Here's everything Houston Texans head coachDeMeco Ryanssaid following Sunday's 27-21 loss to the New York Giants, including the mistimed penalties and expectations following the bye week.
Question: On his thoughts on the defensive struggles
DeMeco Ryans: “For us it's definitely a new year and it's a new team. We got to definitely play better. The tackling wasn't good enough today. When they rushed the ball for the way they rushed it today, we had multiple guys there at the point of attack, but we didn't get the guys down. So, we got to tackle better. We got to finish better as a team.”
Q: On the offense struggling to get into a rhythm
Ryans: “We'll look at the film and see what happened offensively, but from my perspective there, it comes down to
third down. You have to be able to sustain drives. You have to be able to stay on the field on third down. We didn't convert many third downs. I think it was three that we converted and that's definitely not good enough and that's not winning football. To beat a team like this, we knew we had to control the game. By controlling the game, we have to sustain drives. We didn't do that.”
Q: On correcting penalty errors
Ryans: “The penalties are ridiculous. This keeps happening over and over again, so we got to find a way to fix it or get different people in, so we don't have the same mistakes over and over again.”
Q: On if it is mental or physical errors
Ryans: “Right now, we didn't play good enough today. The Giants, credit to them. They came out. They finished well. They made the plays they needed to make to win the game. We did not do that today.”
Q: On thoughts on the holes in plays and why players are getting so wide open
Ryans: “Yeah, for us when I look at the passing game, somebody's made an error somewhere in the coverage if a guy is wide open. We don't design coverages for guys to be wide open, so we got to look at it. We got to be on the details of what we're doing, make sure our eyes are fixated on our man.”
Q: On plans to make sure the team is good enough
Ryans: “Yeah, we keep practicing well. We keep going out, putting the work in. At the end of the day, football, man, it comes down to blocking and tackling, running the football. The fundamentals of the game doesn't change, so we got to block better, not hold, not hurt ourselves with penalties. We got to protect better. We got to be able to beat man coverage. We got to be able to cover in man coverage. We got to be able to tackle. That's football. No magical elixir is going to drop out of the sky and, ‘Oh, now, you're going to fix it.’ We fix it by putting the work in and getting better at fundamentals of football and that's where we got to just own it. As coaches, as players, we all got to own it and we got to find a way to turn this thing around.”
Q: On what he was noticing about the explosive plays where Giants QB J.J. McCarthy extended downfield
Ryans: “Yeah, different things happened on a couple of different plays, so it was a culmination of a lot of different things.”
Q: On how much they stuck to what they were doing last year and if they are going back to the drawing board to change or stick to their fundamentals after the first seven weeks
Ryans: “Oh, yeah, for sure we look at everything when it comes to that, schematically what we're doing. Whatever scheme anyone runs, whatever you coach, whatever you run, we just got to find a way to play it better.”
Q: On thoughts on WR Tank Dell’s performance and seeing him back on the field
Ryans: “It was very electric seeing Tank come out of the tunnel. It was really an awesome moment. You felt the energy from our crowd. You felt the emotions running high with him running out of the tunnel for the first time in two years and then to be able to see him create an explosive pass for us there, it's fun to watch. Really excited for Tank. Proud of Tank for all the work he's put in. Man, happy that he was able to contribute today by getting some plays out there. So, you know, this is just the start for him. Expect to continue to increase his load and see him do more for us and create more explosive plays.”
Q: On WR Jaylin Noel leaving in the fourth quarter and if there are any updates
Ryans: “Jaylin Noel had a turf toe injury. He's still being evaluated.”
Q: On thought on things that he thinks may have caused the start that this team has had
Ryans: “As I look back and reflect on everything, it all starts with me, first and foremost, as a competitor, everything. We're not getting the job done, point-blank, period, that's it. We're not getting the job done. At the end of the day, you put all the work in to finish the week with the win. Are you preparing the right ways? Is everything done the proper way throughout the week to get yourself ready to go? I think our guys have worked extremely hard throughout the week and did that. Just hasn't showed up on Sundays every single week.”
Q: On if he anticipates making any changes either to responsibility or personnel heading into Bye Week
Ryans: “I'm not there yet.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans HC DeMeco Ryans said following Week 7 loss vs. Giants
