Texans' DeMeco Ryans praises rookie Marlin Klein after catch vs Chargers in his NFL debut

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Texans rookie Marlin Klein played just 11 snaps in his NFL debut Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.

But it was more than enough to impress coach DeMeco Ryans.

Klein, a tight end who was born in Germany and moved to the United States to play football at age 16, had a 31-yard reception on Houston's first drive in a 27-7 loss.

“I thought he really shined today,” Ryans said of the second-round draft pick. “Everybody saw the pass that he caught. It’s where I see him where he can excel for our offense and just open the offense. His catch radius is tough to guard it.”

But it wasn't only the catch that caught Ryans' eye.

“Watching him blocking in the running game, I saw him finishing some blocks there exactly how we want it done,” Ryans said. “So a ton of positives there for him.”

Klein, who played at Michigan, was thrilled to make an impact in his first game.

“It’s something that I’ve been dreaming about ever since I was a little kid,” he said. “It was the reason why I moved over here to the States to play in a game like this, so it meant a lot to me.”

Amar Johnson ran for two touchdowns and had a 55-yard reception to lead the Chargers to the victory.

Most of the starters for both teams, including the quarterbacks — Houston's C.J. Stroud and Los Angeles' Justin Herbert — sat out.

Johnson scored on a 7-yard run that put the Chargers on top 10-7 in the second quarter on a drive led by backup quarterback Trey Lance. Johnson, an undrafted free agent entering his second season, scored again on a 1-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter and ran in the 2-point conversion that pushed the lead to 21-7.

He put the team in scoring position with his 55-yard reception from D.J. Uiagalelei on the previous play.

“He looked like he had some burst and some speed,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. "He’s got that in him, and it was good to see him show that tonight.”

Davis Mills started for the Texans and threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jared Wayne on the first series, during which he played with the starting offensive line before being replaced by Graham Mertz.

But he was forced back into action to start the second half after Mertz was injured with 2 seconds left in the second quarter. Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said Mertz injured an ACL and that they'd have more information about the injury after further evaluation.

Mills finished the game and was 9 of 15 for 82 yards.

Lance, the third overall pick in the 2021 draft, was 12 of 20 for 164 yards with an interception.

Uiagalelei made it 27-7 with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross with about 10 minutes remaining.

Along with Klein, several other draft picks for both teams made their debuts. Keylan Rutledge, the 26th overall pick, started at center with the rest of Houston’s starting line.

Defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, taken by the Texans in the second round, looked good in limited snaps.

Chargers defensive end Akheem Mesidor, the 22nd pick, and second-round offensive lineman Jake Slaughter both made plays.

Pro Bowler Cameron Dicker made field goals of 34 and 48 yards for the Chargers, but missed an extra point in the fourth quarter. Houston’s starting kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn didn’t play and the Texans used undrafted free agent Chris Freeman. He made an extra point, but missed a 61-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

Chargers: Host San Francisco next Thursday night.

Texans: Host Las Vegas next Thursday night.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills (10) scramble against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance (5) runs past Houston Texans defensive tackle Kyonte Hamilton (58) during the second half of an NFL preseason football game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Chargers safety Genesis Smith (22) is called for interference as he breaks up a pass intended for Houston Texans tight end Marlin Klein (83) during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Chargers running back Amar Johnson (35) celebrates a two-point conversion against the Houston Texans during the second half of an NFL preseason football game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Los Angeles Chargers running back Amar Johnson (35) dives for a two-point conversion against the Houston Texans during the second half of an NFL preseason football game Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

ARLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Farmer Tim Burrack had concerns about the Republican nominee for Iowa governor — and he wasn't the only one.

The conservative voter from northeast Iowa said he didn't know Zach Lahn before the political newcomer “came out of nowhere" with a surprise GOP primary win over the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump. So when Lahn came to his farm last week, Burrack questioned him on his approach to agriculture.

“I hit him pretty hard,” said Burrack, who was considering whether to vote for Lahn in November or not vote at all.

It wasn't the first skeptical audience for the self-described “change candidate” in the state led by Republicans.

Lahn won the June primary even though an “entire establishment was set up against me,” he said. He criticizes politicians in both parties, accusing them of being bought by corporate interests. His bid for governor will test how an anti-establishment conservative fares with a general electorate — and with traditional Republicans — a decade after Trump’s own brand of populism reshaped the GOP.

While Iowa Republicans have an electoral advantage, Lahn entered the general election with a lower public profile than his Democratic opponent, state Auditor Rob Sand. Democrats see an opportunity to win this cycle in once-competitive Iowa, where high costs, health clinic closures, manufacturing job losses and a struggling agricultural economy weigh on voters.

Lahn talks about bringing a “different message” to Iowans who aren't satisfied with the trajectory of Iowa's small towns, public education or cancer rates, even after years of Republican control of state government. But only three months before Election Day, Lahn acknowledged he needs to keep getting out in front of people to address their questions and concerns.

“I think, for the most part, a lot of people just have never heard my message,” Lahn said after the event at Burrack's farm in Arlington. “The more we’ve met with people, the more they understand where our priorities lie, the more they say, ‘We are with you.’”

Some of Lahn's ideas challenge the Republican Party's status quo. Among them is his approach to agriculture and embrace of the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has prompted questions in the state that's among the nation's top producers of corn, soybeans, red meat and ethanol. Lahn promotes regenerative farming; emphasizes a link between high nitrate-loaded water and cancer; and questions the safety of agrochemicals.

Before Lahn took the stage in Arlington to talk agriculture, farmer Lance Lillibridge, a former president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, told the couple hundred Iowans there that the goal was to “get the air clear."

In front of a huge American flag and sandwiched between two freshly washed John Deere tractors, Lahn said, “We farm a bit weird” on his own Iowa acres, growing oats, alfalfa and einkorn along with corn and beans.

But he told the crowd he wants to fund farmers’ efforts to diversify their operations, not force Iowans to farm like him. He said targeting “big ag” means filing antitrust lawsuits against corporate conglomerates that sell seed and fertilizer and taxing out-of-state investors consolidating Iowa acres, not stepping on family farms. He wants to see more incentives to improve water quality but wouldn’t try to outright ban agrochemicals.

Burrack, like Lahn, says that they won’t agree on everything. But after talking with Lahn, he called himself a supporter.

At another stop, a few dozen faces crowded at the back of a coffee shop in Hampton, Iowa, just after the lunch rush. Many of them were familiar with each other but less so with the candidate they came to see. Among them were Jay and Sally Van Wert, retired farmer and teacher, who said Lahn seemed like a nice guy, but they didn't know much else.

Several Iowans attending some of Lahn's first publicly advertised events since the primary said they only knew what they’ve seen in advertisements from Sand's campaign. The ads call Lahn a “part-time Iowan" and reference dozens of occasions where Lahn piloted his private plane to and from Kansas since launching his campaign.

“Is he going all the time to Kansas?” asked Larry Streicher, 84, a Republican farmer in the front row in Arlington. “We don’t know anything about him.”

Lahn said he left Iowa for college like so many others but wanted to come home, amplifying a nostalgia for Iowa culture and heritage that resonated with voters, not unlike Trump's “Make America Great Again” message.

He left Iowa again to start a private school funded by the Koch family, which opened in Kansas in 2018. He co-founded the school with his now-wife, Annie, who had been married to Chase Koch, son of conservative billionaire Charles Koch.

Lahn told the crowds he and Annie moved into their Belle Plaine, Iowa, homestead in 2023 after finishing renovations. Lahn bought the farm that had been in his family for a century but sold it after his great-grandmother died.

Douglas Puffett, a farmer from Strawberry Point and member of his county’s GOP central committee, said Lahn's story is like so many other Iowans’ and his vision for Iowa is driven by what drew him back.

“That’s how you inspire the next generation,” said the 40-year-old, who appreciates that Lahn, also 40, is young and has young kids.

Lahn has explained that trips to Kansas are due to his blended family, which includes children from his and Annie’s previous marriages. He doesn't comment on whether he would travel or use taxpayer resources to do so if elected governor, saying it would not impact his ability to govern.

Puffett, who attended Lahn’s Arlington event, thinks 10 years of Republican trifecta have given Sand an opening to appeal to people who might be unhappy with the “Republican establishment,” he said, but Lahn “stacks up really nice” with his calls for reform.

“I think it’s time to kind of roll over the leadership of the Republican Party here in Iowa," he said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to not seek a third term gave Republicans their first wide-open primary since 2010, and five candidates were on the ballot. Lahn overtook U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra by less than a percentage point, or about 1,650 more votes.

Lahn told crowds that he only met Reynolds after the primary, a signal of his distance from Iowa politics. Speaking at the state party’s fundraiser in July, he joked about all the donors who “haven’t been returning my calls” all being in one room.

Since his primary win, Lahn has met with party leaders and Iowa's prominent industry groups. His campaign spent the summer ramping up fundraising, staff and organizing infrastructure.

State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, who is the majority leader of House Republicans, said there may be some differences of opinion or “curiosities, not concerns" about Lahn's positions, but added that's always the case.

Kaufmann met Lahn earlier this year, voted for him in June and said there's been a “full embrace” of the nominee. He said Lahn is not a traditional candidate, but that's what makes his campaign energizing for Republicans who are “constantly craving new leadership."

“I think it began back in 2016 with President Trump,” Kaufmann said. “Republicans don’t rest on our laurels."

Zach Lahn, Republican candidate for Iowa governor, speaks to local residents during a meet and greet, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Hampton, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)