It didn’t take Will Fuller long to have an impact. In his first game of the season, Fuller became only the ninth player in team history to record multiple touchdown catches in a game and the first since DeAndre Hopkins in Week 11 of 2015.
“He had a good game,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said, via quotes distributed by the team. “He’s a really good route runner. He’s a tough guy. Obviously, [he has] great speed. You can line him up anywhere. He knows what to do at every position. Very smart player. Very calm guy. Never gets rattled. Just really good to have him back in there.”
Fuller, who missed the first three games recovering from a broken collarbone, made a difference for Hopkins and the rest of the offense. While Hopkins had 10 catches for 107 yards and a touchdown, Fuller caught four passes for 35 yards and two touchdowns.
It looked like Fuller had never missed a practice. The reason? While he rehabbed, Fuller worked with Deshaun Watson behind the scenes.
“I give our training staff credit,” O’Brien said. “He’s been able to do some drills behind the scenes. He wasn’t cleared to practice or anything, but he could run routes and Deshaun would be there with him right here in the stadium after hours, so to speak, and throwing routes with him. So it wasn’t like the first time that they had ever thrown, and Deshaun threw with him quite a bit before he got injured in OTAs and obviously the beginning of training camp. So it wasn’t like the first time he caught passes from him or Deshaun threw passes to him. It wasn’t the first time this past week. They’ve been working a lot together.”