<\/p>\n
Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins’ goal in 2026 is to dominate. His teammates and coaching staff are expecting it after his early camp showing.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
When the Houston Texans<\/a> returned this spring for offseason workouts, there was one player everyone kept whispering about.\u00a0<\/p>\n The player looked different. He was bigger, stronger and faster. He played with more confidence, they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n That player was second-year receiver Jayden Higgins<\/a>, who has been one of the stars through one week of training camp. He\u2019s made several catches throughout camp, including three on Derek Stingley Jr. in Tuesday\u2019s practice<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n When asked what\u2019s different about Higgins, Stingley said it\u2019s the receiver\u2019s connection with quarterback C.J. Stroud.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s more in sync with C.J.,\u201d Stingley said. \u201cC.J. knows more about how he\u2019s going to play or run a route. I feel like their timing is better.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s clear to anyone watching that Higgins is on a mission this season. After making 41 catches for 525 yards and six touchdowns last season, Higgins wants more.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Houston Chronicle spoke to Higgins for a one-on-one interview this week. Higgins said his goal doesn\u2019t involve specific stats. But it\u2019s a simple one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cGo out there and dominate,\u2019 Higgins said. \u2018Every play, every game, no matter who is in front of me.\u2019<\/p>\n Jayden Higgins’ expectation: to dominate<\/p>\n Higgins\u2019 2025 was a mixed bag. He started slow, with just nine catches for 121 yards and a touchdown through the first six weeks of the season. \u00a0<\/p>\n He finally found his rhythm after the Seattle game in Week 6, recording three games of 55 receiving yards or more, and five of his six touchdowns over the remaining 11 weeks of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said the reason for the uptick was having more opportunities and taking advantage of them.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Still, the Texans needed more from their receivers opposite of Nico Collins last season. And that was evident in their loss to the New England Patriots. With Collins out with a concussion<\/a> that game, Higgins led all receivers with six catches for 59 yards.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jayden Higgins has pleased both fans and his teammates with his work early in training camp.<\/p>\n Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n But Houston lacked explosive plays when Collins was out, and that\u2019s what Higgins wants to provide with more consistency this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n He said he worked out relentlessly this offseason, adding strength that he showed when Stingley tried to jam him in one-on-one drills Tuesday. Higgins won that battle of strength, and created so much separation that he had a wide-open path to the end zone for a deep touchdown. Higgins said another one of his goals was to master the offense, so he dove deep into the playbook.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf C.J. throws it to me 20 times, I want to catch it 20 times,\u201d Higgins said. \u201cJust trying to make sure I\u2019m sharp. Catching the ball on the jugs (machine), getting stronger, in the room with the coach making sure I know the assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Higgins said he built that chemistry with Stroud through several throwing sessions this offseason, including a trip to Los Angeles, and some in Houston. He said their relationship has grown even stronger from last year, as Stroud has continued to instill faith in him.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stroud said the same, and has high expectations for the second-year receiver.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI expect him to be a dominant force,\u201d Stroud said of Higgins. \u201cA guy who can make plays on the first, second and third levels. I think he\u2019s gotten better. I think he\u2019s learning and he\u2019s listening more.\u201d<\/p>\n Goal to be more explosive<\/p>\n Offensive coordinator Nick Caley is using Higgins in different areas of the field now. Not only is Higgins lining up on the outside, but Caley is also using him in the slot. And he credits Higgins\u2019 knowledge of the offense for that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n With Higgins\u2019 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame, he\u2019s a nightmare for opposing defenses\u00a0\u2014 similar to Collins. And that\u2019s something Caley is looking forward to utilizing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe can play on the perimeter, he can play on the inside,\u201d\u00a0Caley told the Chronicle. \u201cHonestly, from a route tree standpoint, there\u2019s nothing he really can\u2019t do. He complements Nico so well, and our receiver room so well.\u201d<\/p>\n Higgins\u2019 growth will be one of the keys to this offense taking the next step in growth. If he can be a factor and another weapon for Stroud, it can open up plenty of opportunities. He started to show that late last year. His best play was against the Chargers<\/a>, when he caught a 75-yard touchdown pass from Stroud on the game\u2019s opening drive.<\/p>\n He wants to do more of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, we\u2019re trying to be more explosive,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to push the ball down field, get those big plays and keep the drive moving.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texans wide receiver Jayden Higgins’ goal in 2026 is to dominate. His teammates and coaching staff are expecting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-399214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n