Latest news with #DeMecoRyans
USA Today
a day ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
WATCH: Texans celebrate DeMeco Ryans' birthday after trainin camp practice
DeMeco Ryans getting some love from the fans on his the BIRTHDAY BANNER.🎂🎂🎂 DeMeco Ryans never makes plans for his birthday, even if his family wants to do something fun. Why? Well, the third-year coach for the Houston Texans is usually preoccupied with training camp practices and film study to take a few days off to celebrate another year around the sun. At the least Texans know how to celebrate "Cap" on his special day at practice. Before the Texans took the field in front of fans for the second straight practice, fans greeted Ryans with a personalized sign, wishing him a Happy Birthday. The former Pro Bowl linebacker recently turned 41, though he told the media after practice he was only hitting the 2-1 to celebrate. As Ryans left to sign autographs, he was approached by TORO, the Texans' mascot, with a cake and candle ready for the birthday boy to make a wish. Of course, Ryans played into the fun, blowing out the candles and fans sang the birthday song. Happy Birthday, Coach! 🥳 Hopefully coach wished for a Lombardi Trophy and parade in Houston come February, but we'll never know since it's bad luck.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Texans HC DeMeco Ryans joins 'Back Together Weekend'
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans joins NFL Network's Jane Slater during "Back Together Weekend" to outline his hopes for this upcoming NFL season.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Texans DB Jalen Pitre, LB Christian Harris miss consecutive training camp practices
Two starters for the Houston Texans' defense missed practice back-to-back days, but for one player, it's not much of a concern. For the other? Time could be pressing if he plans on securing a starting job for the upcoming season amid a contract year. Nickel defender Jalen Pitre and linebacker Christian Harris missed Saturday's practice, though both were in attendance among the fans and greeted folks after drills. For Pitre, Saturday marked the second consecutive practice missed with an undisclosed injury. For Harris, he's yet to see action in any practice because of a lower-body injury that hindered his playing time last year. Despite being cleared from starting the season on the PUP list, Harris hasn't taken snaps during teams drills. Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said that Pitre, like all players, would be on their "own timeline" regarding a return. For Pitre, he's not expected to miss much time and could be back at practice by Monday morning. Pitre, who inked a three-year, $42 million extension this offseason, was having a career year after moving to the nickel from safety in 2024 before a chest injury cut his season short. In the early stages of training camp, he's impressed in coverage, picking off C.J. Stroud on the second day of practice for a return for a touchdown. "He's been a guy who's been very consistent for us, no matter where we've put him or what we've asked him to do. He's just my type of player," Ryans said. "He's all over the field, always up for the challenge. Whatever the down is, he's going to be around the football and making plays and it was evident today.' Harris, who enters the final year of his rookie deal, hopes to return to his 2023 form. When Ryans arrived from San Francisco, no one benefitted more than Harris, who notched 101 tackles, two sacks, three forced fumbles and a pick-six in the wild-card round victory over the Cleveland Browns. With both Henry To'oTo'o and E.J. Speed seeing extended time in the starting lineup, every practice missed for Harris could inch closer to him finding a new home in 2026. The Texans return to practice on Monday. This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans' Jalen Pitre, Christian Harris miss training camp practices
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Everything Texans HC DeMeco Ryans said after Day 4 of training camp
Here is everything Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said following Day 4 of training camp, including comments on the offense, defensive picks and return of Sheldon Rankins to the defensive line. Question: On the atmosphere of today's open practice DeMeco Ryans: 'Today, as we kicked off our first day with our fans out, first open practice, it always brings the excitement out in practice. It always brings out that competitive fire in our guys. I'm just excited to be out here so our fans can get a look at our team, their first day to see our new team this year. So, we're really thankful for the support always of our fans. This game that we play, the NFL, it doesn't grow and we don't see the coverage and everything of our game without our fans' support. So, I'm really thankful for our fans and thankful for Andre [Johnson], one of our all-time Texans being here. Him being in the Ring of Honor means a lot anytime we can see him out at practice. Today, announcing that Mrs. Janice McNair will go into the Ring of Honor. That's a really huge deal for the family and for Mrs. McNair, the late Bob' McNair, for them bringing football back to Houston was a huge deal, and we're all beneficiaries of them bringing the game back.' On evaluating players through the highs and lows of Training Camp 'It's easy to arrive that way, right, even in the season. You have a bad game and you want to, 'Woe is me.' You want to feel bad about it, but I tell guys always you have to remain consistent. To me, you don't look at one day. It doesn't matter about one day. It's how you stack the days. How do you progress? We're all striving for perfection. We know we won't get there, but I tell a guy, 'Are we making progress?' Whatever your role is on a team, whatever you're asked to do, do we see progress? That's what's most important to me about this time, we have a lot of young guys on our team. Can we continue to see growth day after day? Can you have a so-called bad day and come back and rebound from that? But, I see a lot of good things and a lot of areas where we can grow and improve and that's what this is all about.' On the defense's performance today 'The defense, they came out and they had great energy all day. They were around the football, attacking the football. That's who we are. That's what we do. So, the defense just being who they are. They're making plays. You had Azeez [Al-Shaair] make a play on the football a couple times. He got his hands on the ball twice. Then Myles [Bryant] had a really good cover snap, playing in great position and was able to finish with the ball in his hand. So, we're really doing a really great job in the back end, also up front. Those guys are playing well together.' Q: On what WR Christian Kirk adds to the offense Ryans: 'Christian has been awesome to work with. First and foremost, he's a really great dude. I'm really excited to add him to our locker room. He brings great spirit, great energy to our locker room. But you see, as a player, you see the explosiveness that he has downfield, the hands that he has, like really quick, whether it's working in a slot or also working on safeties down the field, he's able to make plays. That's what I'm excited to see, just him and [QB] C.J.'s connection continue to grow.' On balancing what he wants to see from both the offense and defense 'Both sides made plays today. I know it gets highlighted when the defense intercepts the football, but the offense made some really nice plays as well. But, it's a really healthy balance of competition and that's what I like to see. The guys are in the right spot. Guys are where they're supposed to be. Now that's coaching, getting the guys in the right spot. Now the player takes over. Now who can make that play, offense or defense, that's up to the guys. How bad do you want to make those plays?' Q: On S Jalen Pitre not practicing today Ryans: 'As always, Jalen and whoever is not out there, everybody is on different schedules. You'll see different guys out there at different times and we'll be ready to roll.' Q: On what changes when the padded practices begin on Monday Ryans: 'Once we put the pads on, you'll see guys start to separate themselves. You have a lot of guys who can do it in shorts and helmets. I've seen that all throughout my career. As long as I've been in the NFL, guys are making highlight plays in shorts where you don't have to worry about getting hit. When you put the pads on, it's a little different story. It's real football when you're able to put the pads on and that's when the evaluation piece really starts to take place. That's how the game is played. It's a physical game. That's the way it's played in pads and that's where we'll see guys start to truly separate themselves.' Q: On if fundamentals are still key even without pads on Ryans: 'The fundamentals are always key. We always restart, anytime we start a new phase, whether it's our OTA training, training camp, we always start back over with the basics. You can never lose sight of the fundamentals. That's what wins you football games, when you're on the fundamentals and you're exactly where you're supposed to be. When you cannot think about the fundamentals and it's muscle memory, now that allows you to have a clear mind to go make plays.' Q: On what he wanted to see in the first phase of Training Camp Ryans: 'Going through this first phase, I really just wanted to see our guys just really get acclimated to the weather here in Houston. First and foremost, getting acclimated to the heat. Also being able to understand how to hydrate and take care of yourself in that manner and make it through the practices the proper way. I feel like our guys are in a really good spot. I'm just thankful to our sports performance staff. They are doing a really good job in the background of really making sure our guys are hydrated, recovered and making sure their bodies are able to withstand the elements we have to deal with here in Houston. We've had a great job of just acclimating the guys over these first four days and now we'll start to ramp it up a little bit more starting on Monday when we put the pads on.' Q: On adding DT Sheldon Rankins back to this roster Ryans: 'Sheldon is a very important piece because he provides a lot of leadership. He's a veteran player who's done it for a while and I really believe if you've got the right veteran player, they can really enhance the growth and really speed up the growth of some of our younger guys. So, I'm really excited to have him back, just his wealth of knowledge of playing the game for a while, being in a lot of different places and seeing it done a lot of different ways. For him to come back and add his insight to not only our defensive line room, but to our entire team is very invaluable. So, I'm excited to have him back.' Q: On what he's seen from OT Aireontae Ersery Ryans: 'What I've seen from 'Tae' we've moved him from right to left, trying to see how much he can handle, and I continue to see growth from him. I think he's done a really good job of being able to have a seamless transition of going left to right. He does a really good job of playing with great balance, great footwork and that allows him to be in good position. He has really long arms. It's just a matter of him trying to get as many reps as possible so the game can slow down. But, from a physical standpoint, he has the tools and what it takes to be a tackle in this league.'
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Texans Open Camp With New Offensive Coordinator, Revamped Receiver Group
As quarterback C.J. Stroud returns to lead the Houston Texans for a third season, his offense has a much different look than it did a year ago. Top receiver Nico Collins and leading rusher Joe Mixon are back. But the Texans have a new offensive coordinator in Nick Caley after Bobby Slowik was fired, and longtime left tackle Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Commanders in the offseason. In other moves on offense, Houston traded for receiver Christian Kirk, signed receiver Justin Watson, and drafted Iowa State receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel before signing running back Nick Chubb last month. Chubb should get a lot of work early in camp, with Mixon opening camp on the non-football injury list after missing minicamp with an ankle injury. 'Every year you're looking to add more and more to your team,' coach DeMeco Ryans said Wednesday as the Texans opened camp. 'I'm excited about the receivers that we've added. The young guys Noel, Higgins also with Kirk, Watson all the guys we've added at those spots will definitely enhance our offense giving us more options for where the football can go and that will help our quarterback a lot.' The Texans needed depth at receiver after veterans Stefon Diggs and Robert Woods left in free agency and with Tank Dell out indefinitely recovering from a gruesome knee injury sustained in December. Even though it's early, Stroud has already been impressed by his rookie receivers. Higgins, who has been compared to Collins, had 87 receptions for 1183 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Cyclones, and Noel added 80 catches for 1194 yards and eight scores. 'They've came in with a great mindset,' Stroud said. 'They are really mature guys. Guys who love to work consistently here at the building or working with me in the offseason. So I'm really excited to see those guys' growth and see them take a step forward each and every day. Not going to be perfect for them, but I think they're going to make a lot of plays.' While the Texans addressed their need at receiver, their most pressing issue is improving the offensive line after Stroud was sacked 52 times last season, which ranked second in the NFL. Though Tunsil was penalty-prone, he was Houston's most consistent lineman, and replacing him won't be easy. Second-round pick Aireontae Ersery could be Houston's left tackle of the future after starting 38 games at the position over three seasons at Minnesota. But veteran Cam Robinson will likely open the season at left tackle while Ersery adjusts to the NFL. Ryans knows everyone is concerned about the offensive line after Stroud was sacked eight times in a 23-14 loss to the Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs last season. 'I know I'm going to get a ton of questions about the offensive line and what it looks like,' Ryans said. 'You guys will see what it looks like when we line up across from another team and we get a chance to actually compete in live reps. Me talking to you is probably not going to convince anybody here … we'll see what it looks like man. I'm excited about the group because I know they'll be better.' Stroud is also looking to take another step after leading the Texans to the postseason in each of his first two seasons. Stroud threw for 3727 yards with 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 17 games last season after winning AP Offensive Rookie of the Year in his debut when he had 4108 yards passing with 23 TD passes and just five interceptions in 15 games. He was asked what the biggest lesson he learned last year was that he believes will help him this season. 'Just trust the process,' he said. 'It's not about what people think, who people think you are, what they think you are, or when they think you should do it. It's about your process and how you're going to go about it. If God is happy, your teammates are happy, and yourself, then you're good.'
