Here is everything Houston Texans’ head coach DeMeco Ryans said after Houston’s win against the Tennessee Titans including his reaction to the Texans trading for wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr, injury updates for running back David Montgomery and safety Jalen Pitre and preparing for Week 6’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Question: On trading for WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
DeMeco Ryans: "We're excited to add him to our team. He's another really great playmaker. He's crushed a lot of college records. Got multiple thousand-yard receiving seasons in college. All-American, always been a top receiver when he's been on the field. He has good rapport with C.J. [Stroud] from their time at Ohio State. We're excited to get him in, add another great player
to our group."
Q: On if WR Marvin Harrison Jr.'s familiarity with QB C.J. Stroud will get him acclimated quickly
Ryans: "I hope so. I hope so. I think anytime you have players who have spent time together, whether it's college or other teams, just having that prior relationship definitely helps when you come into a new situation."
Q: On the involving QB C.J. Stroud is the trade process
Ryans: "Anytime you have guys who are as close as they are, guys who have played together, quarterback and receiver in college, you definitely want to ask C.J. and what his leadership and what everything he's done for us this season. Definitely want to ask and get his thoughts on bringing a new player to our team."
Q: On the evaluation of WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ryans: "We're excited to get him here. Him coming here, just being himself, going to be the playmaker that he is."
Q: On spending draft capital on WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ryans: "We're excited to get a really good player to our team. You want good players, it has to cost whatever it is. The guy is a really good player, so we're excited to get him here."
Q: On the process of trading for WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ryans: "For the most part with this, credit goes to [General Manager] Nick Caserio and his ability to be able to work a deal and get it finalized. Credit goes to him. The vision and everything that we have for him, just see how many great players you can add. There's nothing wrong with adding great players. As many as we can get to help us go out and play winning football; that's what this was all about."
Q: On the defense finishing in Week 5
Ryans: "Defensively for us, it started as how our guys played. They played, they repped our style the right way. I thought we came out, we played physical, we did a great job of stopping the run. Interior defensive linemen did a really good job there in the run game. Our guys flew around, looked like they were having fun playing football. That was the thing that I saw. Also, on third down, we were able to get off the field on third down. They had a good drive on us the first drive of the game, but I think after that everyone settled in and everybody just did their job the right way. There's nothing magical or anything about it. Guys just played with intent, they did their job the right way and every guy made a play. That's how defensive football should look."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud's performance in Week 5
Ryans: "C.J., he's done this all year. You see the command as I speak about. It's just calm in the offense, knowing where everyone is going to be. One thing I saw is just him when we did get pressured, him being able to make the hot throws to the right people when he had to make those decisions in the tight moments. He did that. Seeing him again escape the pocket to make the play to Jaylin Noel there keeping his eyes downfield. The play to [WR Kayshon] Boutte on their sideline. I mean outstanding throw, outstanding catch by Boutte. It's multiple plays within the game of C.J. just playing really great football right now. Doing a great job of protecting the football but also dishing the ball to multiple people. Really playing the play confident. The offensive line has given him time to operate on schedule, and he's doing a great job of just leading this offense. We continue to lean in on what he's doing well and I can't say enough great things about the season that he's having thus far."
Q: On RB David Montgomery's injury status and RB Woody Marks' Week 5 performance
Ryans: "To update with Montgomery, he'll still be week-to-week. As I mentioned yesterday, we'll see how he continues to progress. Right now, we're looking at a week-to-week injury there with the groin. Woody did a great job yesterday. He stepped in, he had some explosive runs, just made some dynamic cuts, played with great vision, good balance. He's done a great job all season as well. He carried that load for us yesterday and we'll continue to see more of that."
Q: On S Jalen Pitre's injury status
Ryans: "Jalen, same category as Montgomery, he'll be week-to-week as well."
Q: On DE Will Anderson Jr.
Ryans: "Will is on a tear right now. He's leading the league in sacks. He's the best defensive player right now on our team, probably in the NFL. He's just everything you want. You talk about a guy who plays with passion, a guy who has this undeniable strain and relentlessness to him, that's what Will exhibits every single time he lines up on the field. We joked about it in practice during OTAs and Training Camp, but now it's the same thing he was doing in practice. It's the same thing he's doing in games, just really wrecking plays, dominating whenever he gets the opportunity. He's doing a great job of winning his one-on-one opportunities and he's having fun flying around, having fun playing football, having fun dominating and it's exciting to see him."
Q: On the number of penalties
Ryans: "We have to get the penalties cleaned up. It's not good enough at all for us. We take a touchdown off the board from a holding penalty. Multiple times we're making ourselves start further back than we would like to because these are things that we can control from a penalty standpoint. We have to find a way to get it cleaned up. You have to play with better technique and that's the part that's disappointing. We can't hold guys. You have to play clean. You have to play with the proper technique. You have to finish the right way. If we want to continue to progress as a team, we have to clean up the penalties. You can't hurt yourself."
Q: On RB Woody Marks’ growth in year two
Ryans: "For me, as I see Woody, it looks like he's just seeing the field so much better. When he's pressing blocks the proper way, when he needs to make a cut, he's making the proper cuts. When he makes a cut, he's decisive and he's still gaining yards by going downhill. You talk about the vision there, but also just the physical nature which he's running. It's impressive. He had some nice lanes yesterday to run behind our offensive line who did a really good job in the run blocking. We continue to stay after it, continue to sustain our blocks the proper way, Woody can get some positive yards for us."
Q: On DT Kayden McDonald's NFL debut
Ryans: "What I liked about Kayden yesterday, he showed growth from some plays and things we ran in practice that didn't go so great and then he got in the game and he did a really great job with his technique. I'm really proud of Kayden's first NFL action. He was where he was supposed to be. He played stout in the interior of our line and that was a big reason why they couldn't run the ball a lot on us because of Kayden and how he played. Played strong, played smart, really did a really nice job. It's encouraging for me to see him take the improvement from Wednesday's practice to the game on Sunday. The kid has improved. He's taking coaching well. [Defensive Line/Defensive Run Game Coordinator] Coach Rod [Wright], [Assistant Defensive Line] Coach Frank [Okam] have done a great job of working with him. He just has to keep going. Just keep getting better each and every week. I like him where he was for his first outing. It was a really good game by him."
Q: On the receiver room over the years
Ryans: "Each year you just look at the team and you see where you are. With myself and Nick, how can we always improve the team? That's always the goal for us. If it happens to just be the wide receiver room, maybe not by design that way, but it's like, 'Hey, what's available, what are we willing to give up in terms of getting a player and what does that player offer for us?' So, it's a look at it from our perspective of, 'Can you improve the team?' Each year, whatever that looks like, wherever we are, each year is different. Can we add guys to help us get better? We're going to try our best to do that."
Q: On preparing for the team to play in London Week 6
Ryans: "For us, it just starts with a great week of preparation just in the meeting rooms, first and foremost. We'll deal with the travel. We'll have our guys leave on Thursday evening after practice and get there on Friday and go through our normal Friday schedule and then our normal Saturday and ready to play the football game. But for us, it's how much can we just focus on preparing to play a really good football team. Jacksonville has had a great start to the season. They've done a really great job offensively. Trevor's [Lawrence] playing well. Parker Washington is jumping off the tape, explosive plays, playing fast. Defensively, it's going to be a grind. They're not allowing you to run the football. They're doing a really great job of playing aggressive, running to the football. They are a really good team and they have won some tight games. They've shown they're at the top of our division right now, so we've got our hands full. Wherever the game is in London, we've got to go, make it work, the time schedule, all that stuff. It really doesn't matter. It's on game day, how are we showing up ready, prepared to go."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud's growth in year four
Ryans: "In the NFL, guys just mature. You get used to the NFL and what it takes. You get used to playing that quarterback position and all the things that entail playing good at that position. I think you just see that steady improvement that he's had throughout his career. I mean, C.J., Will, all the guys just continue to improve just from putting in the work. It's the dedication that you pour into your craft. C.J. has poured into himself, taking care of his body the right way, training the proper way in the offseason. You see all of that manifesting itself in the season. It's just a credit to the guys and the work you put in. You can never shy away from the work. You can't run away from the work. You want to get better at anything; you have to put the work in. He's done that and we're seeing that growth right now."
Q: On how important rest and recovery are for an international game
Ryans: "Our support staff, they've been phenomenal throughout this trip to London. We have had our people, before the season started in the spring, they went over several times to make sure we have everything that we need there. It's great from our perspective when you have such a great staff and they take a lot of things off of my plate that I don't even have to focus on because we have people that we trust and they care about doing everything that's right for our players. I'm thankful for our support staff and the schedule and everything that they've laid out for us. I think it's well thought out. They don't miss anything. It's well thought out. I'm happy to have the people that we have in this building to make sure our players have everything they need."
Q: On WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Ryans: "We just have to get him in the building first. Have to get him in the building. It's not official until you pass the physical, so he still has to come in and pass the physical. We'll see him later this afternoon."
Q: On looking into the future considering the trade
Ryans: "2026 is our focus right now. That's how I have to look at it. That's what we have. That's where we are right now. So that's my focus."
Q: On WR Marvin Harrison Jr. learning the scheme
Ryans: "The thing that I've heard from a lot of people speaking about Marvin is he's one of the hardest workers. That's the common theme that I've heard from multiple people, how hard of a worker he is. I'm not concerned about him picking up the offense and what he can be able to run for us, the things that he'll be able to do for us offensively. I'm not concerned about it because the kid is a hard worker. He has a great attitude. He's fired up to be here. When you approach it that way, as he will, he'll fit right in."
Q: On the first win of the season
Ryans: "It's our first one and you need to get that first one so everybody can feel a sense of confidence in everything that we're doing. All the work that we're putting in throughout the week, all the preparation, you have to see it. You have to see the results at the end of the week and now it finally came true and now guys just have to keep going, continue to stay locked in with what we're doing, continue to work that way and continue to go execute on Sunday. We won because we executed really well in all three phases. Everybody played well together. Special teams played much better this week. Offense did a great job of driving the field, controlling the game, being able to run the ball, sustain drives. Defense got off the field on third down. We played together and when you see that formula, it works. Now can we go and repeat that again?"
Q: On bringing in players from other teams
Ryans: "I think that's the great part of being a Houston Texan. All the stuff that happened prior to you coming, it doesn't matter. I don't care what people say about you. I don't work to prove people wrong or I don't work to please the opinion of people. It's about everybody in this locker room, you come here, you can be yourself, show up with a great attitude, bring joy every day. Guys who love football are going to thrive in what we're trying to build here in Houston. It doesn't matter. You can focus on things that really don't matter and it doesn't help you. You're wasting time, you're wasting energy. If you focus on just being a great teammate, focus on helping the Houston Texans be great, then we'll be just fine."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: After Further Review: What did Texans HC DeMeco Ryans say after Week 5 win vs Titans?
