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Houston Texans guard Keylan Rutledge (66) walks up the field while running drills during a rookie mini camp at Houston Methodist Training Center in Houston, Friday, May 8, 2026.

What we learned from first day of rookie minicamp

The Houston Texans kicked off their three-day rookie minicamp Friday, marking the players’ official first days in the NFL.

Friday’s practice was without pads and focused more on individual drills and getting instruction rather than performance, as there aren’t nearly enough players to go through team drills.

But still, there were some things to learn from their first session on the field:

1. Keylan Rutledge’s will

One of the bigger questions of the offseason will be how the Texans utilize their first-round draft pick Keylan Rutledge.

Will he play guard or center? Rutledge played right guard during his final two seasons at Georgia Tech, but his quickest way onto the field may be at center.

While center Jake Andrews returns as one of three starters on last year’s offensive line, it’s not out of the question to suggest Houston could improve at that spot.

Insert Rutledge, who practiced some at center in college and the Senior Bowl, and says he feels comfortable there.

“(Georgia Tech) Coach (Brent) Key prepared me well, always knowing conceptually what everybody was doing up front at Georgia Tech and obviously got snaps there at practice and did a little at the Senior Bowl,” Rutledge said. “I'm very confident playing up there. Anywhere they need me to play, I'll play.”

It was that mindset that endeared him to the Texans’ coaching staff. That, and the fact that he wants to punish defenders in front of him.

Coach DeMeco Ryans joked that he had to slow Rutledge down because he wanted to put on the pads on the first day.

“That’s what you’ll notice about the draft class when you talk to them,” Ryans said. “It’s built on really high-character guys, starting with Rutledge. A really great guy, loves football.”

Rutledge said what drives him most are two things: His faith and his upbringing.

Click here to read the rest of this story.

Jonathan M. Alexander, Texans beat reporter

jonathan.alexander@houstonchronicle.com

Texans Mailbag

Q: Have or will the Texans kick the tires on (Jadeveon) Clowney as a rotational edge piece? — Austin

JMA: The Texans have not kicked the tires on Clowney, nor do I expect them to. If the Texans do pursue an edge rusher in free agency, it will be one that has been in DeMeco Ryans' defense before, or a defense similar to Ryans' 4-3 attack style defense....

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Texans Trivia!

Last week's question: As a Texans player, how many Pro Bowls did DeMeco Ryans make?

Last week's answer: Two. Ryans made it to the Pro Bowl in 2007 and 2009. Shoutout to Robert Koehl for being the first to get this one correct!

This week's question: What is the name of the first general manager in Texans history?

The first person to email me the correct answer to this Trivia question gets a shoutout in the next newsletter.

Photo of the Day

Houston Texans guard Keylan Rutledge (66) and Febechi Nwaiwu (64) run blocking drills during a rookie mini camp at Houston Methodist Training Center in Houston, Friday, May 8, 2026.

Photo by: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

This Brett Coomer photo was from rookie minicamp. Keylan Rutledge and Febechi Nwaiwu worked on individual drills Friday.

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