Texans coach knows Cooper Rush needs to be taken seriously despite poor outing

Monday night will bring us the third prime-time game in a row for the Houston Texans. They lost to the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football and then dropped one in the most frustrating way possible on Sunday Night Football against the Detroit Lions.

This week offers them a chance to get back on track as they head to AT&T Stadium to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Not only has Dallas lost four in a row this year — and five in a row at home — but they're without starting quarterback Dak Prescott.

A torn hamstring ended his season, which means Cooper Rush has taken over. He entered Week 10 with a record of 5-1 as a starter but then had the worst outing of his career. Rush managed 45 yards on 13-of-23 passing in a 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. While that performance was rough, Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans isn't taking the veteran signal-caller lightly.

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Ryans said that Rush understands how to run the offense and that he does a great job finding playmakers.

“Cooper has been there a while and he understands how to operate the offense very efficiently,” Ryans said via Cole Thompson of Texans Wire. “When it comes to everything, every operation that goes with the offense, the checks, getting them in the proper plays, Cooper does a great job of managing all of the pre-snap operations and he does a great job of getting the ball out, finding his playmakers, making really good decisions with the football.”

Rush isn't someone who will carve up a defense with the deep ball but he's a savvy game manager. That can be enough oftentimes, which is how he led them on a four-game winning streak in 2022 while Prescott was out with a broken thumb.

Now in his eighth season in the NFL, Rush has comlered 59.7 percent of his attempts for 1,831 yards with nine touchdowns and six picks. Dallas hasn't been the same team we're used to seeing in recent years but they can still be a problem if they're overlooked.

Thankfully, Ryans doesn't seem willing to let that happen. He's taking this team, and their QB, seriously as Houston looks to get out of their recent skid.

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