November 5, 2024 • 10 mins
The Houston Chronicle's Texans beat writer Jonathan M. Alexander joins The A-Team, after the NFL's trade deadline passes. He talks about why the Texans were not very active in trying to add players. Plus, what it says about the type of players the team would have been interested in adding. He also talks about the Texans getting back to work in preparation for the Detroit Lions on Sunday night. Also, what we could expect to see from Nico Collins, if he does return.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, the beat writer for
the Houston Texans, nice enough to spend a few minutes
with our audience here, both on Sports Talk seven to
ninety and via the simulcast on Space City Home Network.
It went about as you described it would in a
recent piece saying would not expect an active incoming player
acquisition deadline for Nick Cassero. They did make a deal
(00:21):
that sends Khalil Davis to San Francisco for a twenty
twenty six seventh round pick. Why do you think the
Texans felt like the group they already have, plus whoever
they might bring in on a workout or on the
practice squad from an offensive line standpoint, was enough to
move forward with.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, I don't necessarily think it was, you know, the
Texans feeling like, oh, this team is, you know, good,
so let's just keep the band going. I think it
was a little bit more than that.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
For one, you look at the Texans cap situation and
they had five point four million dollars in cast base. Now,
they could have cleared money by restructing the deals of
players like Laramie Tunssel and Titus Howard.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
But they didn't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
They felt like they had made their big move in
the off season that was for Stefan Diggs and obviously
he suffered a ACL injury and was out for the season,
So they were kind of they kind of had their
hands tied and when none they weren't unable to make
a big move. Plus, when you look at the guard market,
there weren't a ton of good left guards available for
(01:30):
trades out there, and that was one of the Texas
biggest needs that and I would say wide receiver and
they look at Nico Collins coming back as an addition
to that lineup?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Did they tie their hands for the twenty twenty five
off season? Also with all the signings and the remaining
money on the cap for Stefan Diggs and dead money,
how do they address this problem? Even we don't care today,
but curious, how do they address it in the off season?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I think, you know, I think you have to look
at how you know they'll address the offensive line, which
is their biggest problem, right And you know, I think
you could see them drafting a player in one of
the early.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Rounds and they've done that.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
They invested a lot of capital and Kingan Green, Juice Scrugs,
Blake Fisher, and you know, obviously it didn't work out
with Kingan Green, but they hoped that Juice Scrugs and
Blake Fisher can develop into something and if they add
another piece, that's how they hope to do it, I think,
And I don't think you'll see them trade for another
(02:35):
big time wide receiver like they did, because obviously it
didn't work out this year. You saw when they traded
for Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
He and Nko had.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Success, but it also, you know, hurt the progression of
Tank Dell. He didn't have this big game until this
past week. And it just doesn't seem like an offense
that can sustain that many weapons because you have that
many mouths to feed. You know, Mixing has obviously been
a huge part of this offense. So I think what
(03:05):
you'll see more important as the Texans start to add
more depth to try to the same potential injuries that
couldccurr and not have a whole bunch of big superstars
on that roster.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Jonathan Alexander joining us from the Houston Chronicle here on
Sports Talks seven to ninety and Space City Home Network.
Jonathan I asked Wex's question a couple of days ago
and wondering what your take on this is how frustrated
is CJ? And what I mean by that is is
he you know, is he We've seen him throw his
helmet down on the sidelines, We've seen you know, him
(03:35):
kind of get after some of the offensive lineman during games.
But how much do you think that's permeating you know,
behind closed doors. I know I'm asking you to do
something you may don't get to see, but you know,
how much is that an issue or a factor at
play here when you're trying to protect a guy like that?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean it's extremely frustrating for CJ, you know,
because he knows and the team knows when he's capable
of when he is protected. He was protected last year
for the majority of that season, despite the injuries that
they had, and you saw this type of season that
he had with twenty three touchdown, five interceptions, Rookie of
(04:13):
the year with one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
And he's been hit constantly this year, especially the last
three games, and you kind of saw it have an
effect on him against the Jets where he started to
get happy feed and kind of rush this process and
start to miss open receivers. So I'm sure it's extremely
(04:34):
frustrating for him. It's something that the team is hoping
to address. You know, you've been c J Strout kind
of mentioned it in the press conference a couple of
weeks ago. He wants to provide some input with the
protection calls and help out do scrugs. So I think
it's their number one concern moving forward, and it's what
(04:54):
they'll continue to focus on in hopes of getting the
offense back on track.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Where does Bobby Slowik fit into all this and why
haven't things seemingly changed over the last three games from
a play calling standpoint, you know, protection standpoint, moving the pocket,
anything like that is kind of his culpability in all this.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, I think he you know, he runs the offense
and the offense just has not looked good from a
pass protection standpoint, So he owns that responsibility. I think,
you know a lot of people and right I had
the same question, why an't the Texas is going to
the path to the quick game? And I think one
(05:36):
of the answers that I was able to seek out
was that they're missing their quick game passing option. You know,
Nico Collins has been out the pass four games. Tank
dell is A is a really good receiver, but he's
not really elite in the quick game. He kind of
gets jammed at the line of scrimmage. But that's on
Bobby Flow had to figure that out and figure out
how you can, you know, reduce the hits that is
(06:00):
taken and not take so many seven drop passes from
behind the center. I think they got to reduce that,
and I think it'll be a focus. It's going to
have to be a focus because you know they have
not performed well. The other thing is, you know, second
half third quarters they haven't played well. They've been out
quart I think fifty eight to thirty two and the
third quarter games. It's gotten out the slow starts. They've
(06:22):
got to pick it up in a third quarter and
adjust to the other team's adjustments a lot better.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Jonathan Alexander Houston Chronicle, Houston Texans beat writer. Joining us
here on the A team. We'll spend a lot more
time on this, no doubt, especially if things don't change
against the Lions. Lions are in a little bit better
position even today than they were a couple of days
ago to make that continue to happen with the addition
they made at edge with Smith coming aboard via trade.
(06:50):
What about the other side of it. Their offense can
be extremely explosive. They certainly have all the weapons. Jamison
Williams expected that he will be ready to go. He'll
be off suspend, but it's not a given that he's
a huge part of the game plan. I suspect that
he will be. Don't really have a good line on
will Anderson unless you can tell us otherwise on his availability.
But how does this Texans defense keep that offense from
(07:13):
being as explosive and really as accurate as GoF has
been all year? How do they slow them down?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah? I think And really the only way is if
they stopped to run. I mean, because that's the line's
mo their is to run the football.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
And with their two running.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Backs Gibbs and Montgomery, and.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
They've done that consistently.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And when they've run the football, it has allowed them
to have open receivers in the play action game, and
that's what the lines really thrive off of them.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
So the Texans are going to have to stop the.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Run, and you know, Will Anderson's is somebody they're evaluating
ankle injury. He's at a history of ankle injuries throughout
his career, so it's something to watching.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
You know, we'll see.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
More on Wednesday, but it's a significant problem because Will
is their best player and if he can't play, and
then the Texans are going to going to have an issue. Now,
Denico Austric can fill in, but he's not the same
well and as their leader of that group. And this
is a really good Lions team well I think is
the best in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
So Nico Collins is likely to return, I unless there's
some kind of setback. Nothing official has been announced, but
you would think he'd be out there. Do you anticipate
him being you know, it's kind of like Kyle Tucker
with the Astros this year. Do you anticipate him going
right back out there and putting up the eye popping
numbers he was before. Do you anticipate a little rust
or maybe trying to get back on the same page
(08:43):
with CJ et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, I could see him coming out and having a
good game, something around eighty yrs, maybe even close to
one hundred. I mean, he was just playing at a
an an.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Elite level before his injury, and if.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
He's healthy then he shouldn't miss a beat. He Nico
Collins and he just try to have plenty of reps
and I think they'd be able to pick up what
they left off if he's there. He'll be a major
part of the game plan. He was kind of coming
into this year. They knew he'd be a focal point
in this offense, and I think that they'll look to
go to him often early and often if he's playing,
(09:19):
and if he's one.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Healthy, any reason why he would not have also been
with Jerry Hughes and Jeff Akuda as a we open
his practice window to return as an injured reserve player
designated to return.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
UH in a couple of things.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I think hamsterring injuries can be a little bit tricky.
You want to be careful with them.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
The other thing is Demiko.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Ryans is very huge on on UH you know, trying
to gain an edge on the opponents. He wants the
Lions to be guessing. So I think it's a little
bit of gamesmanship with that. But you know, Hamshering injuries
are tricky. Player can have a set back at any
moment and then be out for a couple of weeks,
(10:02):
so I think it's part being careful, part gamesmanship.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well, I'm sure you and everybody else is planning out
your battle red wardrobe for Sunday Night football with the
Lions coming to town. I look forward to seeing you
out there, probably during the week, and then see what
you got for the fans from a year standpoint coming
up on Sunday Night. Jonathan always appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I appreciate you having me
Jonathan Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, the beat writer for
the Houston Texans, nice enough to spend a few minutes
with our audience here, both on Sports Talk seven to
ninety and via the simulcast on Space City Home Network.
It went about as you described it would in a
recent piece saying would not expect an active incoming player
acquisition deadline for Nick Cassero. They did make a deal
(00:21):
that sends Khalil Davis to San Francisco for a twenty
twenty six seventh round pick. Why do you think the
Texans felt like the group they already have, plus whoever
they might bring in on a workout or on the
practice squad from an offensive line standpoint, was enough to
move forward with.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, I don't necessarily think it was, you know, the
Texans feeling like, oh, this team is, you know, good,
so let's just keep the band going. I think it
was a little bit more than that.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
You know.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
For one, you look at the Texans cap situation and
they had five point four million dollars in cast base. Now,
they could have cleared money by restructing the deals of
players like Laramie Tunssel and Titus Howard.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
But they didn't want to do that.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
They felt like they had made their big move in
the off season that was for Stefan Diggs and obviously
he suffered a ACL injury and was out for the season,
So they were kind of they kind of had their
hands tied and when none they weren't unable to make
a big move. Plus, when you look at the guard market,
there weren't a ton of good left guards available for
(01:30):
trades out there, and that was one of the Texas
biggest needs that and I would say wide receiver and
they look at Nico Collins coming back as an addition
to that lineup?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Did they tie their hands for the twenty twenty five
off season? Also with all the signings and the remaining
money on the cap for Stefan Diggs and dead money,
how do they address this problem? Even we don't care today,
but curious, how do they address it in the off season?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I think, you know, I think you have to look
at how you know they'll address the offensive line, which
is their biggest problem, right And you know, I think
you could see them drafting a player in one of
the early.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Rounds and they've done that.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
They invested a lot of capital and Kingan Green, Juice Scrugs,
Blake Fisher, and you know, obviously it didn't work out
with Kingan Green, but they hoped that Juice Scrugs and
Blake Fisher can develop into something and if they add
another piece, that's how they hope to do it, I think,
And I don't think you'll see them trade for another
(02:35):
big time wide receiver like they did, because obviously it
didn't work out this year. You saw when they traded
for Stefan Diggs.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
He and Nko had.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Success, but it also, you know, hurt the progression of
Tank Dell. He didn't have this big game until this
past week. And it just doesn't seem like an offense
that can sustain that many weapons because you have that
many mouths to feed. You know, Mixing has obviously been
a huge part of this offense. So I think what
(03:05):
you'll see more important as the Texans start to add
more depth to try to the same potential injuries that
couldccurr and not have a whole bunch of big superstars
on that roster.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Jonathan Alexander joining us from the Houston Chronicle here on
Sports Talks seven to ninety and Space City Home Network.
Jonathan I asked Wex's question a couple of days ago
and wondering what your take on this is how frustrated
is CJ? And what I mean by that is is
he you know, is he We've seen him throw his
helmet down on the sidelines, We've seen you know, him
(03:35):
kind of get after some of the offensive lineman during games.
But how much do you think that's permeating you know,
behind closed doors. I know I'm asking you to do
something you may don't get to see, but you know,
how much is that an issue or a factor at
play here when you're trying to protect a guy like that?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean it's extremely frustrating for CJ, you know,
because he knows and the team knows when he's capable
of when he is protected. He was protected last year
for the majority of that season, despite the injuries that
they had, and you saw this type of season that
he had with twenty three touchdown, five interceptions, Rookie of
(04:13):
the year with one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
And he's been hit constantly this year, especially the last
three games, and you kind of saw it have an
effect on him against the Jets where he started to
get happy feed and kind of rush this process and
start to miss open receivers. So I'm sure it's extremely
(04:34):
frustrating for him. It's something that the team is hoping
to address. You know, you've been c J Strout kind
of mentioned it in the press conference a couple of
weeks ago. He wants to provide some input with the
protection calls and help out do scrugs. So I think
it's their number one concern moving forward, and it's what
(04:54):
they'll continue to focus on in hopes of getting the
offense back on track.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Where does Bobby Slowik fit into all this and why
haven't things seemingly changed over the last three games from
a play calling standpoint, you know, protection standpoint, moving the pocket,
anything like that is kind of his culpability in all this.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, I think he you know, he runs the offense
and the offense just has not looked good from a
pass protection standpoint, So he owns that responsibility. I think,
you know a lot of people and right I had
the same question, why an't the Texas is going to
the path to the quick game? And I think one
(05:36):
of the answers that I was able to seek out
was that they're missing their quick game passing option. You know,
Nico Collins has been out the pass four games. Tank
dell is A is a really good receiver, but he's
not really elite in the quick game. He kind of
gets jammed at the line of scrimmage. But that's on
Bobby Flow had to figure that out and figure out
how you can, you know, reduce the hits that is
(06:00):
taken and not take so many seven drop passes from
behind the center. I think they got to reduce that,
and I think it'll be a focus. It's going to
have to be a focus because you know they have
not performed well. The other thing is, you know, second
half third quarters they haven't played well. They've been out
quart I think fifty eight to thirty two and the
third quarter games. It's gotten out the slow starts. They've
(06:22):
got to pick it up in a third quarter and
adjust to the other team's adjustments a lot better.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Jonathan Alexander Houston Chronicle, Houston Texans beat writer. Joining us
here on the A team. We'll spend a lot more
time on this, no doubt, especially if things don't change
against the Lions. Lions are in a little bit better
position even today than they were a couple of days
ago to make that continue to happen with the addition
they made at edge with Smith coming aboard via trade.
(06:50):
What about the other side of it. Their offense can
be extremely explosive. They certainly have all the weapons. Jamison
Williams expected that he will be ready to go. He'll
be off suspend, but it's not a given that he's
a huge part of the game plan. I suspect that
he will be. Don't really have a good line on
will Anderson unless you can tell us otherwise on his availability.
But how does this Texans defense keep that offense from
(07:13):
being as explosive and really as accurate as GoF has
been all year? How do they slow them down?
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah? I think And really the only way is if
they stopped to run. I mean, because that's the line's
mo their is to run the football.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
And with their two running.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Backs Gibbs and Montgomery, and.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
They've done that consistently.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
And when they've run the football, it has allowed them
to have open receivers in the play action game, and
that's what the lines really thrive off of them.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
So the Texans are going to have to stop the.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Run, and you know, Will Anderson's is somebody they're evaluating
ankle injury. He's at a history of ankle injuries throughout
his career, so it's something to watching.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
You know, we'll see.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
More on Wednesday, but it's a significant problem because Will
is their best player and if he can't play, and
then the Texans are going to going to have an issue. Now,
Denico Austric can fill in, but he's not the same
well and as their leader of that group. And this
is a really good Lions team well I think is
the best in the NFL.
Speaker 4 (08:21):
So Nico Collins is likely to return, I unless there's
some kind of setback. Nothing official has been announced, but
you would think he'd be out there. Do you anticipate
him being you know, it's kind of like Kyle Tucker
with the Astros this year. Do you anticipate him going
right back out there and putting up the eye popping
numbers he was before. Do you anticipate a little rust
or maybe trying to get back on the same page
(08:43):
with CJ et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Yeah, I could see him coming out and having a
good game, something around eighty yrs, maybe even close to
one hundred. I mean, he was just playing at a
an an.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Elite level before his injury, and if.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
He's healthy then he shouldn't miss a beat. He Nico
Collins and he just try to have plenty of reps
and I think they'd be able to pick up what
they left off if he's there. He'll be a major
part of the game plan. He was kind of coming
into this year. They knew he'd be a focal point
in this offense, and I think that they'll look to
go to him often early and often if he's playing,
(09:19):
and if he's one.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Healthy, any reason why he would not have also been
with Jerry Hughes and Jeff Akuda as a we open
his practice window to return as an injured reserve player
designated to return.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
UH in a couple of things.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
I think hamsterring injuries can be a little bit tricky.
You want to be careful with them.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
The other thing is Demiko.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Ryans is very huge on on UH you know, trying
to gain an edge on the opponents. He wants the
Lions to be guessing. So I think it's a little
bit of gamesmanship with that. But you know, Hamshering injuries
are tricky. Player can have a set back at any
moment and then be out for a couple of weeks,
(10:02):
so I think it's part being careful, part gamesmanship.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Well, I'm sure you and everybody else is planning out
your battle red wardrobe for Sunday Night football with the
Lions coming to town. I look forward to seeing you
out there, probably during the week, and then see what
you got for the fans from a year standpoint coming
up on Sunday Night. Jonathan always appreciate the time.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
I appreciate you having me
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