HOUSTON -- The general line of thinking about any team's third preseason game is that it comes as close to a regular-season game as any preseason contest does. Starters often play three or more quarters, where they've rested most of the earlier games.

But Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien doesn't see it that way.

"I would say the week is like that," O'Brien said. "We’re trying to get back into a regular-season mode where we introduce New Orleans and work on different things that New Orleans does, but when the game comes, it’s still a preseason game."

That means we still might not see J.J. Watt, Vince Wilfork and Johnathan Joseph, three veterans who haven't played yet in the preseason. And we know we won't see Jadeveon Clowney as he continues through his program to get back for the Texans' regular-season opener.

Offensively, there might be more action. Now that the Texans have chosen a starting quarterback, Brian Hoyer, they're working to develop a better rhythm there.