I hear you, and creating a safe space where everyone can speak up is essential for any team. But sometimes, players-only meetings aren’t about mistrust; it’s about teammates wanting to get on the same page in a way that feels totally peer-to-peer. They might just want the freedom to hash things out together, maybe to get clarity on what they’re all feeling without the added pressure of someone else’s expectations—especially if they sense any defensiveness. In my experience, even when we build a ‘circle of trust,’ players might still feel more comfortable discussing some things on their own first. It’s not always a sign of distrust, but more of a need to work things out among equals
I posted more than a few times to remember the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were everybody's darling after a surprise trip to and win in the playoffs. Young QB; exciting players.... I don't think we're the Jaguars - but step-backs after unexpected success are not uncommon. I think the perfect corollary is the 2016 Astros. They were bad for years; and then unexpectedly got very good in 2015 and everyone thought: here we go! And then they slogged through a frustrating, disappointing season in '16. They almost certainly overachieved in '15 and '16 was them regressing to the mean. I don't think the Texans are going to miss the playoffs - and I think there's still time for them to get healthy, make some tweaks and be a factor in January. But this team is *still* probably another good. productive offseason away from being top-tier.
I don't think I have ever went through a non-tanking season when fans haven't talked about just how "if/when they are healthy they'll be awesome" kind of talk. Football and injuries always go hand in hand. Lions didn't have Aiden Huchinson who was playing at DPOY level before he got injured. The only season in Texans history I give a pass to because of injuries was the Schaub injury that one year they started at 10-1 or something. Every other year injuries just meant they didn't have enough depth that other contenders build up.
Depth *is* an issue - we're not even two years removed from the Texans going 3-13-1. But what makes this unique is we have a very young, still-developing QB. So when you start taking weapons away from him, it makes it harder.
I meant it in terms of that poster being optimistic about us going 11-6 and potentially deep playoff run once everyone's healthy again. My point is just that football teams are almost never fully healthy and it's pointless to be counting on something like that. Either you have the depth or you don't. If you don't, well you can't complain when injuries derail a season. As for the team being two years removed from a #2 pick season, you actually have it backward. It's the period of time when a team has high draft picks and low salary cap numbers for stars that they can build more depth. Once Stroud is making $60mil/yr and Will Anderson is making $30mil/yr, then you'll really see depth being an issue.
Agree. We better hope the draft picks they choose this past year and the next year or two are good enough to take the spots of the guys we can't afford to keep once those big contracts are signed with CJ and Will. I don't know how they afford to go after high demand offensive linemen in free agency to replace some of our weak links if we don't draft well, without letting good players go somewhere else on our team. We also have some of our best defensive players who are still on rookie contracts, besides Anderson. We better hope they draft really well this year and next, because cuts will have to be made for sure from our starting core not on rookie contracts to afford CJ and Anderson.
They're 6-4 despite losing their top wr, RB, DT, DE, S and Harris whose a difference making LB. Also Tunsil is playing on a bum ankle. They've had more than their fair share of injuries. Bottom line is if this team is relatively healthy they can beat anybody.
This just screams we need serious adjustments in the off season, Nick missed on some picks and that`s OK, it's going to happen but how they fix it will be the real test. It is what it is for now and you can't make wholesale changes mid-season but its been better now that Green is not playing, hopefully a few more games to mesh.................far from perfect but at least serviceable, knowing a team like the Ravens can and probably will blow them up
Wouldn't you say that this is a sign of an undisciplined team? In a similar fashion, a team that has more than usual amount of injuries is likely an unconditioned team, an unprepared team, or, maybe, just an unlucky team. Last season the Texans seemed like a college team. A lot of rah rah, fun games, good success. This season they seem like an injury prone, disorganized, out of sync team that never looks really prepared. The players look downcast, Stroud looks depressed, the coaches appear defensive and deflect blame. If I were the owner, I would have a "secret" meeting in which I would discuss these observations in a firm manner. Get your stuff together or big changes are on the way. But that is just me.
