A year ago, Texans wide receiver Jaelen Strong was a sluggish rookie. He was noticeably overweight, tipping the scales at nearly 230 pounds as if he was unintentionally bulking up for a move to tight end.

And the third-round draft pick from Arizona State was promptly put on notice by Texans coach Bill O'Brien that he needed to upgrade his work habits and get into optimal condition.

Strong chalked up the weight gain to the travel and lost workout time associated with the predraft circuit. He responded by changing his diet and increasing his cardio workouts to get down from 6-2, 230 pounds to a lean 197 pounds.

Strong has been one of the more impressive players at the Texans' organized team activities, catching a series of passes in traffic for first downs.

"I just said to him today how far he's come," O'Brien said Tuesday. "He's a guy that a year ago today, I was concerned about him from a conditioning standpoint. I just didn't know what type of condition he was in. It wasn't very good. He really at some point in time before training camp, he came back and passed the conditioning test and really took off after that.

"He contributed in some games last year. He had a really good offseason. He's in really good shape. He's playing well. Hopefully it continues. He's a guy that we're definitely counting on."

Strong emerged as a more important part of the offense late in the season for the AFC South champions, catching 14 passes for 161 yards and three touchdowns. He's slated for an increased role this season.

Strong is listed at 6-2, 217 pounds, but was actually closer to 200 pounds by the end of the season.

And Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has noticed a seriousness of purpose from Strong even during an offseason where he was arrested for possession of marijuana in February in Arizona.

"Jaelen's been working all offseason, even during what he was going through, he was working," Hopkins said. "The next day that that happened to him I'm pretty sure I talked to him and he was talking about going to work out, so that really didn't affect him at all. I knew it wouldn't, but he's coming out and he's playing with a chip on his shoulder for sure."

Strong addressed the off-field incident when the Texans started their offseason conditioning program in April.

"Pretty embarrassing," Strong said. "Forget about me, but for my family and for the Houston Texans. I've talked to my teammates about it. It's a setback, but I've had plenty of setbacks. I'm ready to put it all out on the field."