ast season, I came off the streets. This year, we have time to work on plays, work on being better.” —Texans WR Bruce Ellington

HOUSTON (AP) — Deshaun Watson looked rusty in Houston’s season-opening loss to New England Gerald McCoy Jersey , committing two turnovers and failing to move the offense consistently in his return from knee surgery.

Now the second-year quarterback must find a way to improve before Houston begins AFC South play on Sunday at Tennessee where the Texans will be without right tackle Seantrel Henderson.

Coach Bill O’Brien said Monday that Henderson is out for the season with an ankle injury. O’Brien added that Henderson, who was brought in this offseason to improve Houston’s line, will have surgery on Tuesday.

O’Brien said that for Watson to play better this week the rest of the offense has to pitch in to help him.

But he did admit that Watson was a little rusty and that he has “to make better reads, better decisions” for the Texans to be successful. O’Brien was also quick to point out that Watson is still a young player so growing pains are to be expected.

“It’s only I think his seventh game as a starter in this league,” O’Brien said. “He hasn’t played football in … a regular-season game, in a while … there’s a little bit of rust involved in all of those things and I know that he will improve. He’ll work very hard to improve, but there’s a lot of work to do.”

After Henderson was injured late in the first quarter on Sunday the Texans looked to rookie third-round pick Martinas Rankin to fill in. O’Brien thought he did a nice job and could look for him to do more with Henderson out for the season.

Rankin said it was a bit daunting to be thrown into action unexpectedly, but that having a positive attitude helped him succeed.

“Just telling myself: ‘No fear. I belong here. They brought me here for a reason and I’m going to represent this organization the best I can,'” he said.

When asked about regaining the tempo the offense had in the six games Watson started last season, O’Brien lamented the fact that they started things off on a bad note when Watson fumbled a handoff on the team’s first offensive play.

“That’s just horrendous,” O’Brien said. “To give the ball on the 15-yard line or whatever it was, 20-yard line, going in first play of the game C.J. Mosley Jersey , that’s no way to start a game. So, it starts there.”

The good news for the Texans is that Watson improved as the game went on, leading the team to two touchdown drives late after settling for field goals early in the game. He should get a boost this week with the return of receiver Will Fuller, who missed the opener with a hamstring injury.

The speedy Fuller has shown promise as a deep-play threat in his career, but Sunday was the 11th game he’s missed because of injury in his three-year career.

While Watson didn’t have a great game against the Patriots, the Texans did get a solid performance from their running game.

Lamar Miller led the way, rushing for 98 yards after not running for more than 75 yards in 16 games last season. Houston also got a nice game from backup Alfred Blue, who added 36 yards rushing and a touchdown.

“The line blocked well. I thought when we got into a rhythm in the running game, it was good,” O’Brien said. “We rushed for almost 170 yards, which was obviously one of the highlights for us on offense. I thought that Lamar ran hard. Lamar’s a good pro, he does a good job of reading the runs and getting us good yards.”

HOUSTON (AP) — 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 Harry Carson Jersey , 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.”

Watson’s efficiency matched a nice opening drive from San Francisco’s Jimmy Garoppolo, who threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Trent Taylor.

Garoppolo’s night ended after his second drive when a deep pass to Dante Pettis bounced off Pettis’ hands and was intercepted by Johnson Bademosi. Garoppolo was 10 of 12 for 136 yards and said there were plenty of “simple mistakes” that the team can work on correcting before the regular season begins.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said he was tempted to send his first-string offense out for a third series.

“I wanted them to get going more,” Shanahan said. “I didn’t think our execution was great in the first game. I didn’t think it was great in this game either, but I just wanted to give them more time to play.”

Backup quarterbacks Brandon Weeden for Houston and C.J. Beathard for San Francisco struggled to move the ball and the game was tied at 7 at halftime.

Weeden completed 7 of 15 passes for 50 yards, while Beathard was 10 of 17 for 82 yards.

With Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn nursing an undisclosed injury, recent acquisition Nick Rose made a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter to put Houston up 10-7. Robbie Gould tied the game at 10 later in the third with a 39-yarder.

After Gould made a 41-yard field goal with 1:41 remaining, Houston third-string quarterback Joe Webb led the Texans down the field and found Vyncint Smith for a 41-yard touchdown with 27 seconds remaining.

With San Francisco down two running backs Thomas Morstead Jersey , including starter Jerick McKinnon (calf) and Matt Breida (shoulder), Jeremy McNichols got the start for the 49ers, rushing for 28 yards on 10 carries. Most offensive starters played the first two series.

Defensively, starting cornerbacks Richard Sherman and K’Waun Williams did not play.

Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, safety Tyrann Mathieu, cornerback Johnathan Joseph and several other Texans defensive starters didn’t play. Offensively, starting wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller did not play.

NATIONAL ANTHEM

No players from the 49ers or the Texans kneeled during the national anthem, although 49ers receiver Marquise Goodwin did raise his right fist for the duration. Linebacker Eli Harold kneeled during the anthem the past two years, but stood on Saturday night.

INJURIES

49ers: Backup OL Erik Magnuson suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter and limped to the locker room. DEs Solomon Thomas (concussion) and Arik Armstead (hamstring), TE George Kittle (shoulder), Breida (shoulder), LB Malcolm Smith (hamstring) and McKinnon (calf) were inactive.

Texans: Starting CB Kevin Johnson suffered a concussion after defending a pass from Garoppolo on the first drive. Johnson landed awkwardly on his shoulder and was treated on the field by the team’s medical staff for nearly five minutes before being escorted to the locker room. O’Brien said after the game he was taken to the hospital and that he was doing OK. … Texans WR Sammie Coates Jr. also suffered a concussion.

LOWERING THE HEAD

San Francisco was twice flagged for the league’s new penalties for lowering the head to initiate contact Carl Banks Jersey , both in the second quarter. The first came on a punt return and was charged to Raheem Mostert and the second came against Jeremiah Attaochu while rushing the passer.

PENALTIES GALORE

“Extremely disappointing. There were way too many penalties. We’ll look at each one. Some you can control and some you can’t, but they really hurt us. They were unacceptable.” — Shanahan on San Francisco’s 15 penalties for 140 yards

HE SAID IT

“I feel more comfortable just being out there with the guys longer. Last season, I came off the streets. This year, we have time to work on plays, work on being better.” —Texans WR Bruce Ellington

NEXT UP

The 49ers (1-1) return to action on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Colts.

The Texans (2-0) visit the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, Aug. 25.
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