There's nothing like a DeMeco Ryans press conference to kick off the post-bye week for the Houston Texans. A little return to normalcy feels pretty good right about now (except for the losing part).
Speaking to the media at the beginning of the week nine ramp up period for the team, Ryans fielded a boat load of questions pertaining to the most relevant happenings around the team after seven weeks of NFL play.
For the sake of this article, we'll only be recapping the first five questions in print, as we believe that they helped establish the baseline of what the team is thinking most immediately heading into Sunday's road matchup against the still-winless Los Angeles Chargers. Additionally, all questions and answer breakdowns have been summarized for the sake of expediency and fluidity to the reader.
(Note: Full press conference available here, via the Texans' official Youtube channel)
Q1: Aaron Wilson (KPRC 2): "Initial "look-for's" or preferred team changes after the bye?"
DeMeco Ryans: "Clean up our own play, re-establish our identity and self-scout."
Here, Ryans emphasized the importance of the team focusing on cleaning up its own messes as opposed to the strengths and/or weaknesses of opposing teams. Between penalties, uneven play on both sides of the football and a perceived lack of a consistently effective game plan on most Sundays, Houston has to start in-house before looking outward for any real changes to come.
Q2: Jonathan Alexander (Houston Chronicle): "Any injury updates on Jalen Pitre, David Montgomery or Reed Blankenship?"
DR: "Everyone's still working their way back to the team. No significant updates as of right now"
Safety Jalen Pitre (shoulder), safety Reed Blankenship (concussion protocol, hand surgery) and running back David Montgomery (groin) have all missed time within the last couple of weeks due to a litany of injuries. Ryans offered no concrete return plan at this time for the players.
Q3: Cody Stoots (S&L Podcast): "Advantages and disadvantages of using Jumbo formation?"
DR: "Jumbo is about us imposing our will. However, we've been a little too dependent on the rushing element of its use. Some versatility from the formation could benefit."
Here, Ryans acknowledged the lack of translation between the intended use of Jumbo formation (an extra offensive lineman brought in to replace of a tight end), and the expected outcome of success. He described the use as being somewhat predictable at this point, and openly admitted that "switching it up" out of Jumbo would be on the table (more pass plays called from the formation).
Q4: Jonathan Alexander (Houston Chronicle): "How do you think Braden Smith (right tackle) did in his return game? Does the outlook of the tackle position change with him being back?"
DR: "Braden was physical and did a good job overall. We'll see on a week-to-week basis what might be best for that position (and the offensive line as a whole).
Offensive tackle Braden Smith returned to the field of play in week seven against the New York Giants and brought some effective blocking on the right side of the formation. While it came in a loss, his return is still meaningful considering the issues that Trent Brown has been having at the position through seven weeks.
Q5: Kim Davis (Kim Davis media): "What team-based things have stood out most immediately coming out of the bye?"
DR: "The main thing is getting back to 'us'. Control the controllables, don't hurt ourselves in our execution. Let's get back to the fundamentals and focus on improving ourselves independent of what others are doing."
Similar to his response to Wilson's question to lead off the press conference, Ryans stood firm in his belief that Houston's first priority is to focus on cleaning up their own internal issues before fixating on what other teams are doing/have done to stop them. Execution has been the message all season, and it will continue to be at the core of what Ryans and co. focus on throughout the backend of the campaign.
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