Houston Texans: Gauging DeAndre Hopkins and Tom Savage’s early rapport
The Houston Texans have surpassed Day 2 of training camp and one of the biggest stories is going to be the rapport between Tom Savage and DeAndre Hopkins.
While being with the Houston Texans, these two guys haven’t had a bunch of time to spend together for whatever reason. Tom Savage would get his shot but usually wouldn’t be able to see the field long enough for he and DeAndre Hopkins to get a rapport. That’s going to change this season considering that Savage is going to be the presumptive starter for this season.
At yesterday’s press conference after practice, Savage was asked how important it was to have rapport with Hopkins and this is what he said:
"“It’s huge. We got together a couple days in the offseason up in Philly (Philadelphia). We’ve just been throwing, and we talked probably every other day this whole offseason. I think it’s huge just to kind of get to know the guy and be on the same page with him.”"
With Savage’s northeastern roots, he was referring to he and Hopkins spending time together up in Philadelphia, throwing the football and also working alongside Jaelen Strong in his summer camp up there. So we know they’ve hung out but what did Hopkins have to say on his end?
Here’s his take in regard to the importance of them getting to know each other:
"“Yeah. We got together in Philadelphia and threw a couple days and we also communicated the whole offseason just about football and personal. More so just about me and him, what’s going on in our lives. His daughter, my daughter, stuff like that. Just communicated a lot throughout the offseason.”"
Those are good things to say insomuch that it’s standard fare for player to say something like that. This quote doesn’t stand out to me, particularly because it’s something we’d expect for these guys to do.
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Although Osweiler extended his gratitude to get a relationship with the two going early, the story lines throughout camp and going into the season were that the chemistry continued to improve with day that passed. But as the season wore on, they never got there and we didn’t see Hopkins of old until Week 15, where Osweiler was benched in favor of Savage, who put together a hell of a comeback to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 21-20. Hopkins caught eight balls for 87 yards and was targeted 15 times.
It goes to show that Savage had no problem finding Hopkins on the fly and the rapport just seemed natural. Now Osweiler was learning a new offense but the season was almost to a close and he was still making the same mistakes.
Next: Here's hoping the 5th time's a charm at quarterback
If there are any problems with this team this season, the relationship between Savage and Hopkins should be quite tight and the least of worries. With all the eyes on Deshaun Watson and the newness of just being on the Houston Texans’ roster, Hopkins quelled any rumors of him wanting Watson to be his quarterback by endorsing Savage last month. Let’s hope things continue to stay that way.
Go Texans.