The Houston Texans’ strategy to get through the rebuilding year of 2021 was to to load up on players with one-year contracts.
However, another message emanating from NRG Stadium is that general manager Nick Caserio and coach David Culley are building a culture.
What kind of culture can the Texans exactly build when the roster is comprised of players who may not be there in 2022?
“I think it definitely brings a sense of similarity,” defensive end Derek Rivers said. “It also brings a huge competitiveness, but we’ve got a great locker room.”
Theoretically the players on expiring contracts are in competition for jobs next season, whether in Houston or elsewhere, and it would behoove them to not put bad tape out there for pro personnel departments to look at.
An example of how it works on an individual level is safety Jonathan Owens.
“I don’t try to think too much into everyone’s situation on the team,” Owens said. “I just kind of make sure I do my job and whatever they ask of me so I continue to give the coaching staff and everyone else in the building confidence that I can go out there and perform and do my job. I try not to look into all of that and just stick to myself and do my roles on the team.”
One group that may be the foundation for the Texans’ new culture is the defensive line where second-year linemen Jonathan Greenard and Ross Blacklock are key figures.
“The D-line room, it’s probably the funniest D-line room I’ve ever been in,” said Rivers. “We’ve got a lot of good character men in this locker room from every position, so to be honest with you, whenever we talk about it, it’s more or less not so much in a, ‘I’m trying to get this, I’m trying to get that,’ which that can easily get to that. But for the most part, it’s kind of just encouraging one another and trying to keep everybody going.”
Another crossroads for the franchise comes in Week 15 as they face the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field. Both clubs are 2-11 and Houston already holds the tiebreaker. Beating the Jaguars would give Houston the series sweep and a tiebreaker that would assuredly keep them away from the top-2 overall picks in the 2022 NFL draft.