All Justin Britt could do was laugh.
With 9:04 to go in the fourth quarter, the Houston Texans were crushing the Jacksonville Jaguars 37-14 at NRG Stadium, and the eighth-year center could tell that the defense was unraveling.
According to the former Seattle Seahawks 2014 second-round pick from Missouri, who was playing in his first game since October 2019 when he tore his ACL, the Jaguars were starting to lose their composure as the Texans were relentless with the rushing attack.
“They were saying some not nice things, and I was just laughing at them, because on film there was like seven or eight guys headbutting me and pushing me,” Britt said. “I knew that I won the day. At that point, I knew they were tired of playing us, and that was just kind of how my day went.”
Britt says his goal “in a sick way” was to get inside the Jaguars’ heads. However, his dopamine hit came with a cost as the officials flagged Britt for unnecessary roughness after quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s 4-yard pass to receiver Brandin Cooks.
Said Britt: “I don’t know, it felt right, and I don’t know why they through a flag on me. I didn’t do anything. I was just laughing, I was just having fun. They were the ones that were out of control.”
Jaguars defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris and linebacker Myles Jack were also flagged for unnecessary roughness. Robertson-Harris’ penalty and Britt’s penalty offset, and the Texans declined the roughness on Jack.
Britt will have another chance to get inside the opponents’ heads when the Texans face the Cleveland Browns Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at FirstEnergy Stadium on the shores of Lake Erie. A win would make it the first time since 2016 that Houston started the season 2-0.