HOUSTON -- The inevitable happened at Houston Texans practice today. Ryan Mallett released a pass that was met with a thud -- J.J. Watt knocked it down, ending the play right there.

Facing him in practice gives the quarterbacks the chance to work on avoiding batted balls. It's not easy.

"Just look the other way," Mallett said. "Look opposite of where you’re throwing it. That’s probably about the only way you can do it. It’s unbelievable."

Brian Hoyer says Watt hasn't gotten one of his passes yet in training camp.

"So now he’ll probably get me tomorrow," Hoyer said.

The key to avoiding it, he added, is to not look for the linemen.

"I know when I played against the Texans last year, in my mind, you don’t try to ... see those guys, but feel," Hoyer said. "Sometimes you can feel there are little pockets, little holes in the line, so it’s more of a feel than it is a seeing-type thing."

Some other notes from today's practice.

• Mallett took most of the first-team reps today and had a few really nice throws. His best was one to Nate Washington, who was running a corner route and closely followed by two defensive backs. Mallett hit Washington in a stride and the ball sank perfectly into Washington's arms. It was altogether beautiful execution from both parties.

• Texans coach Bill O'Brien declined to say how he was going to split reps among the quarterbacks in the Texans' first preseason game. He said not to read too much into whoever starts the game. He also said both quarterbacks are even in the competition right now. I normally disagree with some of the lengths to which O'Brien goes to keep things a secret, there are some injuries kept secret that I can't imagine would actually make a real difference in a game. The quarterback, though, I get. The less time an opponent has to prepare for the quarterback, the more the element of surprise is on the Texans' side.

• Mike Mohamed and Louis Nix returned to practice today after being out a few days. Running back Jonathan Grimes was in street clothes, O'Brien said he'd been worn a little bit and was getting a rest day. Lonnie Ballentine was also still not practicing.

• Running back Chris Polk had a nice catch and run during an 11-on-11 drill. The rest Polk gave to his hamstring seems to have given him enough time to come back running well.

• Speaking of running backs, here was Mallett on Alfred Blue: "I love Alfred, even though he went to LSU."