WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. -- As a first-round pick last season for a Houston Texans team that was working on revamping its offense, there were lofty expectations on Will Fuller. He was set playing at that level, but quickly realized just how difficult the transition from being a top college wide receiver to succeeding in the NFL can be.

"It was tough. Being a rookie is tough," Fuller said. "It's like I just put myself in a shell and just put my head down and [was] just working as hard as I could and just trying to prove myself. I feel like this year I'm just trying to have more fun with it and I can tell already that it's a lot more fun for me."

Fuller had a strong start to his rookie season, with games of 107 and 104 receiving yards to open the year. He could not sustain that historic pace, finishing the season with 47 catches for 635 yards and two touchdowns. Though he said he was hoping for more after his fast start, he ended the year ranked fifth among rookies in catches and third in yards.

Fuller is a really good route runner, but an area he worked to improve on this offseason is catching the ball consistently. Although Fuller had success catching deep balls early in the season, he had some big drops as the year went on. Fuller had five regular-season drops, but his biggest came at a crucial moment during the playoffs.

In the third quarter of the Texans' divisional-round loss to the Patriots, with Houston trailing 24-13, Fuller dropped a would-be touchdown on a perfect pass from quarterback Brock Osweiler in the end zone. The Texans were forced to punt on the next play and eventually lost, 34-16.

"He has really taken a lot of ownership of that," wide receivers coach John Perry said. "You'll see him pre-practice, he comes out and does a lot of pre-practice work on his own, and that's been impressive to me. And then he has stayed after practice a couple times, and we’ve done some deep ball drills with him, which is really important.

"I think one of the things you look at is it's just a matter of tracking the ball, and when he does that he catches the ball really well. It's just the few times where it was a little more difficult for him to track. We just have to keep putting him in all those different situations that he saw last year."

Now, entering Year 2, Fuller said he already feels more comfortable. As a rookie, Fuller was trying to make sure everything he was doing was perfect. He said he's more relaxed during training camp this year because he's not having to think so much about the playbook.

"Just knowing your coverages and not having to think [makes a difference]," Fuller said. "[I'm] just playing fast and not really having to adjust on the fly."