HOUSTON (AP) - Since Anthony Weaver sat out all of training camp
recovering from offseason knee surgery, he knows he'll be a bit
rusty when he starts for the Texans on Sunday.
But the defensive end isn't concerned since he faced the same
situation before his rookie year. That season he went on to start
16 games and finished with 29 tackles and 3½ sacks.
"I've been through this before and I feel good," he said.
"I'll be out there starting the game and ready to go."
Coach Gary Kubiak said the coaching staff will put a play count
on Weaver on Sunday against the Chiefs to make sure they don't push
him too hard.
"He's looked good in practice," Kubiak said. "I'm just hoping
we've had the right plan all along on how we brought him along and
then we have to be smart about how we play him."
Weaver, who joined the team last year after four years in
Baltimore, is the most experienced player on Houston's young
defensive line. The 27-year-old joins last year's No. 1 pick Mario
Williams, 20-year-old Amobi Okoye and 2005 first-rounder Travis
Johnson.
"I'm just another piece to the puzzle," Weaver said. "You can
see by the way these guys are playing in the preseason that they
are ready to go. Hopefully I can just come out there and help the
defensive line a little bit more and maybe get us going to a whole
new level."
He thinks Williams will make strides this season after getting
his rookie year out of the way.
"Experience is everything in this league and hopefully Mario
can build on what he did last year," Weaver said. "Amobi,
hopefully got those rookie jitters out in the preseason and he'll
be ready to go so the group should be good."
Kubiak said Weaver's return should be a boost to the group.
"He adds a great deal," Kubiak said. "Just watching him
practice today, what he brings to our team, he's a leader of our
football team among that group, along with DeMeco (Ryans)."
Weaver said it will probably take a couple of weeks to get his
conditioning level where it needs to be, but that everything else
should be there from the start.
"Mentally I'm in the game," he said. "I know my job and
hopefully I can just go out there and do what I've always done."
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NOW IT'S FOR REAL: Rookie Jacoby Jones was the star of the
preseason for Houston, but everyone is anxious to see how he'll
perform in a regular season game.
The third-round pick from Division II Lane College returned two
punts for touchdowns and also had a touchdown reception in the
preseason.
"When he walks out of the huddle this week, (Chiefs cornerback)
Ty Law will be staring at him," Kubiak said. "It's the real deal,
but I know the kid's ready to go. I love his demeanor in meetings.
He loves football and has a lot of fun here every day. So I'm
expecting him to keep making plays."
Jones said he's ready to see what it feels like to play when the
games count.
"I don't think I'd be nervous, I'd just be anxious and ready to
go, that's all," he said. "Maybe antsy."
Now that his return skills are no longer a secret, the former
track star is hoping he still gets the opportunity to showcase
them.
"I hope they don't kick away from me," he said. "I hope they
give me a chance to return, because we've got a great scheme of
punt returning. Our guys block real well."
He's learned a lot since arriving in Houston, but some of it has
to do with what not to do. When he returned a punt 91 yards for a
score against the Cowboys, he began holding the ball out in front
of him at the 10-yard line before flipping into the end zone.
"They asked me what I'm going to do this time," he said. "I
think I'm going to keep the flip. I like the flip. They just said
don't stick the ball out anymore. I won't do that again. That's
about it, though."
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QUOTABLE: Texans defensive end N.D. Kalu on Chiefs running back
Larry Johnson.
"Wow. Anytime you see him, it's like a highlight film. We
thought the coaches put together a highlight film, and it was just
one regular game that we were watching. He's one of the top three
running backs in the league, and we've got all the respect in the
world for him, and that's why we're going to try to gang-tackle
him."