Texans RB Dameon Pierce draws praise from rival AFC teams
After his breakout performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans rookie running back Dameon Pierce is showing the rest of the league that he has no intentions of slowing down.
Pierce's 131 yards rushing last Sunday caught the attention of the NFL head coaches and defensive coordinators that will face him this season. The Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Texans this week and Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson expressed his respect for Pierce.
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"Dameon is a player who I loved watching his college tape and I just love the way he runs," Pederson told reporters this week. "This guy is a no-nonsense downhill guy. He’s powerful. He’s 5-9. He’s 218. He is a load."
Pierce has been a major bright spot for the Texans and has increased production each week. Two weeks ago, against the Chicago Bears, the former Florida Gator running back rushed for 89 yards and recorded his first NFL career touchdown.
Against the Chargers last week, his 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter helped propel him to the first 100-yard game of his career.
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"Our division (AFC South) is full of good physical running backs," Pederson said he expressed to the Jacksonville media earlier in the day. "He (Pierce) is the type of guy that is going to take two, three, four guys to bring him down. What a tremendous run he had last week."
"That's the type of explosiveness that he has, that he possesses," Pederson said. "Good back. I know he's learning the game, the run schemes and all that. But when he gets the ball in his hands, he's definitely electric."
Texans quarterback Davis Mills has witnessed Pierce's production first-hand and knows that he is the future for Houston.
"Developing the run game and really him (Dameon Pierce) just doing his job and running behind those offensive linemen is huge, especially on first and second down, even third-and-short," said Mills during his weekly press conference.
"If we can get to a lot of third-and-manageable and we can increase our conversion rate on third downs and keep the drives alive, I think the run game is very effective in that regard. If we can keep running the ball better, it opens everything else up on offense."
Pierce leads all rookies in rushing yards with 313 and is currently tenth in rushing in the NFL.
Later this week, Pierce responded to Pederson's comments.
"It's always great to get praise from a great guy," Pierce said. "I appreciate that Mr. Doug. It's all love. I see nothing wrong in that statement."
The Texans will look to extend their eight-game winning streak against the Jaguars on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS.
Paste BN Sports+ producer Jaylon Thompson contributed to this report.