The Texans dropped to 4-10 on the season with a Sunday road loss, 27-20, to the Colts. On Monday morning, interim head coach Romeo Crennel met with the media via Zoom, and was asked about a number of topics.
Moving forward - Keke Coutee's fumble at the 2-yard line was the Texans' final offensive play at Indianapolis. Earlier in the game, he caught a touchdown pass, and on the fumble play he picked up 13 of his 53 yards on the 5-catch day. It was the third fumble Coutee's lost this season, and Crennel said the young receiver simply needs to leave the mistake in the rearview mirror.
"He has to shake it off and move forward because he's got to play next week," Crennel said. "He's got to put it behind him. I know he doesn't like it, the fact that the play occurred, but it occurred. You can't take it back and so you can try to work to improve so that it doesn't happen again."
Pro Bowlers? - Because of COVID-19, there will be no Pro Bowl game played in late January of 2021. But tonight at 6 p.m. CT, the rosters will still be announced. for the AFC and NFC's standouts. At the inside linebacker spot, Zach Cunningham finished with the most fan votes from his position group. According to this story on NFL.com, players get selected by "consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group's vote counts one-third toward determining the 88 All-Star players."
So if the players and coaches agree with the fans, Cunningham will earn his first Pro Bowl nod. Crennel would be fine with that, as he said Cunningham "is well-deserving" of that honor.
"Zach has had a good season," Crennel said. "He is a very active defensive player for us. He runs and hits. He fills gaps and he is productive from that aspect."
Quarterback Deshaun Watson and left tackle Laremy Tunsil played in the game last season.
Howard update - Right tackle Tytus Howard left Sunday's game with a concussion. The symptoms were severe enough that he stayed overnight in Indianapolis at a hotel. Crennel said the second-year lineman is in the concussion protocol, and was also traveling back to Houston today. He started all 14 games this year, after landing on injured reserve late in 2019 with a knee injury.
Turnover ratio'd - It's been a rough year for the Texans in the turnover differential department. They've turned the ball over eight more times than they've taken it away. At minus-8, only the Bengals, 49ers and Broncos are worse than Houston in that statistic. The Texans are in the middle of the pack with 16 turnovers on the season, but dead last in the League with just eight takeaways.
"We're not getting hands on balls, we're not causing fumbles and all those kind of things, but they do continue to play hard to give us a chance," Crennel said. "So that's what I have to build on that the fact that they will go out there and play and give effort. We've worked in practice doing turnover circuits and all of those things. Sometimes being at the right place at the right time is part of it. Sometimes making extraordinary plays."
