DeMeco Ryans used his first bye-week media session to make one thing plain: the Texans aren’t looking for a magic fix from outside the building. The focus, heading into Sunday’s road game against the still-winless Los Angeles Chargers, is on tightening up what Houston is already doing.
When asked by Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 about the team’s initial “look-for’s” or preferred changes after the bye, Ryans kept it simple: “Clean up our own play, re-establish our identity and self-scout.”
That message lined up with the broader tone of the press conference. Ryans wants the Texans concentrating on their own mistakes first, not spending the week obsessing over an opponent. With penalties, uneven play on both sides of the football and a game plan that hasn’t looked consistently sharp on most Sundays, the Texans’ reset starts at home.
Ryans also said there was no concrete return plan yet for safety Jalen Pitre, safety Reed Blankenship and running back David Montgomery, all of whom have missed time over the last couple of weeks because of injuries.
The offensive questions kept coming, and so did the answers about how Houston wants to use its personnel. On the topic of Jumbo formation, Cody Stoots of the S&L Podcast asked about the advantages and disadvantages of the look.
Ryans said, “Jumbo is about us imposing our will. However, we’ve been a little too dependent on the rushing element of its use.
Some versatility from the formation could benefit.”
That was a clear acknowledgment that the Texans haven’t gotten the kind of payoff they want from the package. The formation, which brings in an extra offensive lineman in place of a tight end, has become a little too easy to read. Ryans said changing it up would be on the table, including more pass plays out of the look.
There was also a check-in on Braden Smith, whose return against the New York Giants in week seven gave Houston some help on the right side. Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle asked how Smith looked and whether his return changes the outlook at tackle.
Ryans praised him, saying, “Braden was physical and did a good job overall. We’ll see on a week-to-week basis what might be best for that position (and the offensive line as a whole).”
Smith’s return mattered even in a loss, especially with the issues Trent Brown has had at the position through seven weeks.
Ryans closed the early stretch of questions by circling back to the same theme that opened the press conference. When Kim Davis asked what had stood out most coming out of the bye, Ryans answered, “The main thing is getting back to ‘us’.
Control the controllables, don’t hurt ourselves in our execution. Let’s get back to the fundamentals and focus on improving ourselves independent of what others are doing.”
That’s been the message all season, and it doesn’t sound like it’s changing now. For Houston, the bye week reset begins with execution, discipline and a return to basics.
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