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Former Auburn LB Daren Bates is staying in the AFC South, but switching teams from the Tennessee Titans, to the Houston Texans.
According to multiple reports including AL.com and the Houston Chronicle, Bates had a successful tryout on Saturday, and practiced with the Texans on Sunday.
A former special teams captain with the Titans, Bates has also previously played for the Rams and Raiders. Last year Bates played 11 defensive snaps (and three as a fullback) in three games and 291 special-teams plays in 13 regular-season games, and 66 in three playoff contests. Bates made 10 special-teams tackles in 2019.
Bates missed three games in December with a shoulder injury. In 105 regular-season games in his NFL career, Bates has been on the field for 119 defensive snaps and 2,388 special-teams plays.
A one-time safety at Auburn, Bates ultimately moved to linebacker where he led the Tigers in tackles in 2011 and 2012. He made the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2013, and played three seasons with the St. Louis Rams and one with the Oakland Raiders.
Coach Bill OBrien told reporters that Bates has been a successful special teams linebacker.
#47 new #Texans LB/special teams player Daren Bates and Texans also added LS Anthony Kukwa who the team had originally cut to get the roster to 80 pic.twitter.com/LXOzksivCM
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 23, 2020
Bill O’Brien from pool report:
“So we released Jan Johnson & we added Daren Bates. He’s been a very productive special teams LB. He played at Tennessee & Oakland and Tracy Smith had a familiarity with him. And then we also added a long snapper, linebacker named Anthony Kukwa.” https://t.co/glYupwuFTI— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 23, 2020
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
