Here's everything head coach DeMeco Ryans said following Sunday's 20-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at home, including his thoughts on quarterback C.J. Stroud, the defense and an underwhelming special teams performance.
Q: On if settling for a field goal on fourth and one in the second quarter was because of the failed fourth-down conversion earlier in the game
Ryans: "Today credit to the Bengals for how they came out. They did a great job of capitalizing on opportunities and their playmakers stepped up and they made the plays they needed to make to put them in a position to win the football game. For us just collectively as a team, the one key to this victory was controlling the front and from an offensive perspective and we did not control their front.
We got outplayed up front. We couldn't run the ball well. That forced us into a lot of passing situations. C.J. did a good job of throwing the ball around to distribute it to different receivers. We couldn't find our way to get in the end zone. It was just poor situationally for us to be in the red zone four times and not to come away with touchdowns. That hurts us. Our short yardage, we got stuffed. We missed field goals, botched snaps. It was just not great situationally on our part."
Q: On WR Jaylin Noel's utilization
Ryans: "With our receivers, we have different packages of different guys with different play calls they are in. How those snap counts kind of come about, it depends on how the game is going, how the game is flowing. No one wants to see 'J-Noel' make more explosive plays than all of us, so just got to find a way to keep moving it around and find a way to make plays offensively no matter who it is that's getting the football."
Q: On missed opportunities
Ryans: "The only frustrating part is we had multiple opportunities to make plays. The ball was up. We pushed the ball downfield. We had opportunities. We didn't capitalize on those opportunities. Still, I'm proud of how C.J. distributed the ball, but whoever is out there, it's your job to come down with the ball."
On QB C.J. Stroud playing under duress and how that is fixable
Ryans: "We knew going into this game, that was my message all week, we would have to outwork this front. Their front does a great job of playing with motor. They do a great job of finishing and it showed today. We did not outwork them up front. Therefore, we had the performance that we had. If we want to play better, we want to have better performance, better outing, we have to play better up front."
Q: On the special teams' performance today
Ryans: "Not great. It wasn't winning football from a special teams perspective."
Q: On fixing executional issues
Ryans: "It comes down to this. I think this game is very indicative of what NFL football is about. Ja'Marr Chase, one of their best players, he showed up. He made a heck of a catch, scramble drill, made another play, right, to get them in the end zone two times. Their defensive tackle, Dexter Lawrence, was effective all day in the backfield disrupting, making plays. That's where we have to check ourselves. If you call yourself a playmaker, where are your players? Are you making those plays to put the Texans in position to win football games? That's what it will come down to. Our guys, they played the right way, but you have to execute, have to find a way to get in the end zone. We want to win any game here, we got to get in the end zone, we have to score points. We have to find a way to fix this through our coaches and players. We're all in this together. We have to make sure we're putting everybody in position to succeed.”
Q: On how the special teams' performance affected the game's outcome
"For us, field position we were kind of uphill battle. Their offense was able to start at midfield more than we would like them to. We want teams to try to drive the field on us. They had the opportunity with a really good offense to work from midfield, which is difficult to continue to defend such a great offense when they're working at midfield. We have to do a better job right there of winning the field position battle every time we go out there with our special teams. We have to return it better. We have to eliminate the silly penalties and we have to be able to make our kicks."
Q: On evaluating the offense's performance
Ryans: "For the improvement, it will always start with offensive football. For me it always starts up front. You play well up front, you have a chance. We ran the ball well last week because our offensive line played well. We protected well. But to give up four sacks in the fourth quarter when we needed it most, it's crunch time. We have to step up. We have to protect. We have to do a much better job protecting the quarterback in those instances when we know we have to throw the football and make some plays."
Q: On the defensive line's performance
Ryans: "Starting with Will [Anderson Jr.], I thought Will did an outstanding job and all those guys just collectively, they got after the quarterback, got some good pressure on them. That's what we're used to seeing from our defensive front. They did a good job of bouncing back, applying pressure on the quarterback. He [Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow] still made a few plays on us, so would like to have a couple of those plays back, a couple of the explosive plays that we allowed a touchdown on. Would like to have a couple of those back, find a way to make them. Proud of the effort, proud of the fight that those guys showed. For us defensively, we have to find a way to take the ball away. This is our second week in a row we have not taken the football away, so for us to help the team defensively win the football game, we have to find a way to get more turnovers."
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud's performance
Ryans: "C.J. played very decisive. He went to the proper read multiple times. He was able to take some good shots downfield. We touched it a couple of times, just couldn't come down with it. I'm proud of the decision-making he made today. He had to get out of the pocket, escape and run a couple of times and get us a couple of positive plays. He had some throw-aways that were positive plays. The decision-making was there. In crunch time, we have to find a way to finish."
Q: On starting 0-2 in the regular season for the third time in his Texans tenure and what he can takeaway from the previous seasons
Ryans: "Nothing. We have to go to work. We have to go play good football. That's bottom line. There's nothing to look back on of what happened in the past. This team right now, 2026 Texans, have to dig deep, look down, all of us look down, look deep within ourselves and see how can we find a way to play better football. You win when you play good football. Right now we haven't played good football as a team, collectively, the first two weeks after the season. If we want to win, we play better, we'll coach it better, we'll find ourselves in a winning position."
Q: On the wide receivers struggling to get open
Ryans: "We'll look at it. They mixed up their coverages. It wasn't primarily man coverage. They mixed in their zones as well. They made plays. I mean, he doesn't throw for over 300 yards if receivers aren't open. So I thought guys got open. We just couldn't finish in the red zone."
Q: On WR Nico Collins being inactive for Week 2
Ryans: "Everyone knows Nico is one of the top receivers in the league, so it's no surprise. A lot of guys have to step up to fill that void left by Nico. Bottom line is everybody is here, everybody get paid to go make plays. We have to find a way to go do that. We definitely, of course, miss Nico. When you have such an explosive threat in Nico, it's hard on a defense when Nico is on the field. We had opportunities, but again, we play better up front, we got in the red zone. We were in the red zone. How do we finish in the red zone? That's where for me how do we finish on third down? Too many three-and-outs. We finish better on third down, we finish better in the red zone and we're right in this game."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans HC DeMeco Ryans said following Week 2 loss to Bengals
