Houston Texans rookie cornerback Derek Stingley was in uniform for the first day of training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center.
The third overall pick from LSU played in three games last year due to a Lisfranc injury. The Texans didn’t let it stop them from making him their top draft pick in April.
General manager Nick Caserio told reporters ahead of the first practice that Stingley would be limited, but it wouldn’t have anything to do with his injury.
“Derek has done a lot of stuff,” said Caserio. “From what he’s done during the course of the spring, some of his testing metrics and numbers are better than anybody on the team. So, I wouldn’t say he’s necessarily in a limited capacity. There’s just certain things he hasn’t experienced yet that he’s going to have to go through. So, any player, when you don’t play football over the course of a year, you sort of have to re-acclimate, not only the body, but the mind as well to some different things.”
Texans rookie corner Derek Stingley Jr. @stingjr their first round draft pick @LSUfootball @HoustonTexans @BallengeeGroup @Martin_Fischman #PFNTCTour #NFLTwitter pic.twitter.com/chNMSMB8BD
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) July 29, 2022
The No.3 overall pick, Derek Stingley is out here practicing.
The #Texans will monitor his reps. DSJ participated in everything but team drills during OTAs. pic.twitter.com/rhlKKdOtrK
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) July 29, 2022
Year 1 🔒 @stingjr pic.twitter.com/0LbCpi1B4j
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) July 29, 2022
“So, it’s about one day at a time, making progress that day, turning the page to the next day, and stacking days on top of each other,” Caserio said.
Coach Lovie Smith said that the former Bayou Bengal is on target to play in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts Sept. 11 at NRG Stadium.
“Yes, I do, Week 1,” Smith said. “Whenever a player is coming off a major injury, you know, there’s ramp up period. That’s what it’s for. We’re going to ease him into it. But he’s healthy, see him running around, we had him do a few plays. He’s got to play each day. He’s on schedule. But that’s how we’ll treat all of our players coming off major injuries.”
If Stingley is able to play the first game, it should give the Texans’ defense a significant boost in coverage.
