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Thoughts on the Houston Texans' second day...

DeVier Posey, the Ohio State receiver taken 68th in the third round, is a value at that spot, the team believes. He was part of the Buckeyes crew suspended for selling memorabilia and receiving improper benefits, and the missed time as a senior lessened his profile and value on draft boards.

“We thought we had a talent that was comparable to some of the guys that were taken a lot earlier,” offensive coordinator Rick Dennison said. “At that point, we thought it was a good choice for us.”

“… He runs great routes and has good ball skills. He’s very precise in everything and works hard. He works in the run game. He’s a good-sized guy. He fits with the rest of our guys. We’re trying to supplement our wide receiver group and we think he does a good job with that.”

The Texans traded out of the second round (58th overall). The Giants drafted LSU receiver Rueben Randle 63rd between where the Texans would have picked and did pick.

Offensive lineman Brandon Brooks was the pick at No. 76, the selection the Texans got from Philadelphia in the DeMeco Ryans deal.

At nearly 6-foot-5 and 353 pounds, he’s big for Houston.

“I’ve never coached a guy at that size, but we feel that he can do what we do,” Dennison said. “He moves around well. The East-West Shrine Game is where I first noticed him and he functioned and did very good for a guy that size. If you look at him, he doesn’t look like he weighs that much. Most of his weight is in his lower body. He can still run under a five-flat 40, which is what we ask our guys to do. We really don’t have, at least to my knowledge, we don’t tell everyone you have to be under 300.

Dennison said Brooks would work as a guard to start off.

Indications are he is strong, versatile -- he’s been projected as best in a man-blocking scheme, but has experience in the sort of zone system the Texans employ -- and football smart.

“I had three different offensive coordinators, so you name it, I ran it,” Brooks said. “I ran zone, inside, outside; I ran power, isos, draws, everything.”

With first-round outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus, Posey and Brooks, the Texans have addressed their three biggest needs.

Greg Knapp’s departure from Gary Kubiak’s coaching staff will hurt Houston.

According to NFL.com, the Texans quarterback coach is leaving to coordinate the offense in Oakland in a second stint in the post for the Raiders.

Knapp deserved a ton of credit for the Texans' ability to stay afloat last season after Matt Schaub went down in the team's 10th game. Knapp had done a ton of work behind the scenes with both Matt Leinart and rookie T.J. Yates. Leinart didn’t make it out of his first start, breaking his collarbone.

That meant Yates, a fifth-round pick, was at the controls.

The Texans won the first three games in which Yates played to clinch the AFC South. They lost their final three regular-season games, but won the franchise’s first playoff game before Yates' inexperience caught up to him and helped end the Texans’ season in Baltimore.

All together, Texans quarterbacks completed 61.7 percent of their passes with 20 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 92.7 rating.

I never heard a bad thing about Knapp, and the quarterbacks, Kubiak and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison will miss him.

» NFC Stock Watch: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

FALLING

1. The Jaguars’ ability to score points: OK, it’s not fair to say it's falling. It’s been poor all season and showed no sign of improving. The Jaguars came back from a 10-0 deficit against San Diego on Monday night to take a 14-10 lead. But once San Diego got more than 20 points, the game was over –- the Jaguars haven’t scored 21 points all season. And the Chargers had more than 30 before the fourth quarter started on their way to a 38-14 victory. With Blaine Gabbert quarterbacking and Maurice Jones-Drew as the offensive centerpiece, this isn’t a team that can make much of a charge from behind.

2. The luck of Andre Johnson, Houston Texans receiver: For the second time this season, Johnson went down while running without taking any contact, victim of a hamstring injury. Last time cost him six games. This time it’s the other leg and doesn’t appear nearly as serious. Although the Texans are calling him day-to-day, they could again be without their top weapon in the passing game. Absent Johnson, teams can load up to stop Arian Foster and Ben Tate, taking their chances against rookie quarterback T.J. Yates as he looks to less-threatening downfield weapons.

3. Offensive line play in Indianapolis: The offensive line has actually played better much of this season than we could have reasonably expected, especially once the injuries started to pile up. Now it’s struggling with penalties and giving up sacks. In New England, the line accounted for four of the Colts’ five penalties with false starts and holding. With the minimal margin for error, the Colts simply can’t afford that. A hold that might save a hit is one thing, but a false start is the sort of undisciplined stuff that gets bad teams killed.

RISING

1. Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans coach: He gave credit to offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp for a sleepless week working to get Yates ready and teach two new backups the system. But Kubiak calls the Texans' plays, and Yates made a solid showing in his first NFL start. Jim Harbaugh might run away with coach-of-the-year honors for his work turning San Francisco around, but that seems only slightly more improbable to me than what Houston’s doing considering its injuries. While defensive coordinator Wade Phillips gets a lot of credit for the transformation, here’s a small bid for giving Kubiak his fair share.

2. Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans running back: He’s here a second week in a row after a second big game in a row, and this one came after he lost weight because he was so sick in the days leading up to the team’s trip to Buffalo. The Titans have waited and waited, and Johnson finally looks like he’s back to the form that earned him a giant contract after his holdout this summer. To make a push for a wild-card spot out of a division the Texans are very likely to win, the Titans will need more big contributions and explosive plays from Johnson. Everyone was getting blame when it was bad, as coach Mike Munchak pointed out, everyone should get some of the credit now.

3. Taylor Price, Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver: A third-round choice by the Patriots in 2010 out of Ohio University, he didn’t make a mark with receiver-needy New England. But the Jaguars are even more receiver-needy. They got him Monday with a waiver claim, and even if Price does nothing in the remainder of the season, he’s a good piece to add to the mix for the upcoming offseason. The 90th overall pick by a team that drafts well is definitely worth a look, and even if the team really addresses the position in free agency and the draft, Price could have an opportunity to stick in Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Houston Texans' third-string quarterback felt compelled to take some snaps from center Chris Myers during intermission on Sunday.

Tight end Owen Daniels sure hoped he wasn’t needed, but with Matt Leinart out and rookie T.J. Yates the only other active quarterback dressed for the game, he knew he was one play away from potential action.

“I was just trying to stay focused on my job at the current time,” Daniels said after the Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-13 at EverBank Stadium. “But if the worst-case scenario came along, our coaches make sure we know the game plan pretty well. I had confidence that I could go in there and hand the ball off or maybe make a simple throw.”

The Texans were conservative with Leinart in his first start in place of injured starter Matt Schaub. They were even more conservative when they had to turn to Yates, who was in uniform for his first NFL regular-season game.

The fifth-round draft pick out of North Carolina hit 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards and played well enough to help his team turn a 20-10 lead, built while Leinart was in the game, into the win.

Now they are prepared to go forward with Yates as their starter. Multiple reports quickly surfaced that Leinart was finished for the season with a left collarbone injury, one he suffered in 2007 with Arizona. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported "all indications are it's broken."

Gary Kubiak was unwilling to share details of Leinart's injury, suffered as he was hit by Jeremy Mincey. The coach said the X-rays from EverBank Stadium were unclear, which sounded a little like a dog-ate-my-homework deal once Leinart spoke.

“I think there is a pretty strong possibility that I won’t be coming back this season,” Leinart said. “But we’ll see what the doctor says.”

So the Texans will likely move on with their third starting quarterback in three games.

“It’s why we drafted him,” offensive coordinator Rick Dennison said of Yates. “He’s a calm guy, he’s a smart guy and he knows what we do. We’ll see how it goes the next couple days, the next week. If that’s what we have, that’s what we’ll get done.”

The Texans signed Kellen Clemens to be their third quarterback after Schaub went on IR last week. Now they will shop again, and a newcomer will have a chance to challenge Clemens to be Yates’ backup. (Clemens was inactive Sunday as the Houston suited up two quarterbacks, just as it has all year.)

Barring a clean X-ray from Houston that overrides what Leinart was feeling, it will be Yates who gets the call next week against Atlanta and beyond. The Texans prefer a quarterback who’s spent time studying their system and understanding its nuances. They believe such a guy can fit in well with a team that can win by featuring the run game and strong defense. They believe that’s better than a big-name quarterback outsider who is unfamiliar with what Kubiak, Dennison and quarterback coach Gregg Knapp do.

So don’t expect any trips to Mississippi by Texans officials to talk to Brett Favre or any phone calls to check on the health of David Garrard.

Instead, expect a more open game plan for Yates.

Right tackle Eric Winston said the Texans were wary of anything against the Jaguars that could get Yates hurt because they didn’t want to test Daniels’ quarterbacking skills. It’s a mistake, Winston emphasized, to put too much in to what the rookie did, or didn’t do.

“I think next week you’ll see a much different T.J. because he can make some huge throws,” Winston said. “He’s much more athletic than Schaub or Leinart. That will work well with some of what we do. He can get out of the pocket, he can make some throws. I am not worried at all. I think that he'll meld well with what we’re doing in the play-action game.”

They Texans can’t oversimplify game plans. Those plans don’t have to be 100-plays deep, and the Texans don’t need 100 plays to win.

Yates has been a sit-and-learn, third-string guy until Sunday. He’s unlikely to be Cam Newton or Andy Dalton as a starter.

But he is surrounded by a better team. He spent a good share of the summer during the lockout working with Schaub and Dan Orlovsky in Houston. And he has run the scout team for the bulk of the season.

“T.J. man, he’s a professional NFL quarterback,” defensive back Sherrick McManis said. “He’s definitely got room for improvement and needs time to grow like most of us. But on scout team he’s done exactly what he’s supposed to do.”

Yates said while that work is intended to mimic the opponent of the week, the Texans do their best to shape it for him in a way that translates to their own scheme.

“Every week we try to get the same things from our offense into other offenses,” he said. “Kind of tie it into our offense as much as possible.”

After running eight plays at the end of the second quarter, Yates returned to the field after the half with Schaub.

Schaub, who’s wearing a protective boot on his right foot and will soon have surgery, told Yates that a lot of people will tell him how to move forward. Houston’s starting quarterback told him: Stay calm, be confident in yourself, you’re ready to play, don’t think too much.

He did well enough.

Now the expectation is he will step into the spotlight and be under far greater scrutiny.

Next week against the Falcons is a game the Texans might have lost even with Schaub. A trip to Cincinnati the week after won’t be easy either.

Then, however, the team that would be the AFC’s top seed if the playoffs started today finishes with Carolina at home, a trip to Indianapolis, and Tennessee at home.

Houston might still win 10 or 11 games with Yates at quarterback.

What it can do if it wins the AFC South and goes to the playoffs will be a much different question.

“They have a big-time offensive line and a great running game, but in our league you’ve got to be able to do both,” Jacksonville linebacker Paul Posluszny said. “They are a good team. They’ve scored a lot of points in the past.

“But a lot of that, I think, was because Schaub does a great job managing that offense. That’ll be a challenge for them for sure.”

Replacement quarterbacks are winning about a third of their starts, points out ESPN.com’s venerable John Clayton. He wonders how Houston’s Matt Leinart will fit in with that, starting Sunday in Jacksonville.

In this Insider piece, Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. discusses Leinart in detail.

“Leinart fits the Texans' scheme much better than what he was asked to do in Arizona. He has been in this system for a year and a half now, and Houston's designed rollouts and play-action passes off of an elite running game play to Leinart's strengths. Can coach Gary Kubiak win games and manage his offense much as Jim Harbaugh is doing with quarterback Alex Smith and the San Francisco 49ers?

“If Leinart is able to manage the game and distribute the football reasonably well -- particularly to Johnson -- while leaning heavily on running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate, Houston should have no problem winning the AFC South.”

Williamson says Leinart has “very average physical tools” and is “ slow and deliberate in everything he does.” So a key to his performance will be how he can speed things up, but be in better control.

I’ve not joined the chorus of those projecting doom for the Texans, and not just because the division is weak and Leinart’s surroundings are strong.

We haven’t seen him in meaningful action in some time. He’s been working with great quarterback teachers in quarterback coach Greg Knapp, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and coach Gary Kubiak.

It’s possible Leinart is a guy with a quality second act in him, who plays well after learning from different coaches and gets to play with a second team in a more favorable situation.

It’s actually what I am expecting.

Like Williamson, I’m just not sure it will extend into the playoffs.

Matt Leinart’s seen how Brooks Reed has produced for the Texans since Mario Williams went down.

He said in a conference call with reporters Monday evening he’s hoping to fill in for Matt Schaub with similar success.

The Texans have said Schaub is getting further examination on his foot, but that he’s out for sure for the team’s next game, Nov. 27 at Jacksonville. Adam Schefter reports the lis franc injury is a season-ender for Schaub.

Leinart joined the Texans for the 2010 season and was third in line behind Schaub and Dan Orlovsky. He liked things so much that while he might have been able to find a situation that could have got him on the field sooner, he re-signed and came back as Schaub’s primary backup, ahead of rookie T.J. Yates.

“I’m really bummed for Matt,” he said of Schaub. “But he knows and everyone knows in this profession things happen and the next guy has to step up and that’s my job, my responsibility as a quarterback, to take his place right now and to help this team win.”

“It’s a great opportunity and I’m on a great football team and I love these guys and I’m just excited about the chance.”

Leinart sounds like he believes he’s a different guy than the first-round draft pick who did not pan out in Arizona.

He loves working with Schaub and has high praise for coach Gary Kubiak, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterback coach Greg Knapp.

“The quarterback coaching here is second to none, it’s unbelievable.” Leinart said. “I think that’s why Matt has been able to be so successful and efficient for years now.”

It’s demanding in a way he said is intended to bring out the best in a quarterback and that’s how it should work for him now that he’s older and more mature. His job now is to trust what the coaches tell him, manage the offense and be efficient.

He’s worked hard on his footwork, and it’s supposed to help steer him to throw the ball to the right place.

The offense should be the same, as he shares strengths with Schaub.

“That’s something I’ve always been comfortable with, in college we ran (bootleg) all the time, as much as we do here,” he said. “And it’s part of the reason why I love this offense so much. At Arizona, we weren’t a big boot-action, play-action and boot-pass team at all. Obviously here with the way we run the ball so well, that’s a huge part of our offense and that’s something that I really feel comfortable doing.”

A healthy stable of weapons expected to include Andre Johnsonafter a long-stretch out with a hamstring injury will help Leinart a great deal, and the team can continue to lean on running backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate.

“I imagine now defenses are going to try to make me throw the ball to win,” he said. “We’ve got some great guys on the outside to do that… It’s going to be fun. Matt is the leader of this team and he got us to this position.

“I told Gary, we’ll just continue to go and win for him and keep this thing going forward.”

Schaub is a big loss.

But Kubiak is a great quarterback guy and he's really high on Leinart. We should wait and see if he shows us why before we start ripping up the tickets we've been writing for the Texans' first trip to the playoffs.

The Houston Texans have survived some big injuries this season: defensive end Mario Williams (done), receiver Andre Johnson (due back soon), safety Danieal Manning (due back in a few weeks).

Next we’ll find out if they can win without quarterback Matt Schaub.

Coach Gary Kubiak announced Monday that Schaub has a “significant foot injury” and will not play after the team’s bye week. Matt Leinart will start against Jacksonville on Nov. 27. Adam Schefter has since reported it's a Lisfranc injury that will end Schaub's season.

Sunday in Houston, the Texans brought several key players out of the small visitors locker room at Raymond James Stadium to conduct interviews in the tunnel. Schaub would be one of them, they said.

Twenty minutes later they announced he was talking at his locker, and he was still in shorts and a T-shirt while many of his teammates had dressed and headed for the bus.

Now the quarterback is in a boot. Maybe that trek wasn’t going to be comfortable, or even possible, for him in Tampa.

After he talked I asked about his foot, which had been played as an afterthought. He said it was fine.

Schaub’s passing numbers are not as big as they’ve been in some seasons, largely because of how well the Texans are running the ball. He’s still a key cog, orchestrating the play-action and bootleg work the team features on offense. He threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones on the first play from scrimmage in the rout of the Buccaneers after the defense bit on a fake handoff and didn't respond well to Schaub's rollout.

He's not the most mobile quarterback, but he's very good at throwing on the move and it's something the Texans rely on.

We don’t know how well Leinart has developed and how much Kubiak and offensive coordinator Rick Dennison will need to alter a plan to fit him. Leinart's left-handed, which could also be an adjustment on the direction of some plays and on how targets react to his passes.

The Texans are expecting Johnson to return from a six-game layoff from a hamstring injury after the bye, and he can give Leinart a big upgrade in weaponry.

Kubiak has talked a great deal about his faith in Leinart.

"He liked his opportunity here," Kubiak said of Leinart's decision to return to the team in the offseason. "He liked this football team. He likes what we do offensively. You never know how an opportunity is going to occur, but here we go. It’s a big one for him and his career. He’s had a lot of reps. We’ve cut back on Matt’s [Schaub's] reps the last month at practice so [Leinart] has gotten a ton of reps.

"He has played in big football games in this league. He’s played a lot of football. He’s played in big football games in college. Matt has been around it, but the key is that the whole football team rally around him and playing well as a football team. Matt doesn’t have to go win a game. The team has to go win a game. We’ll rally around him and get him ready to go.”

Houston’s won four in a row to get to 7-3, tied for the best record in the AFC.

Tennessee is the only team with a chance of catching the Texans in the AFC South. If the Titans win Sunday in Atlanta, they’ll be 6-4, a game and a half off Houston's pace because they lost head-to-head to the Texans in Nashville on Oct. 23.

Here are some things that were actually said by coaches and coordinators around the divison this week that I can't help but react to...

Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker on the percentage of time he’s calling blitzes: “I’d care not to say for sure, but we do what we think we need to do to get the job done.”

Cynical response: Yeah, this is vital information and sharing it could be ruinous. I mean there is no way the Colts have any idea how often the Jaguars are blitzing. There in no one in Indianapolis who tracks such things.

Colts coach Jim Caldwell on Curtis Painter: “He may not have performed as well as we’d like to see him in the past ball game, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not progressing.”

Cynical response: Caldwell talked about how we only see the tip of the iceberg, because so much of a guy’s progress is made in practices. Since he and Bill Polian won’t be opening those up to Indianapolis reporters any time soon, I’m going to have to go by Sundays. And Sunday, Painter got pulled for Dan Orlovsky. To me, that means he’s not progressing.

Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison on Tampa Bay: "They’ve played some very good teams and they’ve hung in there and they’ve played them tough, so it’s another challenge, a good challenge for us.”

Cynical response: I know San Francisco frequently looks back on Oct. 9th and talks about what great resistance the Buccaneers put up in a 48-3 game.

Titans defensive coordinator Jerry Gray on Cam Newton: “If you want to win right now, take what he’s been doing for four years and let him go win again. And that’s why I think he looks like the MVP of this league as a rookie. Because there are not many guys out there that are doing what he’s doing right now.”

Cynical response: We’re lucky Gray’s not an MVP voter if he thinks the NFL's 12th-rated passer -- who’s got 11 passing touchdowns, seven rushing touchdowns, nine picks and two wins -- should even be in the conversation.

There is no AFC South representation in Trent Dilfer’s list of three play-callers who are not getting enough credit . But he does find room to discuss Houston’s Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison in this Insider piece.

"It's a play-calling tandem, but Gary Kubiak and Rick Dennison have been fantastic in Houston. This is a zone-blocking team from the Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan school, and these two stay true to the run, use play-action effectively and get the tight end involved. One thing you'll notice is how they do a great job of changing the launch point for Matt Schaub. What this means is that they've taken an immobile quarterback and mixed up his drops -- you see a mixture of 3-,5- and 7-step drops along with bootlegs and half roll-outs -- so defenders can't get a consistent read on him. They also do a great job with Andre Johnson. That he gets open at all, given the target on his back, is a credit to the coaches. They also use crossing routes effectively, something of a lost art in the league."

The Texans' offense does do a great job of mixing things up snap to snap, which mean a defense generally won’t know from snap to snap where exactly Schaub will be. It’s something to behold when it’s running smoothly, and it’s been running smoothly so far this season.

Building toward the conclusion of our series looking at situations where you can hear these three words you love so much from me…

I was wrong:

• “Everyone is encouraged about the run game, but what’s changed? Second-round pick Ben Tate is lost with an injury. Guard Wade Smith was the only significant addition to the line, where interior issues were a big part of the problems. Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison is from the same school as predecessor Kyle Shanahan, and line coach John Benton learned under the departed Alex Gibbs… They are largely counting on young guys getting better, which begs the question: What if they don’t?” (Preseason.) Yeah, running it better wasn’t an issue as Arian Foster was a revelation and his blockers did solid work for him.
• “I think it's too early to panic about the Texans' pass defense.” (Sept. 24.) Actually, there was no way to be too early. By Oct. 14 I realized the extent of the flawed plan.

I was fortunate:

• “[Kareem] Jackson has to be good for the team to have a chance.” (Preseason.) He was nowhere near good enough.
• “To finally get to the postseason, the Texans have to play more complete games.” (Preseason.) Poor starts created scenarios for some fantastic comebacks, but Houston consistently made it difficult on itself by playing flat early.

Reading the coverage…

Houston Texans

The Texans hired Vance Joseph to coach the secondary, learned that offensive coordinator Rick Dennison is staying put and saw Ray Rhodes retire, says John McClain. Joseph is a crucial guy who will be under great scrutiny.

The Texans need to focus on luring Nnamdi Asomugha to Houston, says Jerome Solomon.

Indianapolis Colts

Put the pitchforks and the torches away, says John Oehser.

Bill Polian plans to be ready for any scenario labor-wise, says Oehser.

What kind of chances do current Colts have at the Hall of Fame? Nate Dunlevy sorts through it.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars gave defensive coordinator Mel Tucker a new one-year contract, says Tania Ganguli.

A run-through of the Jaguars’ primary draft needs, from Ganguli.

Tennessee Titans

The AFC South is fertile ground for a turnaround, says John Glennon.

A.J. Green would be great for the Titans, but they have too many other needs to go that direction, says Jim Wyatt.

Two AFC South offensive coordinators -- Jacksonville's Dick Koetter and Houston's Rick Dennison -- missed out on the Denver Broncos head coaching job as the Broncos hired John Fox on Thursday.

Previous head coaching experience was an important factor for John Elway, who’s now at the controls for the Broncos. Fox had an nine-year run in Carolina (not eight as I initially wrote), where he won one NFC title and posted a 78-72 regular season record.

Koetter worked as head coach at Boise State and Arizona State. Dennison has not been a head coach but had strong ties to Denver as a former Broncos player and coach.

Houston would have hated to lose him, but it would have been a survivable blow as Gary Kubiak calls plays.

Jacksonville would have likely struggled to replace Koetter, as Jack Del Rio’s staff is moving forward with only one-year contracts.

Koetter had a good year with some severe limitations with the Jaguars. That Elway identified and interviewed him was big. I’m sure that doesn’t make Koetter feel better about losing out, but it should. I suspect he’s a head coach in the league before his final football bio is written.

Reading the coverage ...

Houston Texans

How Mario Williams can line up in the 3-4 and be effective, from N.D. Kalu. (Video)

If Rick Dennison leaves, would Gary Kubiak turn to Gregg Knapp? Alan Burge considers.

Considering potential free-agent cornerbacks with Battle Red Blog.

Indianapolis Colts

Injuries took a big toll on the Colts' special teams, says Rick Gosselin.

Forrest Lucas of Lucas Oil sees Indianapolis in a regular Super Bowl rotation, says Anthony Schoettle.

Gene Frenette doesn’t want any free passes for Peyton Manning. Pieces like this ensure Manning isn’t getting one. He could have done more against the Jets, but I can point to several things that rank well ahead of Manning to explain the loss, starting here.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars' special-teams coverage was among the league’s best, says Ryan Robinson of Jaguars.com.

This draft may determine the franchise’s real stability, says Jonathan Loesche.

Tennessee Titans

A good share of former Titans are still playing, says John Glennon.

Jaguars offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter pulled out a winter coat he wasn’t sure would still fit for his Tuesday interview in Denver for the Broncos' head-coaching position.

Koetter and Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison each interviewed for the post on Tuesday. Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams took himself out of consideration and offered Broncos executive John Elway a ringing endorsement of Koetter.

According to Jeff Legwold, Williams wrote: "Dirk Koetter is a GREAT find on your part. I have very high regard for him."

Denver knows Dennison well, as he played with Elway and served as an assistant there.

Terry Frei looks back at a column he did on Dennison a few years ago when Dennison was a Denver assistant.

Koetter would be a bigger loss for the Jaguars than Dennison would be for the Texans.

Dennison works for an offensive coach in Gary Kubiak who calls the plays, and Dennison has only been with the Texans for a year. Koetter is heading toward his fifth season working for Jack Del Rio, a defensive coach.

Another candidate for Denver, John Fox, has had trouble getting to his interview because of weather delays.

Reading the coverage ...

Houston Texans

The Texans need to pursue Nnamdi Asomugha or Champ Bailey, says John McClain.

Wade Phillips needs to bring out the best, consistently, in Mario Williams, says Richard Justice.

Rick Dennison said it was an honor to interview for the Denver job, writes Mark Berman.

Indianapolis Colts

Bill Polian and the Colts have four plans while awaiting the muddled labor situation to be sorted out, says Mike Chappell.

A review of the rookies from Nate Dunlevy.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter touted his experience and praised Tim Tebow’s potential in his interview for Denver’s head-coaching job, says Vito Stellino.

Owner Wayne Weaver didn't want to blow up the coaching staff and start over, but by leaving lame-duck assistants he might have sabotaged the operation, says Alfie Crow.

Tennessee Titans

Rennie Curran is preparing for a trip to Liberia, says John Glennon.

Marc Mariani got the hero treatment back in Montana, says Kim Skornogoski. (Hat tip to Music City Miracles.)

Might the Titans draft Cam Newton? Glennon thinks they’d be better served looking elsewhere.