Head Coach DeMeco Ryans addresses the media after the Houston Texans win over San Francisco

Head Coach DeMeco Ryans addresses the media after the Houston Texans win over San Francisco

You’re not going to let you’re not going to let them take the part of you first, man. They need to answer these questions for me. Oh, wow. No, really uh really thankful as always. It’s it’s not about us. Anytime I get this opportunity, I just make sure I give glory where it’s due and that’s to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for just continuing to bless us over and over again. It’s nothing that we’ve done to to be blessed, but we we got it. We got We’re thankful for the grace and the love that we were shown. Just thank I’m proud of all of our guys for the way they showed up and and played today. Just a truly complete game starting with the offense the way you know we ran the football, controlled the line of scrimmage. Thought our offensive line did a great job. We were able to, you know, control the ball for 41 minutes, which is huge for us and ran the ball well. CJ had an outstanding game just all around. You talk about really good offensive performance. Guys did a great job. Cam fire away. Um, how did how did today come together right this week, Monday night, all week long, there’s just a lot of talk about all the things that weren’t happening with this team, right, and to pull it together and it just looked almost watching it kind of seamless. What was the big difference this week? And for this week, uh, Kim, the the main thing, our guys just went out and everybody was, I would say, locked in. Everybody had laser focus on their job, what we needed to do. Guys made the plays we were supposed to make. I thought CJ made great decisions with the football uh when it wasn’t there, checking the ball down to the backs. Our backs played well. Uh, we ran the ball for over 100 yards. It starts up front always and when our offensive line can do that, control the line of scrimmage, things will will go well for us. But overall, couldn’t be more proud defensively. They also did an outstanding job. Uh again, great team over there. Those guys made two really big plays on us. Uh KD and Jennis made some outstanding catches on us and that happens. But our guys were resilient. They continued to bounce back. They didn’t let one big play affect them. they were still able to come out and continue to press forward, play together, and finish the game. You know, you guys didn’t have a plan until the fourth quarter, but how important was it to get an early start? Uh to see the offense have success for you to sustain that throughout Yeah, for me, what I’m what I’m most proud of is how we finish the game. Uh we’ve had some good starts, but then we haven’t finished well in games, and that’s been the key for us is the second half and how we finish in the second half. That’s what I’m most proud of there. Uh, anytime you punt the football one time, that’s that’s controlling the game. So, it was a great job and when Tommy did punt, he had a good punt for us. Coach, uh, you guys did a very good job of limiting Christian McCaffrey today yards. What was the game plan throughout the week for yourself, Coach Matt Burke, and your defensive uh, coaching staff? Christian’s a great player, phenomenal player. I talked about it uh, all throughout the week, and we knew we had to we had to stop him. run game, passing game. We knew he would be their highest targeted guy and we were able to hold him. I don’t think he had got many yards today, but it was a collective effort from everyone like starting with the defensive line really disrupting the run game up front and then I think we tackled really well and he had a couple checkdowns there in the two-minute drive, but overall thought we tackled really well versus a really great player. How would you just overall describe how the pass protection looked today? obviously had a great day, but he can’t have a great day without the O line. How would you describe how our O line did an outstanding job again for us to stay upright the entire game uh when it wasn’t there, you know, CJ made again made great decisions of stepping up in the pocket, taking what was given, taking what was there for him. So, proud of the way CJ played, proud of the way the O line played. Without Nico, obviously you guys are relying on others to step up. What can you say about the job that the wide receiver room deal today? a lot of young guys stepped up and make plays. Uh, null Higgins, Jerry Wayne stepped up, Barry, all of our receivers, all those guys showed up and not just in a passing game, the way we ran the football, the receivers have to block. So, they did a great job of blocking as well. Coach McDaniels done a great job with those guys, having them prepared. And that’s what I talk about. That’s what the league is about. It doesn’t matter who’s out there. If you do what you’re coached do, you do it the right way and you do it with a a relentless mindset. like we can go out and we can play well versus anyone. The receivers showed up big time today. Coach, you talk about each week you talk about trying to play clean football. I mean, obviously got had eight penalties today, but these penalties seem to be so dispersed and with your time of dominance on the offensive side of the line line of scrimmage. It didn’t seem like it really didn’t have really didn’t have any havoc in what y’all was consistently want to get done today. For sure. with the penalties. Uh we had a couple holding calls that we have to clean up. Like in Oline did a good job, but we got to clean up some of the holding penalties that’s kind of knocking us back. But I think in the beginning of the year, we allow those penalties to kind of stall us out on the drive. Right now, nobody panicked. Everybody just continued to press forward knowing we can overcome any situation. So, no one got in a bad mood about a penalty. Like, let’s just keep playing forward. Penalties will happen. We want to clean them up. Of course, playing with great technique. Uh but we can do a much better job of course uh defensively. We had offsidize penalty that we cannot have on third down that allowed them to go down and drive. That’s the one right there that’s truly controllable that we cannot have. Um coach, um coming into this game, there was a lot of um criticism and noise about the way that the offense was ran and in particular the way that Nick Katy was called in place. How impressed were you by the way that he was able to call the game today and for you all to get off to such a fast start? Yeah, Kayleie Kaylee did a great job again today and and he’s he’s done a great job with, you know, what we’re asking him to do. He’s doing a great job. Uh he has the guys the guys have his back. Everybody’s in this together, right? From Kaylee, myself, the player, we’re all in this thing together. So, it really doesn’t matter about outside noise and we hear a lot of that every time you lose. just everybody wants to come up with something of get rid of everybody, fire everybody, you lose a game, you go out, don’t play well. Well, it’s just the noise is just a lot of people who don’t know what they’re talking about because here in this room as a team, we stick together as a team and we know it’s only about us, right? And you never let that outside noise creep in and control who we are. We know who we are. We know what we’re about. We know the formula. We know what it takes to go win games. And we just understand that the outside noise is just noise. We would never go ask anybody who’s given the noise. We would never go ask them their opinion about how to game plan or how to play football. So, we keep that in house and we go we press forward and we go out and play good football. That’s what it’s about. Well, to piggy back on that last question, Mo, I know it’s just one win, but how much pressure does this take off of you now that you played so well complimentary football in all three phases? And secondly, did it help the fact that you are so familiar with the 49ers and game planning this one? Yeah, I I don’t have any pressure on me. That’s it’s we’re in the NFL. Every week is a tough week. We’re going to celebrate this win because we got to win versus a gritty tough football team. The Niners are great. Even though they are missing a lot of top guys, still they found a way to pull it together, play a great game. And we knew that was going to be the case, right? We getting fall into the trap of who they didn’t have. Those guys are prepared. Kyle has them prepared every single week. And that’s our game plan was just to go out and execute the way we know how to execute and the guys did that and I’m proud of them for that. Hey Tamo, you um you talked earlier a little bit about um how everybody played really well, but can you talk about CJ and just kind of his maturity, the kind of you know the way the offense has looked so far this season for him to keep being able to keep pressing and have the kind of performance he had today. What does that say about him and and his leadership? Yeah, when CJ’s locked in, we know when the quarterback is playing well, right, and CJ plays well and he’s upbeat and everybody can see he’s going to the right spot with the football. He’s making great decisions, stepping up, escaping the pocket, converting some runs there, converting some third downs. I mean, you just see the entire the energy, the vibe of our entire sideline just changes, right? because everybody’s looking for the quarterback for that leadership and it’s just about nothing special or nothing grand. It’s just about him just remaining disciplined as a quarterback. Uh doing exactly what he’s supposed to do on every given play. And when he does that and he makes great decisions and with the O line working the way they work today, that’s what you see, man. One of his best games ever. All right. The way he operated today, it was very clean football and and I’m proud of where he is. We just have to continue to stay with this every every week. you all and and he did this without um your best offensive playmaker. So, what did you need from them to be able to do that in spite of it? Yeah, for us again I said, you know, we always want all of our best players out on the field. But again, it’s you don’t make excuses. like the game goes on. Whoever is up, whoever is out there, like we expect our guys just to execute, do what they’re supposed to do, and play to the best of their ability. I never ask anyone to go and be Nico Collins. Go and be someone you’re not. Everybody just play to the best of your ability, and we’ll be just fine. And that’s what the guys did today. We’ll close with John D. Sorry, coach. Uh on third down today, you guys were excellent. down a 16 on third down led to winning the time of possession a lot to a little. Um what does that say about this team when the offense plays and execute which is something you mentioned a lot executes and play the standard of football you guys have set for yourself and also how impactful was the 2025 draft class for today offensively? Yeah, for us when you’re able to win third downs, which is always a a huge key to winning the game, it allows you to stay on the field. It allows you to sustain drives and in games where we’ve done that, like we’re able to stay on the field and just continue to press forward and end drives with points. So, that’s that’s the importance of of third down. And for our young guys in this draft class, you know, they’re they’re continuing to get better. They’re growing. They’re stepping up, making big plays for us. Uh, and Jaylen No, he’s jumping off the tape for the past couple weeks of making some some big time plays for us. The things you saw him do at Iowa State is showing up. the explosiveness, him down the field, like his return ability, just all across and you can tell they’re all getting more comfortable with what they’re asked to do and they’re really flourishing in their roles. How would you assess how secondary player caught it big um basically to kind of seal the game? How would you over overall assess how they did today? Yeah, overall thought again the defense as a whole the guys did a great job. It’s rushing, covering together. You know, the ball will come out quick. They hit us on a couple couple deep passes there on the sideline and they tried it again and Camaro was able to go up and make a play and that’s what it’s about like when you have your OP at the end of the day everybody’s going to have a one-on-one in this in the back end and are you making a play or not and we made plays today. Last one, coach. Um, I think you may have mentioned it a little bit earlier on, but just the way that your offensive line was able to protect CJ today, get going in the in the run game. I don’t think you all had any sacks and you, you know, kept, like I said, kept a lot of the pressure off of him. When you see that and them moving in unison like that, is that what not only the expectation, but what you know that they can do? Yeah, I know our offensive line can do it right. we when we do it and we do it at a high level and we’re we’re focused, we’re locked in, like that’s what it looks like. And so hopefully they see that and it’s something that continues to give them, you know, that confidence that when we are working in unison, guys are together. We’re on the same page communicating and we’re straining no matter what happens. We’re straining to finish to make sure the defense is staying off the quarterback. like there is a lot of things open for us down the field and we have a quarterback who can deliver the football wherever it needs to go. All right, thank you guys.

Head Coach DeMeco Ryans addresses the media after the Houston Texans’ win over the San Francisco 49ers. Ryans talks about playing a full four quarters, controlling the line of scrimmage, C.J. Stroud’s leadership, wideouts stepping up without Nico Collins, and what it means to execute clean, physical Texans football in all three phases.

00:04 – Opening statement: gratitude, faith, and pride in the team
00:31 – “Complete game”: offense controls the line of scrimmage and time of possession
01:04 – What changed this week: laser focus, execution, and CJ’s decision-making
01:40 – O-line sets the tone, backs run hard, defense bounces back after big plays
02:22 – Finishing the game: proud of how the Texans closed in the second half
02:51 – Limiting Christian McCaffrey: tackling, disruption up front
03:35 – Pass pro and CJ staying clean in the pocket
03:59 – WR room steps up without Nico Collins: Noel, Higgins, Jared Wayne
04:26 – “It doesn’t matter who’s out there” — standard over excuses
04:38 – Penalties, composure, and overcoming negative plays
05:42 – On Nick Caley’s play calling and blocking out outside criticism
07:07 – No “pressure,” just NFL football: respecting the 49ers and executing the plan
08:04 – CJ Stroud’s energy, discipline, and sideline leadership
09:16 – Next-man-up mentality at wide receiver
09:52 – Money downs: winning on third down and controlling the clock
10:20 – Rookie impact: Jalen Noll flashing, young guys growing fast
11:08 – Defense finishes: Kamari makes a play, Texans win their 1-on-1s
11:42 – Offensive line standard going forward and confidence for the group

Subscribe: https://bit.ly/3UH7n0E

Tickets: https://www.houstontexans.com/tickets/