Texans‘ star receiver Andre Johnson and head coach Bill O’Brien have spoken this offseason, writes Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com. “We’re going to continue to communicate and we’ve had good discussions, we’ve had good talks,” O’Brien said. “We’ve spoken quite a bit and will continue to do that.”
Johnson has voiced his frustration with the team’s direction. Despite his comments, O’Brien spoke highly of the franchise’s career leader in receiving yards, touchdowns, and receptions.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Andre and his career here in Houston. The conversations that Andre and I have had have been very positive about what we’re doing here as a team and, obviously offensively, what we’re doing here,” said O’Brien. “As far as what Andre said, I’ll let him speak for himself. I can only tell you from my end we’ve had good, positive communication.”
Here are a few more notes to round out the day in the NFL:
- The Cowboys brought in former Cardinals‘ running back Ryan Williams for a workout, reports Carlos Mendez of the Star-Telegram.com. Williams was cut by the Cardinals after the draft. He was a second-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2011, after being one of the top collegiate running backs in the nation. The Cowboys did not draft a running back in this past draft, but have two veterans on the roster behind starter DeMarco Murray, and brought in two undrafted free agent options to compete as well.
- Jets‘ running back Alex Green finds himself the odd man out in the team’s backfield, reports Brian Costello of the New York Post (via Twitter). The Jets claimed and were awarded Daryl Richardson after he was cut from the Rams. Green tweeted “Time to officially move on, life goes on regardless. #blessed.”
- Raiders‘ first-round pick Khalil Mack wanted to sign his rookie contract as quickly as possible so he could focus on football, writes Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. With the new rookie scale basically setting the terms in stone, Mack saw no reason to wait. “I’m only focused on football and being the best player I can be,” Mack said. “I’m glad that process is done, and I’m ready to go play football.”
- Embattled Oregon tight end Colt Lyerla has a tryout with the Packers, reports Chase Goodbread of NFL.com. He will be one of 58 rookie players that will be competing at the team’s rookie training camp this weekend. Lyerla fell off draft boards after a litany of off-the-field incidents, including a cocaine-related offense.