RICHMOND, Va. -- After the second day of practice vs. the Washington Redskins, Houston Texans coach Bill O'Brien gathered his players and let them know what he expected.
"We got one more day against these guys," he said. "We'll show up tomorrow ready to go in full pads. Ready to [f---ing] go."
Earlier in the second practice, Texans assistant coach Mike Vrabel said to no one in particular, "We're soft as f---."
Yes, HBO did a good job setting up the climactic scene in Houston's "Hard Knocks" debut: The fight vs. the Redskins. There was chirping throughout the three days of work and there was even a conversation between Redskins coach Jay Gruden and O'Brien before the first work that referenced how they'd handle fights.
"We're kicking the guy out of practice if there's a fight," Gruden said.
The episode, naturally, is told through the eyes of the Texans. And before the fight unfolds, there are a couple noteworthy scenes involving the Redskins:
Texans end J.J. Watt destroyed the right side of the Redskins' line in the Day 1 work. That was obvious in person and more so watching it again on TV. He beat right tackle Morgan Moses a couple times, with one ending in Moses holding Watt's jersey. If it had been a game, quarterback Robert Griffin III would have been sacked. The other times resulted in running backs gaining no yards.
In a two-on-two drill, Watt fakes going to his left vs. rookie guard Brandon Scherff. That leads to Scherff's arms flying open and Watt going inside and driving him back and nearly knocking him to the ground. "He's a rookie, that doesn't count," Watt said to a teammate later.
Watt also mocked whoever painted the lines on the field. Indeed, one red line looked more like a river on a map than a line on a football field.
O'Brien ripped the energy at the field, complaining how there was no music. He told his players he'd talk to Gruden about playing music -- "I don't even know if they even have speakers or anything like that," O'Brien said. That's what's funny: The Redskins usually play music through individual work.
Redskins corner DeAngelo Hall and Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins got into some jawing matches. That, of course, set up Hall slipping while covering a route, leading to a groin injury.
Receiver Pierre Garcon's chippiness was featured as well. It was clear he and tight end Niles Paul weren't about to back down from anyone. Garcon yelled at the Texans at one point, "I do what the f--- I wanna do!" Apparently he must have been doing something to linebacker Brian Cushing. Watt said to Cushing on the sideline, "How about Garcon coming at you? I'm like, bro, you're maybe 112 pounds, you might want to stay the f--- back." To which Cushing said, "We got into it every year in Indy. He's always talking." Keep in mind when filming this, it will be one-sided for the Texans; there are no microphones picking up Redskins sound to give their thoughts on anything they feel the Texans are doing.
That leads to the brawl. We know two things: The Texans weren't happy that Redskins running back Matt Jones trucked rookie corner Kevin Johnson. And the Texans' coaches did not like how their players competed on Day 2. So during the practice, Johnson went low to tackle Redskins fullback Jordan Campbell, leading receiver Andre Roberts to run over and one thing led to another and, voila: fight footage. "I said, 'Yesterday you tried to run the man over, what you expect him to do," Texans defensive back Kareem Jackson said to teammate Johnathan Joseph. To which Joseph replied, "Let's get the f--- out of Richmond."
