Texans look to be the choice for Hard Knocks

Their head coach may not want it, but he’s apparently going to get it.

With all signs pointing to the Texans being the team that serves as the focal point for Hard Knocks in 2015, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says via Twitter that he expects the Texans to officially get the assignment.

Coach Bill O’Brien, who comes from the Bill Belichick School of Absolute and Total Secrecy, probably isn’t happy about it. And as McClain noted during a Tuesday visit to PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio, O’Brien may have to watch his language with the NFL Films microphones littering the practice field. (Then again, that didn’t affect Rex Ryan.)

The Texans may not be the most popular choice, but they’ll have some intriguing story lines, including a quarterback competition, a star running back who has a history of being standoffish and obtuse with the local media, one of the very best defensive players in the game, and a No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 draft who is trying to regain his form after microfracture surgery. Plus, profane or not, O’Brien likely will be an engaging, entertaining, and compelling figure.

So while NFL Films and HBO could have done better, they also could have done a lot worse. The fact that they’ll be doing this year’s show with a team whose coach likely would have preferred to pass the baton suggests that maybe more teams coached by men who would be inclined to find a way out of the assignment will accept the fact that, eventually, every team will be doing it.

- Pro Football Talk, NBC Sports