Texans rookie OLB Brooks Reed stood out in the preseason, but he was primarily a special-teams player in the first month of the season. That all changed when OLB Mario Williams suffered a season-ending pectoral injury in Week Five. The 6-3, 250-pound Reed replaced Williams in the first quarter, making four tackles and recording two QB hits against Oakland. There is no question Williams is the superior pass rusher, but we hear the rookie has the potential to register five or six sacks if he stays healthy the rest of the way. While Williams has a reputation for taking plays off, Reed is a high-motor guy who gets a lot of his production with second effort. He doesn't yet possess a lot of pass-rushing moves — he is more of an up-the-field, effort guy. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips didn't change much schematically after Williams went down, with Reed playing on the strong side on run downs and on the weak side on passing downs.