Texans coach DeMeco Ryans is happy. He’s happy because, on Sunday, some of his players weren’t.
The Texans had a bit of a kerfuffle on the sideline during the latest training-camp session. Ryans was asked about it after practice ended.
“To see scuffling in training camp, I would say: finally,” Ryans told reporters. “We actually see some guys — that’s what training camp is about. Sometimes you get tired of hitting the same guy over and over again, right? It’s linebackers, running backs, they’re going to thud up a lot in practice.
“And of course, we want to be safe, we want to make sure we keep guys up, but also, it’s going to get a little edgy, it’s going to get a little chippy — that’s how I want to play. Offensively, defensively, I want to play with an edge. I want to play with a chip on our shoulder, but also, we still have to play within the rules. So, it’s a part of camp. You see it. It’s not the worst thing to happen because it just shows that guys truly care about what they’re doing. They want to be really good at it. It’s just two really good competitors going at each other — which I don’t have problem with.”
There’s definitely a balance to strike. Players need to avoid doing things that would get the team penalized, and potentially get them ejected, during games. But it’s still football. It needs to be played, at times, with violent intention. Emotions need to be active and alive and instantly accessed.
But players need to know how to control those emotions, at the right times. And, as Ryans noted, the risk during training camp comes from possibly getting a guy injured during one of those fights.
