Written by Tania Ganguli at ESPN.com
Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien canceled the last day of the team’s mandatory minicamp Thursday, in what’s becoming a yearly tradition. While the team now has six weeks off before reporting for training camp, it won’t be totally a vacation for the most important player on the team.
Brock Osweiler has homework. Keep throwing. Keep learning the playbook. Find time to rest.
“It’s important for him — and he knows this, he has actually brought this to us — [to] continue to throw,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Maybe he has some guys out to where he’s at, wherever he goes. Throw to some guys, continue to study. He’ll be able to take his iPad with him with all of the practice film and the playbook on there, but also to take a break. You have to be able to clear your mind, you have to be able to recharge your batteries.”
Osweiler plans to take that complete break during the week of the Fourth of July, but beyond that he plans to keep working.
He’ll spend his offseason in Idaho, where he was born, and Montana, where he spent most of his childhood. Amid the serene landscape, Osweiler will find a local high school field on which he can practice throwing.
“I’ll be staying in my book, reviewing the tape of OTAs,” Osweiler said. “I’m a firm believer that, as a quarterback, there’s always something that you can be doing to get yourself better. So if you’re going to take some physical time off, maybe you still stay in the book.”
Since March 10, when he signed and received a tablet with what’s essentially the Texans’ playbook, Osweiler has singularly focused on learning the offense. He hasn’t given himself much time off. With the investment the Texans made in him — $37 million guaranteed and giving him the keys to their offense — he hasn’t believed he’s had the luxury to take breaks.
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