Linebacker Brian Cushing missed both practices Wednesday with a virus, Houston Texas coach Gary Kubiak told reporters. Cushing spent Tuesday night and Wednesday in the hospital.
Kubiak said he is not worried about Cushing, but the team obviously won’t rush him back.
“He’s doing better,” Kubiak told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “All his tests came back good. He’s still feeling a little sluggish, so we've still got him over [at the hospital] right now. I don’t know if he’ll be back for meetings [Wednesday night] or we’ll work toward [Thursday] morning, but we’re just being cautious.”
WR Keshawn Martin playing well
Rookie wide receiver Keshawn Martin has impressed coaches so far in training camp. Martin was a fourth-round pick out of Michigan State and has stood out in the group of young wide receivers trying to carve a role on the team.
“What he’s done is just be very consistent,” Kubiak said. “He’s a talented young man. He’s the one guy out of the rookies that has acted like a pro from the get-go, handling himself mentally, physically and can run all day. This thing doesn’t look too big for him and that’s a great sign for our team.”
Martin is just 5-11, 194 pounds, but he has good speed. Coaches have also been impressed with his approach to the game.
“You coach him on something one time and it’s fixed,” Kubiak said. “He’s a really sharp kid and professional in the meeting room. He comes from the meeting room to the field with retention. His effort is excellent, and the fact that his conditioning is where he can go all day. He’s a very quiet kid. He’s just all business, and that’s what pro football is all about. You’ve got to be all business and do your job.”
Quick Hits
- Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has been happy with the play of safety Quintin Demps. “Quintin, I said it when we brought him back last year that we shouldn’t have cut him,” Phillips told reporters. “I think I was right. He’s a real talent, and he works hard. He’s really gotten the defense down. I think last year he struggled a little bit early, but now he’s gotten the defense down. I think we’ll see good things from him.”
- Kubiak has been pleased with the secondary as a whole. “It’s as good of a group as I ever went against,” he said. “As a coach watching practice every day, I tell our offensive guys that if you can go out there and you can hold your own day in and day out against our group, you’re not going to face many groups that are better. That’s how much I think of our guys on our backend. It’s a great competition. They’ve been very, very consistent in everything they’ve done.”
- Linebacker Keyaron Fox left practice with what Kubiak called a “pretty significant” knee injury. Kubiak said Fox would undergo further tests to determine the severity of the injury.
