OT’s exit exacts an emotional toll
Brown served as leader, friend, team spokesman
The departure of Pro Bowl offensive tackle Duane Brown via a trade to the Seattle Seahawks for future third-round and second-round draft picks didn’t send shock waves through the Texans’ locker room.
That’s because Brown’s exit to the West Coast one week after ending a sixgame contract holdout didn’t come as a major surprise to his teammates.
His leaving did reverberate emotionally, though.
Although disgruntled with his contract and an outspoken critic of Texans owner Bob McNair following his “inmates” comment at an NFL owners meeting, Brown had remained a respected and outspoken team leader.
“Of course, everybody was upset,” outside linebacker-defensive end Jadeveon Clowney said. “He’s a great leader, but we don’t have anything to do with it. We’ve got to go out and fight with the guys that are here.” ‘It’s part of the game’
Cornerback Johnathan Joseph, an elder statesman for the defending AFC South champions, said it was obvious Brown was pushing for a trade.
Brown had been unhappy with his contract for quite some time. He was due a $9.4 million base salary entering the season and is due $9.75 million next season.
“Duane’s situation, it’s a personal situation,” Joseph said. “Him being traded, it’s obviously something he was pushing for and they made it happen. That’s part of football. It’s part of the NFL. It’s business. That’s why they have the NFL trade deadline and there are transactions. Guys in this locker room understand it.”
Without Brown, there isn’t necessarily a leadership void. There are other players with voices, but none perhaps as willing to share it as Brown, who was the unofficial spokesman for the players during Sunday’s protest of kneeling during the national anthem.”
Cornerback Kevin Johnson said Brown will be missed.
“As a good friend and teammate, great person, great player, it sucks to not have him around,” Johnson said. “But it’s part of the game. … I think we have plenty of guys on this team capable of being a leader. Guys like that you don’t replace overnight, but we have a great team.”
Chris Clark returns from a strained calf and practiced Wednesday. He’s expected to take over for Brown at left tackle again, starting Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
“It’s one of those things; trades happen and it’s always the next-guy-up mentality,” Clark said. “Guys are doing to do what they need to. Duane was always a man who held his own.”
Not having Brown, even though he played just one game in which rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked five times, downgrades the talent across the offensive line. Brown only allowed one sack last season. No help for roster
Texans coach Bill O’Brien walked a line between his respect for Brown and the reality that he can only coach the players on the roster.
“Look, I think everybody knows how I feel about Duane Brown,” O’Brien said. “I have tremendous respect for Duane. He played very hard for us. So, we wish Duane the best. We always try to do what’s best for the player and what’s best for the team.
“It is a business. That’s the nature of how the NFL works. Some guys get traded from one team to another and you move on as a team. What’s important is that the team understands that part of it, that part of the business and they get ready for Indianapolis. And the next guy’s got to step up, whether it’s, obviously, Chris Clark, Julién Davenport, Kendall Lamm.”
From a personnel standpoint, the Texans’ roster didn’t improve through this trade with the Seahawks. When cornerback Jeremy Lane failed his physical two days after reinjuring his leg against the Texans, he reverted back to the Seahawks’ roster.
The Texans’ defense has allowed 12 touchdown passes in losses to elite quarterbacks, including the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Alex Smith.
When asked about the situation at cornerback going forward, O’Brien said: “With what we had. You know what I mean? Same as what we had.” ‘Going to miss him’
From an intangible standpoint, Brown was a meaningful part of the Texans’ organization. He was heavily involved in the community, passionate about social causes, including the Black Lives Matter movement, and popular with his teammates.
“We’re going to miss him,” Joseph said. “I don’t really care about the football side. When you hit the locker room, when you hit the game field, that’s all going to take care of itself. … But some of these guys are your close friends, your buddies off the field.
“You feel for them, but that’s part of the NFL life. You’ve got to pack up and move at the drop of a notice, and that’s the way it’s been since I’ve been in the league, and it won’t change for me or nobody else. Us as a team, we just have to look forward to the Indianapolis Colts.”