Houston (CBS HOUSTON) — Despite the Texans drafting a pair of receivers in the first three rounds of April’s NFL Draft, the wideout garnering the most acclaim in Houston is sophomore receiver Jaelen Strong.
That was certainly the theme of Tuesday’s minicamp session, the first of three final practices before Houston breaks for the summer prior to Training Camp.
Head coach Bill O’Brien and several players were effusive in their praise of Strong, who, it must be said, still has an offseason arrest hanging over his head.
Strong had already termed his March booking in Arizona for marijuana possession “pretty embarrassing,” as a video circulated across social media of him concealing joints in the crotch of his pants.
Apparently, the legal trouble hasn’t stunted any on-field progression heading into his second season, which is a crucial one after a topsy-turvy rookie experience.
“He came out with a motive this offseason during the voluntary stuff, working his butt off trying to get better,” fellow receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. “Even through his incident, the next day he called me and was working on the field, working on his craft.”
It’s a far cry from where Strong’s work ethic was a year ago. The naturally tall and slender wideout showed up 20 pounds overweight to rookie minicamp in May 2015.
That was barely two weeks after Houston spent the No. 70 overall pick in the third round on the Arizona State product.
He was playing from behind all offseason, as the extra weight contributed to a hamstring issue that nagged him into Training Camp. Even once he got the weight off by the fall, he wasn’t yet up to professional speed.
Strong said it took a reckoning with O’Brien for everything to click.
“[The light] went off last year when Coach O’Brien told me I better get myself together,” Strong said. “That’s really when it started for me, the dieting to get things right.
“During the process, it was different. Instead of eating three times a day, I might eat twice. Instead of eating twice a day, I might eat once a day and just drink fluids. Whatever it took to get down to this weight, I had to make it.”
Strong said the diet was a stronger mental challenge than anything else he’s experienced as a football player.
In the days leading up to and following the 2015 Draft, Strong said a sea of praise from family, friends and peers exacerbated his complacency. It took some healthy introspection to save his career before it even really began.
“There were definitely times I had to look in the mirror and question myself and say, ‘It’s go time.’ You can’t come this far and give it all up,” Strong recalled.
He started translating his transformation into on-field results by December, catching 14 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in the final three games of the regular season.
Now, there’s even talk he could start in a loaded and speedy wide receiving unit, which will get to work with the strong-armed Brock Osweiler under center.
Even with a bevy of offseason free-agent additions, Jadeveon Clowney’s relative health this offseason and A.J. Bouye showing out at cornerback, it is Strong garnering “Most Improved Texan” talk from O’Brien himself.
“From this point last year, compared to where he is now, he’s turned it around 180 degrees,” O’Brien said. “He’s in good shape, making a lot of plays on first down, third downs, in the red zone and in the two-minute drill.
“Everybody on this team is proud of the work Jaelen’s put in to become the guy we drafted.”
