HOUSTON TEXANS WEEKLY RELEASE - NFL.com

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTESSPECIAL TEAMS OVERVIEWK Neil Rackers earned over a job that only one other manin Texans history has held. Rackers won the tightest battleof training camp and took over the kicking duties formerlyheld by Kris Brown for the last eight seasons.Rackers hit on 16-of-17 field goal attempts for Arizonalast season (94.1 percent) and scored 85 points before aninjury forced him to miss the last few weeks of the season.Through three games this year, he is 8-of-10 (80.0 percent)on field goal attempts, including the game-winner in overtimeat Washington (9/19).P Matt Turk has averaged 42.4 yards per punt in his careerand has averaged better than 41 yards per attempt inall but one season. Turk’s 42.8-yard average in 2009 set aTexans record, marking the third consecutive season inwhich he broke the existing mark. Only 404 of Turk’s 1,051career punts (38.4 percent) have been returned.WR Jacoby Jones holds the Texans career record forpunt return average at 10.9 yards per return over the lastthree seasons. He tied the Texans career record for totalreturns for touchdown when he scored the third of his careerin 2009.SPECIAL TEAMS POSITION-BY-POSITIONKICKERNeil Rackers has made 213 of 272 career field goal attempts(78.3 percent) and converted 302 of 307 careerextra points attempts (98.3 percent), giving him 934 totalcareer points in 11 NFL seasons. Rackers set an NFL recordfor most field goals made in a season in 2005, whenhe went 40-of-42 (95.2 percent) with the Arizona Cardinals.His 941 career points puts him in 49th place all-time amongkickers.PUNTERMatt Turk averaged a franchise-record 42.8 yards perpunt in 2009, besting his own mark of 42.3 yards per punt in2008. Turk has broken the team record in each of the lastthree seasons and is playing in his 15th NFL season.LONG SNAPPERJon Weeks Signed with the Texans during the offseasonand has handled every . Weeks snapped at Baylor for currentChicago Bear and two-time Ray Guy Award winner PDaniel Sepulveda.RETURNERSWR Jacoby Jones averaged 10.9 yards per punt returnand also returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. RBSteve Slaton has averaged 20.3 yards on 12 kickoff returnsthis season.PUNT OF NO RETURNTexans P Matt Turk has been excellent throughout hiscareer when it comes to limiting punt returns, and he hasbeen tremendous in that regard through four games thisseason.Only five of Turk’s 14 punts (35.7 percent) have beenreturned. The five opponent punt returns are tied for thefourth-fewest allowed in the NFL this season.FEWEST PUNT RETURNS ALLOWED, 2010Team PR FC Yds Avg Lg TDAtlanta Falcons 3 9 79 26.3 72 0Dallas Cowboys 3 0 7 2.3 7 0Minnesota Vikings 4 4 7 1.8 6 0Houston Texans 5 4 29 5.8 13 0New England Patriots 5 1 20 4.0 7 0Since Turk joined the Texans in 2007, the Texans ranksecond in the NFL with just 69 returns allowed.FEWEST PUNT RETURNS ALLOWED, 2007-10Team PR FC Yds Avg Lg TDNew England Patriots 50 38 433 8.7 33 0Houston Texans 69 59 519 7.5 80t 1San Diego Chargers 84 49 945 11.3 94t 2New York Giants 87 45 639 7.3 72t 1Atlanta Falcons 91 85 724 8.0 73t 1HOUSTON’S JACK OF ALL TRADESTE Joel Dreessen earned a spot on the Texans roster in2007 through his versatility. Dreessen not only sees extensiveplaying time on offense, he also leads the team withfive special teams tackles and is the reserve long snapper.Dreessen’s five special teams tackles lead the team,while on offense he has caught seven passes for 119yards and a touchdown. His 17.0-yard average is the higheston the team so far this season.TEXANS SPECIAL TEAMS TACKLE LEADERS, 2010Player, Pos. SpTot SpTK SpAJoel Dreessen, TE 5 5 0Darryl Sharpton, LB 4 1 3Sherrick McManis, CB 3 2 1TEXANS RECEPTION LEADERS, 2010Player, Pos. Rec Yds Avg. Lg TDKevin Walter, WR 20 242 12.1 35 3Andre Johnson, WR 19 255 13.4 34t 1Jacoby Jones, WR 14 145 10.4 23 1Arian Foster, RB 11 152 13.8 50 1Joel Dreessen, TE 7 119 17.0 29 144GAME 5 • TEXANS VS. NEW YORK GIANTS • HOUSTONTEXANS.COM