Texans' Nico Collins 'Dialed In' Amidst Hot Start

As a result of his hot start, Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans says Nico Collins is "dialed in" at the start of the 2023 campaign.

HOUSTON — The Houston Texans are 0-2 at the start of the 2023 season. But despite their winless record, there are several reasons to be optimistic about the team. One of which has been the production of Nico Collins.

Collins had a career day during the Texans' 31-20 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon. 

The third-year wide receiver finished the game with a career-best 146 yards on seven catches. Late in the first quarter, Collins was the recipient of an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback C.J. Stroud. 

Coach DeMeco Ryans said Collins wants to be great, and his performance against the Colts was the latest testament to his desire.

"He’s dialed in," Ryans said. "When there was an improvement or coaching point to be made from last week, he improved upon that this week...That’s what you’ve seen consistently from training camp. You knew that he was going to have a good year just based on his mindset and how he works."

Collins spent the off-season improving each one of his attributes. He believes that the mental aspect has been his most significant development. 

The enhancement has led to an improvement in his ability to read defensive coverages. And with the game slowing down, Collins has a better knowledge of how to make plays for the offense when compared to his first two seasons. 

The 6-foot-4 receiver started to display the payoff during training camp. The outcome has led to Collins ranking fifth in the league for most receiving yards two games into the season with 13 receptions for 226 yards. 

Collins' progression has catapulted him into the Texans' top target in the passing game, especially given his chemistry established with Stroud. Collins was one of the first players who reached out to Stroud after the Texans made the former Ohio State prospect the second pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.

"With the type of receiver, just give him a shot, give him a chance, and he'll make the play," Stroud said. "It's really fun working with a guy like that. He works really, really hard. He works on his body really, really hard. He's a big guy, and he's getting out of cuts really fast."

Every day was an opportunity for Collins to stack days to become better during training camp. He made plays against Derek Stingley Jr. and Steven Nelson at the Houston Methodist Training Center. 

Now, en route to a breakout year, Collins is making the same plays against the top defensive backs of the Texans' opponents