Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien got his first look at quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo during a 26-16 Week 14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last season. He'll get another look when the 49ers join the Texans at the Houston Methodist Training Center for two joint practices over the next couple of days.
There are a lot of high expectations surrounding Garoppolo this season. The 49ers quarterback joined the team at the mid-season point last year and absorbed enough about head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense to try to be effective. Effective he was. Garoppolo started the 49ers' final five games of the season and won each of them. He completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 1,560 yards, seven touchdowns, and five interceptions with a passer rating of 96.2 in six games and five starts.
"Good player, very good player, quick release, good poise, accurate, smart," O'Brien said of Garoppolo on Tuesday. "A lot of good qualities that he has."
The 49ers and Texans will finally get to face different offenses and defenses during practices. O'Brien is excited for the opportunity to practice against the 49ers before the two squads play in an exhibition game on Saturday.
"Obviously, you play against your own guys so many days in camp," O'Brien said. "It's always nice to see a different color jersey out there, a different scheme, different players. It's going to fun. It's going to be good."
As for the 49ers themselves, the Texans head coach thinks highly of head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad and expects to get a lot out of practicing against the team.
"I think that you have a good team coming in here, good coach, good coaching staff, so, we're going to get a lot of things done," O'Brien said. "You're going to get a lot of situational work, red area, third down, two minute, special teams, all the different special teams units will work. I love them."
Joint practices can be heated — no pun intended as highs on Wednesday are expected to reach up to 95 degrees. Fights often break out during practices with other teams. O'Brien and Shanahan already have a plan in place for that.
"If they do anything that would get them ejected in a game, Kyle and I have already agreed on that," O'Brien said. "Anything that would get them ejected in a game will get them ejected from practice."
The first joint practice between the 49ers and Texans will begin at 9:15 a.m. CT (7:15 a.m. PT) on Wednesday with the second scheduled for Thursday at the same time — before the Houston heat reaches its expected high.
