The Houston Texans fell to 1-6 after their 35-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers Sunday afternoon at NRG Stadium.
The temptation for any young player on the roster is to pack it in given the Texans’ chances for making the playoffs, let alone winning the division, are dwindling. However, safety Michael Thomas says that would be the wrong attitude, even from an individual point of view.
With scouts and personnel evaluators still having to watch film, younger players can’t afford to have any bad film.
“What you tell yourself, what you tell those younger players, what you tell the rest of the team and the vets is, man, this is a what have you done for me lately league, and they are going to be evaluating every single thing about this team moving forward for the rest of the season, about every single player,” Thomas said. “And so for a young guy, especially a rookie who’s never been through this before, understand this now. This is not, ‘Ah, the season is over with, let me take it in.’ No. Understand this, they are evaluating how do you react now.”
While the Texans may or may not be 1-6 in the future, a player could land on a promising team that could start 1-6. If so, that team would want to have a hearty player who would be willing to fight and claw out of a 1-6 hole, not make business decisions to gear up for a better season.
Said Thomas: “Are you going to go out there and just dog it or are you going to go out there and try to get better every single week? Are you going to go out there and compete, regardless of what your records is, regardless of what your situation is, your standing is” I think a lot of vets know that. Even though the Texans have had a lot of success here lately, I think a lot of vets know that.
“But the young guys especially just letting them know and understanding, nah, this isn’t the time to tank it in, or pack it in. This is the time to actually focus on your technique, get better.”
The Texans head into the bye week and have a chance to regroup. When they come out of the bye, they will go on the road to face the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field.