying to give them the best look possible, whether it's the technique, you
18:21know, whether it's the effort or whether it's a certain look and they're both they're
18:26preparing the team, but they're also improving individually.
18:30And that tells the staff that this player is professional.
18:33He's diligent.
18:34He's working his ass off that he's prepared so that if he gets his opportunity, that we
18:40have enough faith and confidence that he's going to go on a field and be able to perform.
18:43So that's why I like the standard for the practice squad players is no different than
18:48the standard for Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter, because the reality is that's the mindset
18:52that we want all those players to have.
18:55So practice is important.
18:56We only get basically two opportunities each week to practice and prepare.
19:00So let's make sure we're doing everything possible.
19:03And the players have going back to what we talked about a little bit earlier.
19:06The players have a responsibility to each other to make sure that they're doing the right
19:11thing to prepare that player.
19:13I would say Solomon Bird's another player where he probably gave our tackles as many problems
19:18as in practice as we did in the game, but he was preparing Tay and Titus and Trent Brown
19:24and now Solomon's on the roster.
19:26So there's a correlation sometimes between what a guy does in practice and what he does
19:33on the field.
19:33I would say going back to Nico Collins, the way he plays is the way he practices.
19:38So a lot of times the way you practice is the way that you play.
19:40So we're looking at consistency each day, each week.
19:44So going back to the scout team players of the week, like we, to Nico gets in front of
19:49the team, he recognizes those players say, Hey, you know what?
19:51We really appreciate what you're doing.
19:53And we want the other players and your other teammates to see like, this is the behavior
19:58and the expectation we have for everybody on a day-to-day basis.
20:01That's really cool.
20:02I like that.
20:02Nick, is there a chain for the scout team player?
20:05There's no chain.
20:06No, there's no chain.
20:07Would you like to borrow my WWE?
20:09No, we have the only chain that we have is if we have like a national player of the week.
20:13Right.
20:13And then Omar has got to take that dumb ass chain out and give it to the players.
20:16I was just going to say, I was just going to sarcastically say, I know you love that
20:20chain.
20:21This team's all about trinkets.
20:22Big fan of the chain.
20:23Yeah.
20:24Nick Serio joining us here on sports radio 610.
20:28All right, Nick, during the draft process back in 2024, when was the moment you sat down
20:34with Kamari Lassiter and said, Oh yeah, he's one of us.
20:39No, it didn't take very long.
20:40Honestly, I would say a lot of our information that we had from Georgia.
20:44And I would say as we work through the process, I mean, everything coming out of Georgia was
20:51positive.
20:52So I would say just from a process standpoint, and we're actually going through this now,
20:56we just had our first round of draft meetings last week.
20:59If a player, we don't really have a lot of questions about a player and our philosophy,
21:04let's not spend too much time.
21:05If it's not going to change, if we feel convicted and confident, and this is what it is, just
21:10move on to the next player that we need a little bit more clarity that maybe it's a little
21:14more gray.
21:14So I would say in Kamari's case, multiple scouts that went through there.
21:19And when you look at the practice notes, one of the best practice players, right?
21:22So that was consistent for the three, four people that went in there.
21:25And then the overall background and the character was what it was, which was Sterling.
21:29And then when I'd say Kirby kind of rubber stamps it and basically says, like, this guy
21:34is the ultimate embodiment of our program.
21:36And he's our top player from a mindset, work ethic, toughness standpoint.
21:42I mean, really, what else do you need?
21:44You know, there's a lot of great college programs out there.
21:47We've talked about it on this show.
21:48Like, we have a lot of respect for Coach Smart and the way he runs his program.
21:52Um, so once you have that information and then there, you know, and then he didn't
21:57have to play in the bowl game that quite frankly, didn't really matter, but like he showed
22:01him plays because that's his mentality and mindset.
22:04So again, it really didn't take us that, that long to say, all right, here's the information
22:08if we trust it.
22:09All right.
22:09We know what it is.
22:11And, you know, he was a player that we loved throughout the process.
22:14So there was no mystery when they had the opportunity to pick him.
22:17Like we felt like he was going to be a good football player.
22:20I mean, everybody kind of got caught up in his speed and how quote unquote fast he was
22:24or wasn't, but we're drafting football players.
22:27We're not drafting paper champions.
22:29We're not drafting guys that have great test numbers.
22:31Like if they have great test numbers and their mentality is such that like they're an elite
22:36worker, they're an elite performer.
22:38They have the right mindset and mentality.
22:41Great.
22:41If they don't, but they come up a little bit short because of quote unquote, what his time
22:46says, like, look, that's not how we're going to operate.
22:48So in the end, like that's where Kamari fit and Kamari has been the same person when we
22:53drafted him that he is now he hadn't changed.
22:56So, I mean, pound for pound, he's the toughest player on a team.
22:58And I would argue he's as tough as any player in the league.
23:01I mean, he's second on a team and tackles, like tell me another corner who's second on
23:05a team and tackles for their particular team.
23:07And it's not like he's just dragging guys down in a secondary, you know, after a completion.
23:12I mean, this guy triggers and run forces if he was a linebacker, but that speaks to
23:16the mindset and the mentality on the, I would say the defensive side of the ball where everybody's
23:21held to a high standard.
23:22And I mean, look, the first tackle for loss in a game the other day was staying, right?
23:26So he comes up there, crack replaces, and then we make a two yard loss on a play.
23:31So, I mean, if you want to play corner in his defense, if you don't tackle, like you're
23:35probably going to be playing somewhere else.
23:36So I think that was one of the, a lot of the things that, that we liked about Kamari.
23:40Do you get, uh, do you get excited sometimes when there's a prospect that you like and
23:44at the combine, he runs a horrible 40 time, you kind of think like, cause every, I know
23:49everybody claims like, Oh, we don't care about 40, whatever.
23:52I'm not going to lie, Seth.
23:53Yeah.
23:53I love it when that happens.
23:55I mean, honest to God.
23:56So, cause again, if you're making a decision based on one data point, look, speed is speed.
24:02Okay.
24:03Like you can run, you're fast.
24:05You're not fast.
24:06Do you play fast?
24:07Like what's your game speed and can you get faster?
24:11Um, yeah, if you work in the, that's what you have an off season program for, like you
24:14can get bigger, you can get faster, you can get stronger.
24:16So if you're just basing it off that data point, again, the combines, the combine, all
24:21right, we get more of the combine from a personal and just start to spend some, some time with
24:25the players.
24:26Honestly, what they do on the field is what they do on the field.
24:28Like I know the NFL network's got to, you know, have six days of coverage and everyone's
24:32got to talk about it, but in the end, it doesn't really make any iota of a difference.
24:36But so, you know, times the time, you get the information.
24:39If the guy runs slow, he runs slow.
24:40Like maybe there was some mitigating circumstance why he ran slow.
24:44So again, we're not trying to have like a slow team.
24:46Like we're trying to build a team with good football players.
24:49So, I mean, you got to balance everything off, but I mean, if the guy runs slow, it's
24:52like, all right, great.
24:53Maybe he gets discounted a little bit.
24:54Right.
24:54Yeah.
24:55Yeah.
24:55That's right.
24:56Yeah.
24:57Distressed asset.
24:58Yes.
24:59Yeah.
25:00You want to talk about the stock market?
25:01Yeah.
25:02That's what I know.
25:02I know that's financial discussion.
25:04I know that's I'm speaking your language now, Nick.
25:06Distressed asset.
25:07Well, okay.
25:09So when you talked about the, how you guys like having the face-to-face contact and everything
25:13at the combine, you know, you, you know, all the studies that show that most people overestimate
25:18their ability to, you know, figure out a person's personality in an in-person interview.
25:23You can't do it in 15 minutes.
25:24Right.
25:25I'm not going to sit here and tell you like, yeah, you're basically just getting an initial
25:28introduction.
25:29Right.
25:30And starting to get to know the player a little bit, understanding you're probably
25:33going to end up doing a deeper dive.
25:34But, but I, but I guess what I'm, where I was going with that is that I do think there's
25:37exceptions to that.
25:39And I feel like with D'Amico, I, like he's one of the people that I feel, you know, D'Amico
25:45is basically, you guys together have basically drafted a bunch of D'Amico Ryans.
25:49You know, when you drafted Will Anderson, I know there was an anonymous scout that said
25:52D'Amico Ryans just drafted himself out of Alabama.
25:54Um, in terms of just that, that, that type of personality, do you, does D'Amico seem
26:00to have kind of a vibe for just seeing like, Oh, this is my kind of guy.
26:06We understand what it takes to be successful in this program.
26:10So we're looking for that in players.
26:13Um, look, D'Amico is one of the best coaches in the league.
26:16I mean, you know, I've, we've talked, I've talked about it countless times in this show.
26:19He has a great sense and a great feel for people.
26:23And look, if we draft the team of D'Amico Ryans, like the guy's one of the best players
26:27in the history of the franchise.
26:29Um, and he's held in the highest regard.
26:31So like, yeah, we're going to try to find players with that mindset, with that mentality,
26:35understanding that everybody has their own personality.
26:39So that's a big part of it.
26:40So the person is the person, no two people are created equally.
26:44We're looking for certain traits and characteristics that we think are going to be successful because
26:49in the end, in order to win, in order to win, when it matters, those are the things that
26:54are going to be important.
26:54So the more players that like that, that we have in the building, we at least give ourselves
27:00an opportunity.
27:01Now, ultimately it's going to come down to our play and our execution on the field, but
27:06the mentality, the mindset, the work ethic, the competitiveness, the drive, I would say
27:11D'Amico is probably as tough a player as probably been through this building as well.
27:16So you're talking about a guy that's smart as hell.
27:19That's a phenomenal human being that has physical and mental toughness.
27:23Like, yeah, that's what you want on your team.
27:25That's what you want on this building.
27:26And that's why like philosophically, like we believe in a lot of the same things.
27:30Like I would say we're, we're probably wired very similarly, even though we're different,
27:36you know, which is why when we're looking at players, we try to prioritize the things
27:40that we feel are important.
27:42Civilized savages.
27:43That's what I'm thinking of these guys.
27:44That's what they are.
27:45They're that sounds like a t-shirt in the making civilized savages.
27:48I'm going to make it.
27:48You'll get the first one, Nick.
27:49You get the merch.
27:51You're listening to KLT AM, KLT FM, HD to Houston, an odyssey sports station.
27:55And we're talking to Texans executive vice president and general manager, Nick Casario.
28:00Nick, back over to the offensive side of the ball.
28:02You guys are six and oh, since Trent Brown was inserted into the offensive line at right tackle.
28:06How correlated is that with Trent being the vet that has kind of, you know, I know Titus
28:11was playing some good right tackle for you guys and injuries and shuffling and things
28:15like that.
28:16We've arrived at this five that you guys have been able to roll with for a few weeks.
28:20So how important is Trent been and how important is the continuity been the last few weeks?
28:24Yeah.
28:24I mean, overall there was kind of fits and starts there, you know, with that group, we had
28:28some guys kind of none of the lineup injury related, you know, and then we made some other
28:32decisions to move on from some players and ultimately we kind of settled on a group that
28:36we're playing with now, understanding that, you know, we've had some other guys that have,
28:40you know, chipped in and, you know, made some contributions.
28:42But I would say in Trent's case, it was a pair of the idea was when we signed him, he
28:47had a vast amount of games started and had a lot of experience.
28:52He was coming off of a pretty significant, severe injury.
28:55We knew it was going to take a little bit of time, but we felt at some point there was
29:00probably going to be a situation where, you know, he was on the field and going back to
29:05kind of what we talked about earlier, really where it started with Trent was in practice
29:09because he missed basically all the off season.
29:11He missed all of training camp.
29:12So he really didn't have a training camp.
29:14So he needed a certain ramp up period before he was actually ready to go out there.
29:20But his work was against Daniil, was against Will Anderson, Derek Barnett, Daryl Taylor.
29:27So by doing that, you're working on your techniques, your fundamentals, your conditioning,
29:33and some of those things.
29:34And then at some point, now we were in a situation where Ed was going to be out there for a little
29:38bit.
29:39So we kind of looked at it and said, what do we think makes the most sense?
29:43And the constitution at the time was, all right, let's put Trent over there.
29:47All right, we put Titus at, you know, right guard.
29:51He subsequently moved over to left guard with Ed coming back.
29:54So, you know, we have called seven or eight guys that, you know, if we have to roll in
29:58there and play, Blake kind of has his role.
30:00But if something happens to tackle, you know, you have Titus, you have Blake that you can
30:04put out there.
30:05Ederson going in there and giving us some snaps at guards, giving us snaps at center.
30:09The same thing with Juice.
30:10So like we feel like we have seven or eight guys that could go in there and, you know,
30:14at least be competitive and give ourselves an opportunity.
30:17But, you know, Trent's worked hard to get himself back to this point.
30:20Trent started a number of games over the court, over 100 games.
30:23So, you know, overall, I mean, that group is, has done a pretty good job and, you know,
30:28hopefully we can continue to grow and improve here for the duration of the season.
30:32Along those lines, they, the, the run game has improved.
30:35You know, Woody's played a bigger role than he did earlier in the season, played a really
30:38big role.
30:38And we know he's, he's, you know, he's been a little banged up lately.
30:41How do you manage, how do you manage the Woody, Woody Marks workload over the rest of the
30:46season?
30:46And how much of it comes down to stuff like behind the scenes, the sports science of it all
30:50and a guy who's probably not taken this much punishment in his career before.
30:53Yeah.
30:54It's funny.
30:54We actually talked to the players, D'Amico talked to the team about that.
30:57I mean, we, the reality is we've played 17 games.
31:01So, which for a lot of guys, that's two seasons and most younger players, rookies and second
31:06year players.
31:07I mean, you basically play 11, 12 games in college, or, you know, if you're playing in
31:11the playoffs, 13, 14 games.
31:12So you have to, you're going through a little bit of an adjustment from an overall, I would
31:17say physical standpoint.
31:19So are you doing the things necessary on a day-to-day basis?
31:22At this point of the year, on the heels of a game, it's all about the recovery.
31:27So, you know, we were in December, nobody's healthy.
31:30Everybody's dealing with something.
31:32But are you being proactive on a daily basis?
31:36Are you coming in?
31:37Are you getting stretched?
31:38Are you getting your rehab?
31:38Are you getting your lift?
31:39Is your nutrition right?
31:40Are you sleeping right?
31:42Are you getting an amount of rest and recovery?
31:43If you use some other device, red light therapy, hyperbaric chamber, cold tubs, all those resources
31:51and tools are available.
31:53And it's your responsibility to make sure that you use those.
31:56We can direct the player and help them with their routine a little bit.
31:59But ultimately, the onus is on the player, especially this time of year.
32:02And with younger players, you want to make sure you're doing everything possible so that
32:06you're ramping up.
32:07So by the end of the week on Sunday, you feel as fresh and ready to go as possible.
32:11So I'd say that's specific to not just Woody, but the team overall, and especially younger
32:16players.
32:17Two players, I was just curious if there's any updates or anything notable to know about
32:21either Joe Mixon or Jimmy Ward.
32:22Yeah, no real change there.
32:26I mean, we're getting pretty close to the end here.
32:28So I mean, probably hard for them to play this season.
32:32But I mean, you never know, never know what's going to happen.
32:35So again, we've been consistent from the beginning, not going to really put any timetables on
32:40and kind of take it one day at a time.
32:41But by the same time, I would say we're kind of getting closer to the end here.
32:44So, you know, if any changes, you know, I'm sure we'll have an update, but nothing,
32:48nothing substantive at this point.
32:50Do you even, do you bother putting in any calls to JJ Watt just to, you know, see if
32:54I always wanted JJ to bulk up the three 40, just for one season to see what it would look
32:58like as a true defensive tackle.
33:00Do you even bother with it?
33:02I don't think JJ wants to be three 40.
33:04But you don't know until you ask him for the, for the 19th or 20th time.
33:09Yeah.
33:09I'll leave that phone call up to D'Amico if he wants to make it.
33:12So JJ is doing too good of a job in, in the TV with the, as an analyst.
33:16So he probably wants to, doesn't want to leave that luxury.
33:20We are, you know, we've talked about this a good chunk this week because of the defensive
33:23tackle health situation.
33:25And I knew you talked earlier about, you know, the guys that you might have available.
33:29Um, the, I mean, one of the things that's worked really well is you got a bunch of guys
33:33who play hard, but also you've been able to rotate them in.
33:35And is that, do you, uh, I mean, and, and, you know, if D'Amico Autry is coming down inside
33:42at times, you know, obviously he's a different body type.
33:44What do you, do you, how do you account for that?
33:47That, all right, these guys aren't going to be able to rotate as much likely.
33:50Do we have to change stylistically at all?
33:53Yeah, we'll have to look at it.
33:54I mean, I don't think we're going to change probably the integrity of kind of how we're
33:57playing defensively.
33:58So, I mean, it keep coaches, you know, Rod and Frank keep track of the snap count.
34:02What's going on during the course of the game.
34:04We're trying to keep them, you know, as fresh as possible.
34:05So, you know, I'm sure we'll play eight or nine guys each week.
34:09So try to do the best we can and just try to make sure the players are as fresh and
34:13recovered on a snap to snap series, a series basis.
34:17Nick Casario joining us here on sports radio six and Nick, let's look ahead to Sunday here.
34:22Um, I know the record with the Raiders doesn't matter to you guys at all.
34:25They're just the next opponent.
34:26So as you're looking at this team, you know, this, if the Raiders are going to come in
34:30here and pull off the upset, what are the things that would concern you about this team?
34:34Yeah, they have explosive players really.
34:36And in all three phases, I mean, offensively, we talked about Bowers a little bit.
34:40I mean, Jente, you know, I mean, he was drafted sixth overall for a reason.
34:43So very talented player.
34:45Um, and then Trey Tucker, um, I would say he's given them a lot of production.
34:49Um, he's got almost 50 catches.
34:51He's their leading receiver.
34:52Um, you know, with the trade of Jacoby, um, I would say he's kind of taken on,
34:56a little bit bigger role, but I mean, he has the ability to get behind a defense.
34:59And then defensively, I mean, Crosby is as good of a player that there is in the league.
35:02So they got a really good front.
35:04I mean, honestly, they've played pretty good defensively in some games, uh, excuse me.
35:08And there's been, I mean, they went basically down to a two point conversion with Jacksonville
35:12and then the two Denver games were basically one score games.
35:15I mean, 10, seven on a road up there in Denver and then 24, 17 or whatever it was, you
35:19know, a few weeks ago.
35:20So, um, the reality is every team has good players and if you don't do the things that
35:25are necessary in order to put yourself in a position to win, then you're not going to
35:29win.
35:29So like, we have a lot of respect for the Raiders and what they're doing.
35:32They got too many good players.
35:33So the best thing that we can do is have a good week of practice, good week of practice,
35:38good week of preparation, understand the personnel, understand what the expectation is for the
35:42game plan.
35:43And in the end, it's going to come down to our execution on Sundays.
35:45But I mean, the Raiders have shown that they can play with this multiple playoff teams.
35:50I mean, they have, you know, it's been some games where the score has kind of gotten a
35:52lot of it, a little bit out of whack, but it speaks to the week to week nature, um, of
35:57our league.
35:57But again, like Jacksonville is leading our division and it basically came down to a two point
36:02of conversion that they batted down there at the end of the game.
36:04So, I mean, you could say what you want to say about the team.
36:06So our job is to understand the opponent, understand the players, and then have a good
36:11week and make sure that we go out there and prepared physically and mentally ready to go
36:14on Sunday.
36:15What have you been able to see out of a guy like Ash, uh, Ashton Gentry, where, you
36:18know, they're obviously they're having a hard time running the ball, but he's done some
36:21good things.
36:21Like how is, how has he looked as a rookie?
36:24Yeah, he's, he's a three down back, Seth.
36:25I mean, he's much of a factor in a passing game.
36:28I think he's got, you know, 45, almost 50 receptions.
36:30So, you know, they try to find ways to get the ball in his hands.
36:33He's got really good playing strength.
36:35He's got good balance.
36:36He gets a lot of yards after contact.
36:38And when he gets into space, he's got good speed.
36:41So tackling is going to be, I would say, at a premium against him and Bowers.
36:45Bowers is a very good run after catch player.
36:48I would say similar to McBride in some respects, they're kind of a little bit different.
36:52But Brock is a, is a huge factor.
36:55The guy had a hundred receptions last year or whatever it was.
36:57So, but specific to Gentry, he's a three down back.
37:01He's got good balance.
37:01He's got good playing strength.
37:03He's got good change of direction.
37:05He's hard to tackle.
37:06So we're going to have to get multiple hats to the ball.
37:08So it looks like he's going to be a, you know, a good player in this league for a long time.
37:11Nick Casario joining us.
37:12Hey, Nick, this would probably be a better question to ask if you guys are playing the
37:15Colts this weekend, but we'll probably won't talk to you before that game.
37:19But I'm just curious your thoughts on, on Phillip Rivers coming back at the age of 44 and,
37:23and, and putting them in position to win the game in Seattle this past weekend.
37:27Yeah.
37:27I mean, look, the guy's a hall of fame player for a reason, you know, you know, and this
37:32time of year, I mean, we're kind of watching, I'm watching multiple teams and kind of getting
37:37ready for the next few opponents.
37:38So I'm kind of working through the Colts, but I mean, he went, he did a good job.
37:41He went in there and made good decisions.
37:43I mean, he put the team in a position to potentially win the game.
37:46I mean, Seattle had to drive it down there at the end of the game and kick a 50 yard field goal.
37:49But I mean, Phillip is probably tough a player at that position that there's been in the
37:54history of the league.
37:55You know, when I was in new England, he played the AFC championship game with a torn ACL.
37:58So it's kind of speaks to his toughness.
38:01So, I mean, again, the Colts felt like that was the right thing to do for their team and
38:06the organization.
38:06He has a relationship with, with Shane, you know, that goes back a little bit to their time
38:11at the time with the chargers.
38:12So, I mean, you can't have nothing but respect and appreciation for what Phillip did and,
38:19you know, what he, what he almost helped the Colts do on Sunday against a really good
38:23Seattle team.
38:24So a lot of respect for Phillip and there's a reason that he's basically going to be in
38:28the hall of fame one day.
38:29Hey, Nick, before we let you go, I was watching D'Amico's interview with Mark and John last
38:34night, the, the coaches show.
38:36I didn't realize I knew D'Amico was a big baseball guy.
38:39I knew that growing up that he was, he liked baseball.
38:41I think he said even more than football.
38:43I didn't realize that he would not make Monday night football, his first priority.
38:47He had to watch Monday night raw and then he would shift over to football.
38:50Have you guys discussed this at all?
38:52The two of you, we have not, this is very useful information that I'm going to have to
38:56take up with them.
38:57So I'll send you the, I'll send you the cut.
38:59It's the very, you know, how Mark and John like to do that sort of kind of fun question
39:02with you guys.
39:03This goes back to my point.
39:05Everybody, everybody watches wrestling.
39:08Yes.
39:08Everybody and everybody enjoys it, which they should stop trying to make us who doesn't
39:15like our close friend, triple eight.
39:17How can you not like triple eight?
39:19That's right, man.
39:20Yeah.
39:20I'll send you the executive.
39:22He used to be a wrestler.
39:23Yeah.
39:23Yeah.
39:24Yeah.
39:24He's Nick's close personal friend.
39:26Yeah.
39:26I knew he was a businessman of some sort.
39:28Yeah.
39:29Yeah.
39:29That's, that's Seth throwing shade at us.
39:31That's what that is right there.
39:33Yeah.
39:33I'll send you the clip because D'Amico was like, yeah, D'Amico said, yeah, I was actually
39:37like a big baseball guy.
39:38You know, football wasn't his first love.
39:40And then Monday night football, I, you know, once I got done watching WWE, I would flip
39:45it over to Monday night football.
39:46I'm like, this reinforces my point.
39:47I think secretly like we're related in a lot of respects.
39:51Cause actually baseball was my, probably my best part.
39:53I thought the same thing.
39:54I know you've told me that before.
39:55Yeah.
39:55Yeah.
39:56That's why we get along so well, because we like wrestling.
39:58So there you go.
40:00I'm sure that is reassuring to all the Texans fans.
40:02And to the McNairs, I'm sure too.
40:04Okay.
40:05Speaking of big personalities, have you, have you had a chance to interact with Fernando
40:08Mendoza at all?
40:10I have not.
40:11Yeah.
40:11I have not.
40:12I mean, other than just from afar.
40:14So I don't know.
40:14Can you remember?
40:15I don't remember a quarterback with quite that type of personality, but I love it.
40:19It's awesome.
40:19But it's just, he's unique.
40:22He's very genuine.
40:23He's very authentic.
40:24And he wears his emotions on his sleeve.
40:26And I mean, look what Indiana has done, what's coach Cignetti has done over the last few
40:31years.
40:31I mean, it's, it's incredible.
40:33So, I mean, Fernando is a good kid.
40:35I mean, he seems like it on the surface.
40:37You know, I'm sure he'll be in a draft here.
40:39I don't think we'll be talking too much about Fernando, but I mean, you know, somebody's
40:44going to get a pretty good player.
40:45You know, it's got great kid and it's, it's nice to, again, what people, all they want
40:50to see is authenticity.
40:52So when a person is just real and they are who they are, I mean, that resonates with
40:56a lot of people.
40:56So, you know, I think you can't help but have an appreciation and respect for that.
41:00Sean and I will start sending you the mock drafts here a couple of times a day.
41:03I can't wait.
41:04How do you feel for who you guys are going to draft?
41:05I think I know what Sean's going to look like.
41:07Well, I was just going to remind you that Jeremiah Love declared his eligibility yesterday.
41:11Were you aware of that?
41:12Who?
41:13Who?
41:13Yeah.
41:14Who's that?
41:15Big surprise.
41:16CBS has you taking a guy from Georgia.
41:18So, yeah.
41:19They might have nailed it on that one.
41:21A quarterback from Georgia?
41:22No way.
41:23Hey, get out of here.
41:23CJ Allen.
41:24Get out of here.
41:25Yeah.
41:25No.
41:26Nick already knows who the prospect is.
41:27I'm going to be pestering about over the next few months, as you can tell.
41:30Heinrich's brother.
41:31Him too.
41:33Him too.
41:33Donovan.
41:34Yes.
41:36Nick Casario, Texans, Executive Vice President, GM.
41:39Hey, Nick, we really appreciate the time.
41:41Merry Christmas to you and your family, and go get them on Sunday against the Raiders.
41:46Have a good holiday.
41:46I appreciate you guys.
41:47All right, thanks.
41:47That's Nick Casario joining us on the show.
41:49He knows he's already been getting those texts throughout the season.