Dameon Pierce was the golden child for Bayou City sports fans.

The former Florida running back may have gone in the fourth round to the Houston Texans, but the rookie brought instant burst to a run game that hadn’t been effective since 2019, when Carlos Hyde had the last 1,000-yard campaign for the franchise.

Pierce looked mortal against the Chicago Bears in Week 3. The rookie put the ball on the turf twice at Soldier Field, and has instill trepidation among fans that it could happen again — and cost Houston. The Texans were fortunate enough to recover both of Pierce’s fumbles.

Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton believes in ball security, and also believes that the fumbles won’t be an issue with Pierce going forward.

“Of course, we have to protect the football,” Hamilton told reporters Thursday. “Ball security is job security. We don’t anticipate that it will be a problem moving forward, just double-arm wrap the ball in traffic. We always tell our guys, it’s the guys that you don’t see that come from behind and knock the ball out. It’s important to him to run hard, protect the football, so we’ll make those adjustments.”

The Texans take on the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time from NRG Stadium for a Week 4 encounter. Pierce has a chance to demonstrate he can protect the football and also generate an effective rushing attack as Houston seeks to improve their 0-2-1 record.