Here's everything Houston Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson said following Day 14 of training camp, including his thoughts on the young receivers, the offense in Year 2 under Nick Caley and Tuesday's joint practice.
Question: On the growth in his relationship with QB C.J. Stroud
Xaiver Hutchinson: “I think after the season last year, I had to look myself in the mirror a little bit. I didn't finish the way that I wanted to finish. That's no surprise to anybody in here. I had to have those tough conversations with myself, especially with Ben McDaniels and just really what I needed to get better at. I feel like as a receiver, I needed to get more suddenness and I needed to get more control of my body. That's something that I worked on in the offseason and then I think with the connection with C.J was really just organic. I ended up being in Los Angeles in the offseason training. It's no surprise that he was in the OC [Orange County] training as well. So, whenever we had time to link up and throw, I was there. I kind of made it a priority to myself to just be around a little bit more, show face a little bit more. I feel like it's really helped me during training camp and just seeing what he sees and being on the same page with him.”
Q: On what he has seen from QB C.J. Stroud
Hutchinson: “He's always had the God-given talent. I think anybody in this room can tell that he's a special quarterback. But really with him, it's really just been his confidence in the offense, he knows it a lot better. Not saying that he didn't know it before, but you can just tell that he’s a lot more comfortable. He's understanding everything. He's understanding how we want to play. I feel like that's something that's really shown in training camp as well. Then also too, just his leadership. He was always a great leader, but you see him stepping out a little bit more and getting out of his comfort zone. I think with a quarterback who is comfortable with being uncomfortable, I think that's a huge thing for us. No matter how it's shown, he's going out there and he's being him. I think when someone can be themselves, you can respect it. It makes you want to play a little bit harder for him. You don't want to let him down because that's your quarterback.”
On the difference in knowing the offense entering this season compared to last season
Hutchinson: “Big difference. Big difference. Obviously, with anything, when you get more comfortable with the offensive system, you're going to be able to know what you can and can't get away with. We're not starting from ground zero. We're building from somewhere. We already had our foundation a little bit. We saw how kind of ‘Cales’ wanted to play. Now it was really just about understanding everything a little bit more, like the most minute details. I feel like that's where you've seen us in Training Camp now. We've taken a step above what we were last year. Everyone looks more comfortable in the offense from every single position group. You're just seeing the confidence really poor out of us. You really just see everybody, they all know the job at hand and everybody's a lot more comfortable with it.”
Q: On the competitiveness of the wide receiver room
Hutchinson: “It's huge, man. I feel like every single year that I've been here, I probably have biasness, but our receiver room has been the best receiver room that I've ever seen. I feel like each year, it gets better and better. To your point, our receiver room is very deep. We have a lot of great playmakers who can all make plays. I think it just pushes you because there's never a day that you can go out there and be complacent. One day there’s going to be someone who's not complacent and that's the day that you lose. I feel like it just all pushes us to be better. Of course, like our saying here, ‘Iron Sharpens Iron’. Of course, going against the defense and everything. But in our receiver room, we're all looking to make plays. We're all hungry to make plays. You're really pushing everyone, every opportunity, every chance that you get to go out there. The ball's coming to you; it's like, make the play or somebody else will. It's pushing us in the right way, though.”
Q: On how he can tell QB C.J. Stoud is comfortable in the offense
Hutchinson: “I think it's even just with our ‘MIKE’ points. I know I'm a receiver, so you wouldn't think I know MIKE points. But obviously, when you're around the system, you get to see it a little bit more. He's just identifying the defensive coverage as fast and what he needs to tell. He's getting more comfortable with having a voice in the pocket, because it’s probably uncomfortable to call out the MIKE every time. He's also just knowing our hot reads, our hot responses. He just understands it and he's more comfortable in the offense. You can just feel it. It's just something that no words need to be spoken. You can just tell that when he's out there.”
On his mentoring of WR Lewis Bond
“I love Lewis. We always joke around. When we were finishing up OTAs, he stayed at my house for like four days after everything. So really just getting that time with him and really just telling him where I fell short in my rookie year, or some of the things that I felt like I could have done better at. Just kind of sharing those vulnerable moments that I had my rookie year and trying to pass along to him to where my door's always open for him and I'll always be there for him. Lewis is a great player. He’s far beyond anything that I've seen as a rookie receiver coming in. He has a chip on his shoulder, he's hungry, but he also knows what the job at task is. I think for him, having that understanding this early on is huge and it'll play a factor for him this year and the following years, as long as he's playing football.”
Q: On what he has seen from Offensive Coordinator Nick Caley in his second year
Hutchinson: “He's being more poised. I feel like everyone has a transition. You're not always going to be perfect and like I've said before our mistakes and our shortcomings get put out onto the internet very fast. But what I've seen with Nick is just like, him understanding what he has here and what we can do and what we do really well. Now it's really him challenging us on the things that we don't do well. It's him being more comfortable with being an offensive coordinator and calling plays. But also, him kind of just letting it rip. Just him being him. I think that's what we need from him. He's a high-energy guy. He's always going to bring it every day. So really just following suit behind him.”
Q: On when he felt like he came up short last season
Hutchinson: “Obviously we lost the game. That’s a shortcoming. That's for the team. For me, I was a part of the problem on the turnovers. C.J. trusted me by throwing me the ball. I dropped it. It's football. That's going to happen, but I need to be perfect. We need to be better in those big-time moments when it matters the most. That's what I meant by my shortcomings on the field. Those moments don't define me. ‘What's life without a little setback?’ When you get back even again and you see what you thought you couldn't do, it makes it a little bit sweeter.”
Q: On his mindset since being drafted
Hutchinson: “Really just still being me. Being comfortable with who I am and knowing that I can go out there and play. I'm a good receiver. I deserve to be in the NFL. I deserve to make plays. I can go out there and make plays. That was something from my rookie year to now, that was completely different. In my rookie year, I had to inch my way towards there. There were some things that I was dealing with personally. But now this year, I go out there, I expect to make the plays. The team expects me to make the plays. Now it's just, I'm more confident. I know that I've actually put in the work behind the scenes. My work ethic has changed a lot.”
Q: On his growth in special teams play
Hutchinson: “Besides being a returner, I didn't know a lick of special teams until I got to Frank [Ross]. Kudos to Frank for just believing in me when I didn't even really see it myself that I could go out there and be a good special teams’ player. But also, I put in the work with Frank after practices and really just trusting my technique. That's something that I've seen a difference in coming from special teams. Special teams is really about your want to. You have to want it more than the other guy. There's nowhere else you can really go. You're either going to make the block or you're not, or you can defeat the block or you're not. It’s really about just owning your one-on-one matchups is something that I learned. Then along the ways, I learned more technique and more fundamentals with it.”
Q: On whether he has felt any difference in team confidence this season
Hutchinson: “No, to be honest with you, I haven't felt any difference. We've always known that we're a capable team. We always know that we can go as far as we want. Keyword: we want. We have to handle the day-to-day basis. Yes, we have goals. Yes, we want to accomplish big things. It starts on Monday, August 17th. I think that's something that we've understood more is to just be where our feet are at. Know that if we handle today, we'll like where we're at in the future. It's the future for a reason.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans WR Xavier Hutchinson said after Day 14 on training camp