HOUSTON — On his first day at Houston Texans training camp, Brian Cushing got some simple advice from All-Pro linebacker DeMeco Ryans.

Slow down.
Cushing, the Texans’ first-round draft pick, was eager to make an impression after missing the first two days as his contract was finalized. He flew from Los Angeles to Houston on Saturday and signed his contract about 7 a.m. Sunday.
“It was driving me crazy. It was stressful,” said Cushing, the 15th overall pick. “It’s part of the business, I guess, to get the deal all worked out and everything. You just want to get back on the field, get better and ready for the season. I’m here now and that’s what’s important.”
Cushing played outside linebacker, mostly alongside Ryans, with the first-team defense on Sunday. Ryans, the defensive rookie of the year two years ago and a starter in the 2008 Pro Bowl, sensed that Cushing was impatient to learn the Texans’ schemes and blitzes.
“What I told him to do was just take it slow,” Ryans said. “Let everything come to you, don’t try to do it all at once. There’s a lot on your plate. It’s asking a lot to come in and just get going right off the bat.”
Cushing made sure to ask plenty of questions.
“You get the advice from the guys who’ve been there before, that’s what you have to do,” he said. “I’m lucky enough to have those guys around me.”
Cushing was a four-year starter at Southern California and led the nation’s second-ranked defense with 10› tackles for loss in 2008.
Texans coach Gary Kubiak is expecting the 6-foot-3, 262-pound Cushing to make an instant impact for a defense that ranked 23rd against the run last season.
“This kid loves the game, he’s all about studying and football and taking care of himself,” Kubiak said. “He’s one of those guys who will be a pro very quickly.”
Cushing thinks he’ll have a more accelerated transition than the average rookie because he played for Pete Carroll at Southern Cal. Carroll coached in the NFL from 1984-99.
“I came from maybe a future Hall of Fame coach,” Cushing said. “He’s given me the experience of him playing and that’s something I’m used to now.”
While Cushing tries to learn the playbook under new defensive coordinator Frank Bush, he already seems to know how to handle the attention that comes with being a high draft pick. He calmly answered reporters’ questions for more than five minutes in the blazing sun and then patiently signed more than a dozen autographs after the public workout.
“He went to USC, so he’s used to the spotlight,” said linebackers coach Johnny Holland. “It’s not too big for him, and that’s one of the reasons we drafted him. He’s played some big-time games, he’s been on national-championship teams, so we’re excited to see what he brings to the table for us.”
Kubiak said Cushing participated in only about half of the normal amount of repetitions during the morning workout. Holland sneaked Cushing in for a few snaps he wasn’t scheduled to play.
“He’s not behind much at all,” Holland said. “He’s just got to get the reps in. We want to take him slow and make sure he’s ready to go. It’s nothing new to him.”