Justin Britt has had a long journey to get to the starting center job for the Houston Texans.
Britt, a former Seattle Seahawks 2014 second-round pick from Missouri, played in all but one game for the NFC West club through the 2018 season. In 2019, Britt was limited to eight games as he tore his ACL on Oct. 27 against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Seahawks released Britt during the 2020 offseason. The former Lebanon High School product had a tryout with the Green Bay Packers ahead of Week 1, and later worked out for the Kansas City Chiefs in their week leading up to the AFC Championship Game.
It wasn’t until the Texans took a chance and signed Britt in the 2021 offseason that he had a shot to revitalize his career.
Through 11 starts, Britt regained confidence at center. However, he missed six games due to knee injuries to the same knee where he tore his ACL in 2019.
At 31 years old, Britt is not going to let the knee issues generate any anxiety or hesitancy when it comes to his play.
“I mean, some of it’s inevitable and you’ve just got to go out there and play carefree and you can’t really worry about that,” Britt told reporters after the second day of training camp practice on July 30 at Houston Methodist Training Center.
There are small aspects that Britt pays attention to in order to ensure he is in his best playing condition.
“I show up really early in the morning so I have time to warm up the knees, get loose, stretch and make sure everything’s working properly,” Britt said. “Then just staying on top of the strength and conditioning. I mean, it’s a grind. It’s a battle. We are going to be going still February hopefully, so it’s just staying on top of that and building a routine and really buying into it.”
The Texans have Jimmy Morrissey and Justin McCray as backups at center. Morrissey started four games at center in 2021 as a rookie.
