Players support Culley
Texans coach David Culley said after Sunday’s loss to the Titans that he expects he will be the franchise’s coach again for the 2022 season. Culley, who signed a four-year contract when he was hired a year ago, also said he expects his entire coaching staff to be retained.
Culley said he hasn’t had “any conversation at all” yet with general manager Nick Caserio about his status or any other coach’s. Culley did not say whether he has a scheduled meeting with Caserio about whether he will be retained, and, when asked how he’d make his case to be retained, Culley said, “I’ll let them make that decision.”
The Texans have exit interviews scheduled Monday with the players. There are 33 players whose contracts expire this offseason, and 29 of them signed one-year contracts for the 2021 season. Many of them voiced support for Culley to return next year.
“I feel like he is a great guy,” said starting defensive tackle
Maliek Collins, whose one-year deal is set to expire. “He is the same guy every day. He is consistent. That’s what you want in a head coach. That’s what you want in a leader of men.” Starting linebacker Kamu
Grugier-Hill, whose one-year contract also is set to expire, also said he hopes Culley is retained. Rookie wide receiver Nico Collins said “the season didn’t go as we wanted to, but Culley is a great coach.”
“We love him,” said Collins, who finished the season with 33 catches for 444 yards and a touchdown. “He brings the juice. He picks us up when we’re down. He is a great coach. I love him a lot. I appreciate him, everything he did this year and looking for the future, for sure.” Rookie quarterback David
Mills said Culley “was a great leader for the team.”
“In the game of football, ultimately, it comes down to wins and losses, but he had full faith in the team and really led us well all season,” Mills said. “I loved him as a coach, and I hope he is back.”
Amendola ends year with a season high
Texans slot receiver Danny
Amendola finished the year with a season-high seven catches, 113 yards and two touchdowns in Houston’s 28-25 loss to the Titans in the regular-season finale.
Amendola, 36, returned to action after missing five games while sidelined on the injured reserve and the COVID-19 reserve. The 13-year veteran finished the season 24 catches, 248 yards and three touchdowns.
“Listen, his age and size is not an issue,” Culley said. “He is a flat-out football player. He’s been that way his entire career in this league. When he’s been healthy for us, he has been very productive. Obviously, today he came up big for us when we needed him to come up big, but that’s what I expect out of Danny. He is like some of those other players that I’ve talked about that have been veteran players that we’ve had on this football team that are pros’ pros that do the right things, that are very good in the locker room, and Danny is one of those guys also.”
Amendola, a graduate of The Woodlands and Texas Tech, signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Texans days before the regular season opener. He replaced slot receiver Anthony Miller, who, after returning from injury, was cut from the team in favor of Amendola.
But Amendola missed nine total games this season. First, he was sidelined four games with a hamstring injury. Then, after playing the Jets in Week 12, Amendola underwent knee surgery that sent him to injured reserve.
When asked about his future in the NFL, Amendola said, “we’ll see.”
“I love playing the game,” Amendola said. “I love running routes in the offseason. I love training. I love the whole process of being an NFL professional football player. It’s something that I love and I base my whole life around. I’m going to enjoy this first part of this offseason, make a decision on what’s best for me and my family here in the future.”
Pair of plays derail comeback attempt
Two crucial plays perhaps prevented the Texans from sweeping the Titans with another stunning upset in the regular season finale.
The Titans were leading 14-0 with 22 seconds remaining before halftime when, on third-and-10 at the Houston 49, quarterback
Ryan Tannehill launched a deep pass toward the end zone. Racey
McMath leapt for the ball and collided with safety Eric Murray midair. The two players collapsed. The pass was intercepted by cornerback Lonnie Johnson, and, were it not for a flag for pass interference, the score would have remained the same at halftime.
The ball was spotted at the Houston 4, and, on the next play, Tannehill tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Nick WestbrookIkhine that extended the lead to 21-0.
A second-half surge pulled the Texans within 21-18, and Houston’s defense had a chance to make a crucial stop on thirdand-5 at the Titans’ 30. Defensive end Jacob Martin swept into the backfield and wrapped up Tannehill, but the 6-4, 217-pound quarterback spun out of the sack and heaved a 36-yard completion to a wide-open Westbrook-Ikhine on the right sideline.
“I was getting wrapped up,” Tannehill said. “Then just twisted away, got away from it, and saw Nick (Westbrook-Ikhine) waving his arms doing the Billy ‘White Shoes’ ( Johnson) over there on the sideline, so was able to find him and get him the ball.”
Five plays later, Tannehill threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to
Julio Jones in the back of the end zone to give the Titans an insurmountable 28-18 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game.