After further review and a film study session Monday morning, here's everything Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryanssaid on the team's20-6 loss against theCincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon in Week 2.
Question: On whether the defense works on forcing turnovers in practice
DeMeco Ryans: “We work on taking the ball away in practice a lot. When you’re the first man there you want to secure the tackle first and foremost. Then the second guy coming in, running to the football, we want them punching the ball, pulling at it, doing whatever it takes to get it out. We had an opportunity a couple of times, I thought their quarterback [Joe Burrow] did a good of holding onto the ball. We had a couple of sacks where we could have gotten the ball out, but
again he made a good play. The ball is on our mind. They say turnovers come in bunches, we’re ready for those bunches to start rolling our way.”
On the decisions of the run game in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals
Ryans: “Schematically speaking with the run game, you want to try to do whatever puts you in an advantageous position to make a play. The Bengals interior, their defensive tackles are the strength of their team. Trying to get away from those guys on some runs, trying to go at them, you just try to mix it up in the run game as much as possible.”
Q: On whether he thinks about changing the initial play calls on crucial downs
Ryans: “Our short yardage play call was the right play. When you don't block their best player, you don't stay on #97 [Dexter Lawrence II], the play is not going to work.”
Q: On whether being stopped on fourth down factored into kicking a field goal on fourth down later in the game
Ryans: “Yeah, we didn't get the yard. I made a decision on both of those. I make the decision to go for it or to not go for it. I decided to kick the field goal, 58-yarder. I have all the confidence in the world in [K] Ka’imi [Fairbairn], he made it last week from the same spot. Everybody gave him praise. It's a tough kick. He didn't make it, we move on. We live with the decisions we make.”
Q: On whether the decision to kick on fourth down was difficult
Ryans: “I made the decision.”
Q: On whether he saw anything that can be built on from Week 2
Ryans: “Oh, for sure. There are a lot of great things to build on from such a disappointing loss, but there are always a ton of things to improve on just from us, coaching perspective and players, just staying connected. When we line up on Sundays, ‘Are we doing what we've coached? Are we calling what we've coached all week? Are we actually executing it how we said we were going to do it?’ It just ties hand in hand for us as coaches and players to make sure we're as connected on game day and we're doing all the things that we've trained all week. There are a few plays out there that we had opportunities to capitalize on and make some plays from offensive perspective, also special teams and defense. All three phases had opportunities to capitalize and make big plays and we missed the mark a little bit.”
Q: On why he believes the offense faced difficulty in the run game in Week 2
Ryans: “To start, you have to give credit to the Bengals defensive line. They are a really good defensive line. They did a really good job. It's not easy blocking those guys. I give credit to their defense. They did a really good job stopping it. We have to stay with it, stay committed to the run game, find different ways, different avenues to find some yards in the run game. My hat goes off to those guys. They outplayed us.”
Q: On whether using a quarterback sneak in short yardage is a matchup based decision
Ryans: “We have different calls for different games, different weeks. It's all different.”
Q: On whether he will consider using TE Cade Stover under center for short yardage plays
Ryans: “I don't think I can tell you that.”
Q: On whether the goal is to increase the usage of tight ends in the offense
Ryans: “We can definitely utilize our tight ends a little bit more to try to mix it in. Sometimes you get into the flow of the game and you end up being down. We ended up probably going a little more 11 personnel than was expected sometimes just to flow of the game. You can plan the game one way accordingly, but sometimes you get in situations and it dictates something different when it comes from a personnel standpoint. It's not from a matter of lack of preparation and preparing for the multiple tight end groups. It's just how the flow of the game went.”
Q: On what it would take for a player like WR Jaylin Noel to increase their usage
Ryans: “We all have a lot to work on. Coaches, players, we all have a lot to work on. It's not good enough. And I think it's easy to sit back and kind of nitpick, ‘Hey, what didn't go wrong?’ ‘J-Noel’ got one big explosive on the pass, did another good job on the jet sweep. ‘J-Noel’ has done a great job. He improved in the punt return area. He did a really good job of being decisive as a punt returner. I thought ‘J-Noel’ took a huge step this past week and he got better for our football team and he put us in position to have some opportunities to go score. As we continue to build off of what he's shown, we'll continue to see how that role continues to thrive.”
Q: On his message to the team this week
Ryans: “The message itself, we just have to be connected. I think for me, it's too many times tape with the coaches and players, what we're expecting to happen isn't happening. We just have to make sure we buckle down, make sure we coach it better. First and foremost, I have to coach it better. If I coach it better. We play a little bit better, train a little bit longer, find a way to finish a football game.”
Q: On what comes down to players making plays
Ryans: “For me it's just football every week. That's what the NFL comes down to. I think everybody watched the game last night. In the crunch time, in the moment, the play makers step up and make plays. This is a general statement for me is just that's NFL football. That's why we have some really talented players. We have great players on our team and I just expect our guys in those critical moments, those tight moments in football games, you have to close it out, expect our guys to rise up and make plays.”
Q: On not converting on fourth-and-one in Week 2
Ryans: "We're double-teaming [defensive tackle] Dexter Lawrence. Our center has to stay on Dexter Lawrence. That block is not just on [Keylan] Rutledge himself. That is not a single block. We know we're playing one of the best defensive tackles in the league. We have to stay on him, four hands on him, like I mentioned earlier in the week. That didn't change. We have to double-team that guy if you expect to get a yard. We did not do that, therefore we did not convert the fourth-and-one. Put it on me as the call, ‘Should I kick it?’ We have to make sure we execute it the right way when we do call any call, not just a short-yardage call. That's any call for me. We had a lot of opportunities to make some plays, not only fourth-and-one, but some down third-down opportunities that we had in the game that we could have prolonged drives and been in a better position to score. On third down defensively, we gave up a couple of explosives where we could play better and we can execute it better. We can pinpoint the one fourth-down play, but to me it's many more plays in the game where we could coach it better and we can play it better."
Q: On how critical the upcoming Week 3 matchup vs. the Indianapolis Colts is
Ryans: "It's critical for us to get execute better and play better football. When you do the things that winning teams do, then you'll put yourselves in position to win a game. I don't think there's any week that is not a must-win week for me in the NFL. Every game is important. You only get so many opportunities and you have to make sure you capitalize on opportunities that you get or they'll be few and far between. You have to find a way every week. They're all important, there's not one game that wasn't important just like these first two were very important. We didn't play well enough to win them, so the next one is equally important as the first two."
Q: On WR Nico Collins
Ryans: "We don't have an update right now. We're still seeing how he progresses with his rehab and his recovery."
Q: On his evaluation process after a loss
Ryans: "As I review things, it always starts first with us as coaches. ‘What are we asking our players to do? Are they understanding what we're asking them to do?’ If they are or if they’re not, why is it not showing up on film? It always starts with, 'Can I say it better? Can we practice it a few more times? Can I give him a few more looks to make sure he truly understands it?' It starts from a coaching perspective and making sure we're exhausting all avenues to make sure we know exactly what we want and make sure the player understands exactly what we're saying."
Q: On the pre-snap penalties
Ryans: "When you have false starts and pre-snap penalties, it just comes from a matter of just being locked in. That's it. If we're locked in mentally pre-snap, you avoid all of the pre-snap penalties."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud limping after the game and his current injury status
Ryans: "I have not seen him, so hopefully he's fine."
Q: On the play of the defense
Ryans: "Everybody has to play better defensively when it comes to just being in position, being where you're supposed to be, trusting the techniques that we're coaching, trusting your eye discipline, being where you're supposed to be. Defense is always a matter of positioning, proper leverage, proper eyes. When you play with proper eye discipline and leverage, you're going to be in the proper spot."
Q: On what the season focus is on after falling 0-2
Ryans: "It's trusting the process. It is also just going out and executing it. Not just sticking with what we've coached. Players sticking with what's worked, just going out and executing at the right way and coaches is taking a deep dive, looking at ourselves to make sure we're coaching it as best we can. It all starts with us first as coaches. We coach it better and we'll play better."
Q: On the improvement of the defense
Ryans: "The defense improved in Week 2 to start with their mindset. I saw the effort was there, how guys were sworn into the football, it showed up. Our defensive line affected the quarterback. That's something we did not do the first week. When our defensive line is affecting the quarterback and our coverages are tied in together with how the defensive line is affecting the quarterback, then we play good defense. So overall, it was a solid performance, but you want to not give up the points. That's the main thing, yards are yards, but this league is about points. We have to keep points off the board and we had opportunities to keep points off the board if we play some third downs better."
Q: On making offensive adjustments
Ryans: "Adjustments, that's coaching. From every football game that's played. There are adjustments that need to be made. You think one thing going into a game and things always change. It's always fluid. You prepare for as many different variables as possible, but things change in games. That's where coaches make a name for themselves of being able to adjust on the fly, seeing how you're being attacked. Whether it's offensively, defensively, special teams, you see that and you have to counter attack. So that'll always be there for us as coaches."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: After Further Review: Everything Texans HC DeMeco Ryans following 20-6 loss to Bengals
