Updated: Texans sign Joe Mays
January 8, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos linebacker Joe Mays (51) comes onto the field before the first quarter of the 2011 AFC wild card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Sports Authority Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
It didn’t take Joe Mays very long to be back on an NFL roster. The Houston Chronicle is reporting the former Denver Broncos ILB has signed a one-year contract with the Houston Texans.
Mays was released by the Broncos last week.
The Texans add to their linebacker depth with the signing of Mays.
“Obviously, you all know we’re talking to him,” Texans head coach Gary Kubiak told the Houston media Monday morning before the reported signing of Mays. “He’s out there. He’s free and we’ve got some things going on with our team that we think he might be interested in as a player from an opportunity (standpoint).
“(General Manager) Rick (Smith) has visited with him and (Defensive Coordinator) Wade (Phillips) has visited with him. I’m not sure what his timetable is, but obviously we’re always trying to get better with our team.”
Mays is known in Houston mainly for one play, an illegal hit, on starting quarterback Matt Schaub last season.
In the hit, last September by Mays, Schaub lost part of his ear. Mays was fined $50K for the hit, also with being suspended for the helmet-to-helmet hit as the NFL ruled Schaub was defenseless on the play.
Schaub described the hit as “water under the bridge.”
“We’re way past that,” the QB said. “That was gone as soon as we walked off the field that day. It’s just a physical, hard-nosed game and he’s a physical player.
“It’s just part of football and I don’t fault him for that. We’re way past that, so he’s a good player and a good guy. It’s definitely water under the bridge.”
Mays, a ’06 sixth round draft choice by the Philadelphia Eagles, had just 20 tackles last season in six games with Denver. Mays had his season cut short in ’12 due fracturing his left fibula against the New Orleans Saints.
For his career, he’s totaled 153 tackles and one forced fumble. Last season was the first year Mays didn’t play in at least 11 games in a season. Mays has played the past three seasons with the Broncos.