'That's Who I Want Texans To Be!' Coach DeMeco Ryans Praises Attitude

The Houston Texans' late-game intensity revealed head coach DeMeco Ryans' winning culture is already taking shape.

All summer long, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans emphasized the importance of instilling a winning culture in his young roster. Sunday night bore the fruits of that labor in the Big Easy.

The Texans beat the New Orleans Saints, 17-13, to cap off a 2-1 preseason. Newly-signed cornerback Cameron Dantzler won the game for Houston, intercepting a Jake Haener fourth down pass. He celebrated with his fellow backups, dancing towards the end zone, game in hand.

Behind him, his coach was smiling. The Texans starters were overjoyed, bubbling at the fact that their teammate just cemented a meaningless win. Ryans wouldn’t have it any other way.

“To see the energy that our guys had on the sideline, that’s who I want our team to be,” started Ryans. “That’s what I want our team to represent.”

Houston’s training camp was fairly unique in that it was made abundantly clear that few, if any, starting jobs were safe. The bottom of the roster largely felt up for grabs. Even the second overall pick, quarterback C.J. Stroud, was just named the starter after Sunday’s affair. No one would have blamed the Texans for tuning out in the second half after such a competitive camp.

“Be excited for your brother, make sure you’re showing support to those guys that are out there battling for jobs,” Ryans continued. “It’s important to them, it’s important to us all because we’re all in this together. And that’s the team-first mentality that we want to represent and it showed tonight.”

That aforementioned importance likely played a role in the sideline’s explosive reaction. For Dantzler, that interception may have secured his roster spot. For others, that snap could be their last in Houston, or even in football. Of course it was intense.

“That’s how I expect it to be each and every game,” Ryans concluded.

The Texans will have a chance to bring that energy again during the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens on Sep. 10.

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You can follow Anthony Licciardi on Twitter @ALiccScouting.

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