Houston Texans ‘not concerned’ with DeAndre Carter’s decision making

DeAndre Carter’s recent struggles aren’t much of a concern for Houston Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien.

Houston Texans’ wide receiver and special teams returner DeAndre Carter’s recent struggles were perfectly encapsulated in a punt against the Atlanta Falcons that dropped right through his hands and recovered by the Falcons. Atlanta’s offense ended scoring on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Matt Ryan and converted a two-point conversion to make it a one-possession game.

However, Deshaun Watson’s brilliant performance in Week 6 made the mistake easier to put behind. According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, head coach Bill O’Brien downplayed Carter’s error that allowed Falcons to narrow the deficit.

“I’m not concerned about DeAndre Carter at all. He made a couple poor decisions. He’ll learn from it. He’ll see it on tape. He works very hard. He’s got to get back in there. I know he’ll do better the next time.”

Carter has been the defacto returner on kick and punt returns since he was signed by the Texans last season after the bye week. He averaged 9.1 yards per return on punts and 24.6 on kick returns in 2018. Carter re-signed to a one year deal to remain in Houston after and proved to be the best option the Texans had through the preseason on special teams.

No other player was able to offer competition to Carter while he was injured for the first preseason game, and he ran away the job for the start of the 2019 season.

The Texans are averaging 9.9 yards per punt return with Carter, which ranks sixth in the league. The special teams have struggled since the start of the season, but Carter has the ability to bounce back next week against the Kansas City Chiefs.