Reading the coverage of the Houston Texans ...

Texans' second-round pick Benardrick McKinney grew up in a small town where his parents kept a watchful eye on him. In this story by Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, McKinney's mother notes he was quiet because he grew up around mostly girls. His hometown now has about 1,000 people, Wilson writes. "Tunica is a small town, but I like it a lot," McKinney said. "A lot of people pushed me and raised me - my parents, coaches and my teachers. I had a lot of mentors in my life. You can't get into trouble there. Everyone knows what you're doing because it's so small. You've got to be good."

Louis Nix III will get a lot of playing time in the Texans' first preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers, writes Deepi Sidhu of HoustonTexans.com. Nix, a Texans' second-year nose tackle, returned to the practice field after about a week off due to injury.

FOXSports.com previews the Texans' season. From analyst Alex Marvez: "A strong argument can be made that not only is end Watt the NFL's top defensive player but is the best player in the league -- period. Houston's pass rush will be even stronger if Clowney can recover from the knee injury that ruined his rookie season. The signing of Wilfork boosts the defensive line and adds a strong locker-room presence. Expect more people to jump on Houston's bandwagon after watching the franchise featured this preseason on 'Hard Knocks.'"

Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com stopped by the Texans' joint practice with the Redskins and included one observation in her 10 things I think I think. This one was about Vince Wilfork: "I think Vince Wilfork sent a clear reminder on Saturday that the he still has some of that old nastiness left in the tank. I was at the Texans’ joint practice with Washington in Richmond, and seeing the 33-year-old lumber around during defensive line drills I started to think he was looking his age on the football field. Nope. A few plays into team drills, Wilfork plowed Washington center Josh LeRibeus a good five yards back into the running back. From my vantage point, that play sparked the first of a series of escalating skirmishes that eventually led to the teams being separated and finishing practice on different fields."