Tag: Texans safety

Ryan Clark criticizes Texans for benching safety Justin Reid

ESPN analyst Ryan Clark proscribed the Houston Texans for benching safety Justin Reid in Week 12 against the New York Jets.

The Houston Texans made a puzzling move Sunday ahead of their Week 12 matchup with the New York Jets at NRG Stadium.

The 2-8 club, also facing a 2-8 team, decided to bench safety Justin Reid due to disciplinary reasons.

ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark, who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008 as part of his 13-year career from 2002-14, took the organization to task for benching the former 2019 Ed Block Courage Award winner.

“The Houston Texans’ Justin Reid is a healthy scratch today,” Clark said. “He started all four years for the Houston Texans. He’s played free safety, he’s played strong safety. He’s a healthy scratch because of a disagreement. He’s a healthy scratch because he answered a question honestly when asked by the coaching staff.

“Now, coaching staffs have disagreements with players all the time. They usually move on when it’s not a fight, when it’s not a fight. When it’s amicable, they find a way to get to the solution for the problem and they field the best team they possibly can. That’s what winning organizations do. The Houston Texans have decided to let egos, to let emotions, to let feelings get in the way of fielding the best team possible.

“Justin Reid was a professional. As the leader of the team, he answered a question that was asked of him. Now, he won’t suit up. This is one of the best players on the team, a player that sacrificed much for the Houston Texans. Now, he’s repaid by not getting his helmet because he was honest.”

Reid has collected 42 combined tackles, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and two interceptions through nine games with Houston this season, all of which he has started.

Texans S Justin Reid says losing streaks reveal character

Houston Texans safety Justin Reid says that what losing streaks reveal is character.

The Houston Texans have been on a seven-game losing streak since their surprising 37-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars to inaugurate the 2021 season.

If there is any benefit that comes from a losing streak that has spanned almost two months, it is that it reveals character, according to Texans safety Justin Reid.

“One thing that being on the streak right now does, is it reveals a lot of character,” Reid said. “You find out a lot about yourself, and the type of player and the type of professional you are. Showing up today, still showing up every day and being a pro, doing your job, doing it with enthusiasm, taking care of your responsibilities on and off the field with the body recovery, and things like that.”

The NFL trade deadline was Nov. 2. The anxiety of being moved to another team is no longer a factor. It also means that whoever is left on the Texans’ roster is there for the rest of the season, and it is prudent to make the best of a less than ideal situation.

“A lot of things just start to reveal themselves, and you learn what type of guy you are, because you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, ‘What could I be doing better?’” said Reid. “You also get to see that in your peers around you.”

Reid is in the last year of his contract with the Texans. The former 2018 third-round pick from Stanford has collected 39 combined tackles, two interceptions, four pass breakups, and a forced fumble through seven games, all of which he has started.

Houston takes on the equally 1-7 Miami Dolphins Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at Hard Rock Stadium. The game will reveal how much character is left on the Texans as they are 6.5-point underdogs.

Houston Texans 2022 NFL draft target: Notre Dame S Kyle Hamilton

In the latest Draft Wire mock draft, the Houston Texans take Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton.

Assistant directors of player personnel Matt Bazirgan and James Liipfert will need to take a long, hard look at the free agency pool and 2022 draft class if they are to add pieces to quickly turn around the Houston Texans.

The Texans are currently projected to have the No. 4 overall pick. While still in the top-5, it isn’t so much Houston’s placement in the upper crust of the draft that could turn them away from a quarterback as much as it is the quarterback prospects. No one has really jumped out as the best in college football.

If the Texans don’t go with a quarterback, where would they go in the first round of the draft?

According to Luke Easterling of the Draft Wire, who released his latest mock draft, the Texans take Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton.

The Texans might want an upgrade at quarterback over Davis Mills, but they won’t find it with this pick, thanks to this year’s weak class at the position. Instead, they take the best overall player on the board, and the rare safety prospect worthy of top-five consideration. Hamilton is a versatile defender who can impact the game at every level of the field.

If the Texans are going with Hamilton, then it means they may have let Justin Reid walk in free agency. If they signed Reid and still picked up Hamilton, one would figure defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, presuming he is still in that capacity, or even his successor would have enough talent and resources on the backend to stop the run and prevent receivers from beating them over the top.

Houston is 1-5 and will face the 6-0 Arizona Cardinals Sunday at 3:25 p.m. Central Time at State Farm Stadium. After an optimistic 37-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1, the season has been slow, long march towards the No. 1 overall pick.

Justin Reid leaves no stone unturned to halt the Texans’ losing streak

Houston Texans safety Justin Reid has putting in extra work to help the team snap their four-game losing streak.

The Houston Texans are on a four-game losing streak. Add one more defeat, and the Texans will match the same five-game losing streak they rode into the tumultuous 2021 offseason.

Safety Justin Reid wants to avoid rhyming with recent history.

The fourth-year defensive back from Stanford has been putting in extra work at NRG Stadium on top of his already conscientious output to get the Texans’ elusive second win of the season.

“Honestly, I try and dive into it,” said Reid. “I try and look at myself. I spent every day this week going and talking to our defensive coordinator, just watching the tape, seeing whatever I can do to help the team more.”

As far as what defensive coordinator Lovie Smith has told Reid, the advice is simple: find ways to steal an inch or two in the ultimate game of inches.

“If you can find a way to steal two or three more inches, whether that’s a read step or key, or how to read something faster, it might make all the difference in the world between making a play and not making a play,” Reid said.

Outside of the building, Reid is also delving into his wealth of resources, from his former Pro Bowl safety brother in Eric Reid to his former college coach, David Shaw.

Said Reid: “I have a brother who played in the league, so he knows how this goes, too. Sometimes we’ll just talk ball. I’ll talk to my agent. I even called my former coach at Stanford, Coach Shaw, and talked to him about it, too. So, I have a lot of people in my corner, and I’m fortunate for that.”

Ultimately, Reid, who is tied with safety Lonnie Johnson for the team lead with two interceptions, is trying to find a way to play faster; to eliminate extraneous steps or processes.

“There’s always a way to be faster reading the run keys, as far as not taking a false step, just heading straight downhill,” said Reid. “There are reads in the post, as far as how we’re shifting, and our disguises and how our feet are working. We want to be just stout across the board.”

The Texans play the Indianapolis Colts, also 1-4, Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at Lucas Oil Stadium. Houston has not beaten the Colts since Nov. 21, 2019, at NRG Stadium on Thursday Night Football.

Texans’ Justin Reid says playing safety is about embracing a mentality

Houston Texans safety Justin Reid says that the ability to play on the backend at that position involves taking on a certain mentality.

Justin Reid is a safety. It’s what he does. It’s what his brother, Eric Reid, did at a Pro Bowl level from 2013-19 with the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers.

“It’s really a mentality,” Reid said. “The cornerback position, you’re a little bit more on an island. You’re out there, really it’s all coverage. When you play safety, you have to be willing to get your nose dirty.”

The Houston Texans’ leader in the backend has provided the club with two interceptions, a forced fumble, 20 combined tackles, and three pass breakups through four games, two of which he has started in 2021. Part of Reid’s success has come from being willing to take part in the dirty jobs.

Said Reid: “You have to be willing to go in, play in the box, hit a fullback, hit a tight end, guys that weigh sometimes 30, 40, 50 more pounds than you do. The biggest responsibility is sure tackling. It’s just a mentality thing and it’s a willingness to make those tackles.”

The mentality aspect of playing safety is what Reid has tried to convey to third-year Lonnie Johnson, who was drafted out of Kentucky in the second round in 2019 as a cornerback. Johnson has spent the past two seasons converting to safety after playing cornerback his rookie year.

“His biggest thing when he first moved to safety was just getting experience (after) being a corner his whole life,” Reid said. “He’s grown in the role, and he’ll tell anybody, ‘I’m a safety now, not a corner.’ He’s done a great job there, has the ball skills from being a receiver back in his high school days and things like that.”

Like Reid, Johnson has picked off two passes and knocked away three others, and collected 21 tackles in four games, three of which he has started.

According to Reid, both he and Johnson are similar enough in style that they are interchangeable in the Texans’ secondary.

“I think that the coverage is great when we’re both out there because we both have the ability to play man and be interchangeable that way,” said Reid.

The Texans’ “Evil Twins” will be tested Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time when Houston goes to Lucas Oil Stadium to play the Indianapolis Colts.