The Houston Texans are 1-6 after another disappointing loss on Sunday to the Green Bay Packers. The Packers defeated the Texans 35-20 at home. This is their 6th loss of the season and the second consecutive loss for Texans interim head coach Romeo Crennel. At halftime the Texans were down 21-0. Post-game Crennel said, “Well, we’re an inconsistent team, and we showed that today. What we have to do is we have to try to refresh our minds, refresh our bodies during the bye week and then come back and practice, work together, pull together to be a more consistent team going down the stretch. And, you know, we’ve got some ability when we give the quarterback time. He can make some plays. Defensively, we’re inconsistent, but we did do better against the run overall today, but then we got killed in the passing game. So that’s a sign of inconsistency.”
J.J. Watt had few words to say when asked about his confidence surrounding the defensive performance.
“We’re 1-6,” Watt said. “You are what your record says you are.”
In fact, Watt gave the most succinct answers to all of the questions that he fielded. When asked about what Packers QB Aaron Rodgers did that made him play so well, Watt responded, “[He] Threw the ball to the receivers and they caught them.”
And well, that’s football. The levels of frustration among Texans players, that include but are not limited to Watt, is palpable.
When asked to put into words how he feels being 1-6 on the season Quarterback Deshaun Watson said, “….sucks, honestly. This is new to me, so I’m going through it just like everyone else. This is my first time experiencing something like this, so I’m just learning on the fly, trying to stay positive, continue to lead the guys, continue to come to work each and every day and try to improve, and just trying to find ways to win, and just continue to play hard, do my job and not try to do too much and just kind of continue to do that. So, yeah, it’s definitely new to me, and I’m just trying to find my way and continue to improve and have guys around me build me up, and I build them up, and we stick together as one.”
When asked how he planned on spending the bye week Watson said, “Rest. Pretty much rest. That’s it. I’m tired.” With as many QB sacks that he has had to endure, a rest is long overdue.
With playoff dreams disappearing with every loss and the NFL trade deadline looming, there may be more reasons for Texans players to worry. Crennel shared that he had no plans to make any deals. When asked if the idea of trades could be a potential distraction to the players he said, “Oh sure. With this situation, it might be more on their mind this year. I’ve talked to them and tried to reassure them that I’m not looking to trade guys.”
Crennel’s influence only goes so far so it will be interesting to see if any moves are made by the trade deadline.
The bye week could not have come at a better time for the team as they are in need of rest, reflection, refocusing, and regrouping. They will face the Jacksonville Jaguars November 8th.