Texans Posey: “I’ve Always Felt Ready”
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It’s been 319 days since wide receiver DeVier Posey last played meaningful football for the Houston Texans, his last taste of regular season action coming last Dec. 15, a 25-3 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Fast forward to 2014, and the former Ohio State standout hasn’t even been on the game day roster, for eight straight weeks failing to dress under new head coach Bill O’Brien, now in his ninth week of waiting and working and hoping for his chance.
“Of course, it’s always difficult,” Posey said Wednesday. “I feel like patience is something I’ve been working on since birth. It’s a virtue man, it’s a learned behavior, so I’m continuing to learn it and trying to get positives out of it each day.”
It’s a respectable attitude, especially for a player in his position. Posey, a third-round pick in 2012, was invested in the way teams do for players they hope to, at worst, contribute, at best, make an impact. Instead, the 25-year-old has yet to start a game in his three NFL seasons, catching only 21 balls for 242 yards and no touchdowns — all of his playing time coming under a head coach who didn’t draft him.
“(I’m) just working and waiting,” Posey said. “I mean, it’s kind of like, I can’t get into detail, but just keeping my same routine and being a pro and doing things I normally do, you know, cold tub, hot tub, taking care of my body, studying, preparing. I enjoy it, so I’m just doing what I love.”
It’s curious to say the least that Posey hasn’t yet seen the field. Most NFL teams carry five wide receivers on their 46-man roster. Some dress as many as six. The Texans have incredible talent at the top of the depth chart, with future Hall of Famer Andre Johnson and up-and-comer DeAndre Hopkins headlining, but they’ve gotten little production out of the rest of the position group. Damaris Johnson has 11 catches on 20 targets for 181 yards and a touchdown — he also has three drops, giving him the third-highest drop rate among NFL wide receivers (min. 17 targets). Keyshawn Martin has only 3 catches on 5 targets for 28 yards. The tight end group has, combined, 16 catches for 152 yards. Room for improvement, indeed. Just not from Posey. At least not yet.
Can Posey bring it if called upon?
“Oh, man, I’ve always felt ready,” he said. “I feel ready beginning of the season, right now, I know what I can do on the field.”
O’Brien has said all season the key to Posey getting playing time will be demonstrating consistency on the practice field, which isn’t the easiest task for a player dealing with the disappointment of failing to dress on game day for, now, eight straight weeks. But Posey keeps on keeping on, focused on polishing his craft and impressing his bosses, hopefully enough to earn himself a chance.
“Every day,” he said. “Football is a game of, if you’re not getting better you’re getting worse. Just every day, working on the top of my routes, my catching, separation, blocking, just each day just trying to compartmentalize that part of the game and work on with each rep that I get. So just trying to do that, always improving, and if I was playing I would always say the same thing, just always getting better.”
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