HOUSTON - Wide receiver Andre Johnson missed offseason workouts due to a holdout, but was back on the field Saturday morning with his Houston Texans teammates, including new starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Building a good receiver/quarterback relationship is important for an offense to see success, and so far the duo is connecting in the early stages of training camp.
"I think it was fine," Johnson said of his first-day chemistry with Fitzpatrick. "I'm pretty sure it will get better as time goes on. It was our first day out here, so things will continue to get better for us."
After seeing his new wide receiver as an opponent for years, Fitzpatrick was glad to finally get to work with Johnson on the practice field in the Texas summer heat.
"He's a true pro. I think everybody here knows that and I've always admired him from afar," Fitzpatrick said. "I've heard a lot about his work ethic and the way that he attacks everything. It was nice to sit back and throw to him a little bit today."
Despite missing offseason workouts with new head coach Bill O'Brien, Johnson looked sharp in his first practice. The receiver did admit he is learning on the fly and has some catching up to do to get on the same page with his teammates in the new regime.
"Things continued to get better as the day went on... I went out there and wasn't really thinking a lot," Johnson said. "I got with Fitz (Fitzpatrick) after everything last night and me and him went over some stuff. Everybody has been very helpful with me picking up everything. It's just fun to be back out here and be with my teammates and getting back to football."
Fitzpatrick said despite having a good first day at training camp, there is still plenty of work to do with not only Johnson, but the entire team.
"There's a lot of work, not only with him, but with everybody, in terms of getting everybody on the same page," Fitzpatrick said. "We've got to get that going here during camp."
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