Houston Texans
After throwing just one pass in his return to game action last week, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson was determined to stay on the field a little longer on Saturday night.
Watson used his one series to march the Texans down the field, going 5 of 8 for 73 yards, capped by a 1-yard touchdown pass to Bruce Ellington in Houston's 16-13 exhibition victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
"I guess he was 5 for 8, but I think he had three drops on the drive," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "I thought he did some nice things. We were able to play at a pretty good tempo and get in the end zone so that was good."
It was a much lengthier outing than the preseason opener in Kansas City, when Watson attempted just one pass in his return to game action after missing the second half of his rookie season with a torn ACL.
"I felt good just to be in a game," Watson said. "Try to get my feet wet. It was a good drive for us."
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Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota and Jacksonville had the top two defenses in the NFL last season, a major reason why the Vikings and Jaguars reached their respective conference championship games.
Two joint practices and one exhibition game produced yet more evidence of the exceptional skill and sound scheme each team has on that side of the ball.
Yannick Ngakoue had an 11-yard sack that helped Jacksonville hold Kirk Cousins and Minnesota's starting offense to three completions and three points, before the Jaguars reserves rallied for a 14-10 victory over the Vikings on Saturday.
Blake Bortles played the entire first half and went 12 for 20 for 159 yards, producing a touchdown run by Leonard Fournette on one of his seven series, the last of three possessions the Vikings starters were still in the game.
The Vikings, who led the league with the fewest yards and points allowed in 2017 while the Jaguars finished second, gave Bortles trouble during drills in practices on Wednesday and Thursday at Minnesota's suburban facility.
"We've still got some things to fix," Bortles said.
The Vikings had six sacks, two by Ifeadi Odenigbo. Mike Boone, in a stiff competition for the No. 3 running back spot, had 13 carries for 91 yards and a score .
T.J. Yeldon helped his cause to be Fournette's backup with five catches for 73 yards and 10 carries for 39 yards. With a 57-yard punt return by Rashad Greene to set up the touchdown just after the two-minute warning, Jacksonville took a late lead on a short run by Brandon Wilds.
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Tennessee Titans
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers certainly have had plenty of time to get used to the idea that Jameis Winston will miss the first three games of the season because of a suspension.
Watching the quarterback light up a defense in just a quarter doesn't make it any easier.
Winston threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns after coming off the bench in the second quarter, and the Buccaneers beat the Tennessee Titans 30-14 Saturday night in the teams' second exhibition game.
Marcus Mariota left before Winston entered the game featuring the top two draft picks of 2015. Mariota played two series in the first quarter, and he was 4 of 7 for 80 yards with a 47-yard TD to Taywan Taylor off a screen pass.
First-year coach Mike Vrabel continues looking for his first preseason victory with the Titans (0-2).
