Here is everything Houston Texans tight end Foster Moreau said following day 17 of training camp, including his thoughts on quarterback C.J. Stroud, his goals for this season and what surprised him about rookie tight end Marlin Klein coming out of the NFL Draft.
Question: On what the team is trying to build on offense
Foster Moreau: "We're trying to build an identity. Don't get that misconstrued; there are a lot of good players around the league and good offenses. But I think year after year, you rebuild identity every time you walk into the building. Over every OTA, every phase two, every training camp, every season you build a new identity with the guys that you bring in, the guys that leave, new coaches, same coaches. We're trying to do just that. Build an identity. Try to be smart, tough and dependable every single day. Bring it against one of the best defenses in the National Football League."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud
Moreau: "He's a hell of a ball player. I remember we played him, it was Week 6 or Week 7 his rookie year. [The New Orleans Saints] came into town and he was on a tear. They did not talk about him in the scouting meetings. The 'Who is this team that we're going to play against?' They did not talk about him as if he was a rookie. He's continued to chase that and prove that every day. He comes in, he works hard, he strives for perfection and he makes our football team better on and off the field."
Q: On going against the defense every practice
Moreau: "It's a challenge. He knows it well. He spearheaded a really nasty defensive front for a number of years. The phrase that everyone says nowadays is, 'Iron Sharpens Iron.’ What people don't understand is you have to match that intensity to be able to get better. It's not 'Iron Sharpens Copper.' You have to bring it every single day against iron for yourself to grow. For yourself to sharpen, as it says. Our front seven is nasty. They are. We're multiple. We're multiple in the secondary. Got some great players. For us to come out, the bare minimum is you have to match their intensity, because if not, it's just going to pour over on you. It's a tidal wave. It can be with these guys."
Q: On his goals this season
Moreau: "The first thing I'll bring in is try to bring in some veteran leadership, a little bit of experience and a little bit of understanding for this offense. There's a lot of off-the-field stuff that goes into it that wasn't expressly told to me. We took Marlin [Klein] with one of the second-round picks. I feel part of my job, part of Dalton's [Schultz] job, Brevin's [Jordan] job and obviously [Tight Ends coach] James Ferentz's job, try to get this guy up to speed and get him ready to play some real snaps on the field. That is a burden we all should bear. As a veteran player in this league, I feel like that's the standard. It's not a, 'Protect my job,' it's not a, 'F the rookie, I need my snaps.' No, it's a matter of get guys ready to play so that on Sunday we can all compete and perform to the best of our abilities. We're going to need Marlin to do that. Blocking and catching the ball-wise, all that stuff's great. But making sure all compasses point north, that's kind of my initial job as I see fit."
Q: On TE Marlin Klein
Moreau: "He's got a willingness to grow. A willingness to grow, learn, adapt, try to operate. We're throwing a lot at him, but he's coming along well. It's just climbing the mountain. One step at a time, one day at a time. He's very low on the mountain right now because the peak is the peak. He's got all the tangibles and intangibles to be the peak. It's one day, one step at a time."
Q: On what surprised him about TE Marlin Klein coming out of the draft
Moreau: "He's got long speed. It wasn't necessarily something coming out that people really talked about. They kind of saw him in line, wide, a little versatile, but more of a spearhead in the blocking. He's doing that well and he's growing and he's learning. Against this front seven, it's difficult. No better front seven to practice against. That's something that probably people didn't know. He's got some vertical giddy up. You know, you saw it on the 31-yard seam catch that he had in the first preseason game. Continuing to pile on and learn and grow, because in the NFL, rookie is an interesting term. People are going to assume you're wrong every time as a rookie. They're always going to assume you're wrong until you eventually prove them. Until you eventually prove that you're right. Marlin has to continue on that path, on that road to continuously prove himself right. Prove the people around him right. I think he's doing a great job of that. His willingness to learn. His willingness to either have a good day, come back and try to stack, or have a bad day and come back. Let's see if we can flip it on its head, right? I've really enjoyed getting to work with him."
Q: On the offensive playbook
Moreau: "It's highly detailed and there's a high level of accountability from player to player on every single snap. There are no plays off. For me, it's no job too small, no detail too unimportant. If you don't know your backside hot check against a will cat blitz, we're screwed, because we're counting on you. You have to know that. There's nothing where we put you out on the field... You have to understand the offense. You have to understand the offense and if you don't, you're going to get exposed. That'll happen at any level. Fatigue makes cowards of us all. When you get out here and it's hot outside and people are starting to mope and you get some long faces. It's like, 'Hey, guess what? You're going to get exposed. You're going to call a play and it's going to sound like another one and you're going to do the wrong thing.' The details, smart, tough, dependable. I know that's coach speak, but that stuff's real. You can speak to that. All 32 teams around the league, that's the type of football players they want. Everyone's got speed. Everyone's got strength. Everyone's got savvy. But who could be a football player, smart, tough, dependable, down-in, down-out and make this a great place to play?"
Q: On what they got out of the joint practice against the Las Vegas Raiders and DE Maxx Crosby
Moreau: "I didn't sleep for three days. No, I'm joking-ish. Joking-ish. All jokes have a little bit of truth to them. Maxx, he's one of my best friends. Obviously, came in his fourth-round picks together in Vegas. We talk all the time. That's always a test, because as soon as you kind of piece the puzzle together of Will Anderson [Jr.] and [DE] Danielle Hunter, even though it's not even close, thousand piece puzzle and I don't even have the freaking borders up yet. Maxx Crosby strolls into town with his freaking parade. I love him so much. He plays this game with a lot of violence, a lot of grit and a lot of savvy. Plays down-in, down-out. Doesn't take reps off. I love the guy. He's a great friend to me. He's like family. But when he came out here, it's war. He knew and I knew it was war from snap one. It's awesome. He made us better. It was great to see a good friend."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans TE Foster Moreau said following day 17 of training camp
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