Highlights from the first day of Houston Texans training camp

The Houston Texans began training camp Thursday morning as they prepare for the 2024 season. The Texans are looking to build on the success of last season, when they finished 10-7 while advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs.

The Texans are one of the few teams that actually have title aspirations. To get there, coach DeMeco Ryans wants to build a new foundation that could help the franchise achieve its ultimate goal.

READ MORE: Texans’ Tytus Howard returns to practice on first day of training camp

“To build something big and great, you have to start with the foundation,” Ryans said. “That’s what camp is all about. So I’m really excited to get started today. It’s day one, like I told our guys, we have a lot of room to grow. My expectation and what I expect from everybody, all of our guys, is to get a little bit better every day.”

CJ Stroud is a big reason why the Texans enter the season as title contenders. He had one of the best seasons by a rookie quarterback in 2023, finishing with 4,557 total passing yards, which is the second-most in NFL history by a rookie quarterback — behind only Andrew Luck (4,662) in 2012.

The Texans demonstrated their confidence in Stroud by building around the Pro Bowl quarterback. Houston acquired running back Joe Mixon in a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals. A few weeks later, the Texans made one of the best trades of the offseason by acquiring All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Stroud spent the first day of training camp getting acclimated to his new weapons.

The Texans drafted one of the best receivers of the last decade in Diggs. He spent four seasons with the Bills and played 65 games alongside All-Pro quarterback Josh Allen, recording 445 receptions for 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns, ranking first in every statistical category for the Bills.

In 2023, Diggs recorded his sixth consecutive 1,000-yard season. The veteran wideout caught 107 balls for 1,183 yards and eight touchdowns in his final year with the franchise.

Diggs has built the Texans’ wide receiver unit into one of the best in the league. Yet he showed on the first day of camp that being a mentor to Houston’s young players will be one of his most important roles in 2024.

“I’ve been watching Diggs for a while,” Nico Collins said. “When I was in college, he played in Minnesota. It’s just crazy that he’s now a part of the team. He’s a veteran in the room, someone I can lean on and ask questions of. He’s been around the game a while. He knows how to do it. It’s awesome to have him on this team.”

READ MORE: Texans’ Will Anderson Jr. Reveals Thoughts on Danielle Hunter: ‘He’s Unreal’

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Follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24.

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