Since the arrival of defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel in 2014, the Houston Texans have had little issues with rookie quarterbacks.
Under Crennel, the Texans are 11-1 against rookie quarterbacks, with their lone loss coming against the New England Patriots in Week 3 of 2016 when Jacoby Brissett filled in for a suspended Tom Brady in a 27-0 shutout on Thursday night.
Why, under Crennel, are the Texans so good against rookie quarterbacks? The defensive coordinator doesn’t know, however, he does cite their lack of experience into his defense’s ability to force mistakes.
“I don’t know really what that means other than maybe they’re rookies and I’m more experienced,” said Crennel on Thursday. “But I do not play one down against a rookie quarterback. I’m never on the field. It’s my guys who have got to do the job. Rookies, they’re rookies, just like these rookies I’ve got on my team. They’re rookies and they make rookie mistakes until they get experience, until they learn.”
On Sunday, against the 4-8 Denver Broncos, the Texans will face another rookie shot-caller in Drew Lock. Last week, in a win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Lock received his first NFL playing time. Crennel isn’t sleeping on him, however.
“Well, he’s pretty accurate and a lot of times it depends on the weapons that they around them,” said Crennel on Lock. “If they got good weapons around them, then that makes them better. So, he’s got some weapons that he can use and he can go to. So, if we can take those weapons away, then it would be better for us.”
Lock performed well in his first NFL snaps, going 18 of 28 passing for 134 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and an 84.5 passer rating. While the Missouri product was testing the waters, the Texans were beating the NFL’s most experienced quarterback, Tom Brady.
Crennel will look to make his record against rookie quarterbacks 12-1 on Sunday when the Texans host the Broncos at 12 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium.