DeMeco Ryans On Importance Of Mastering Close Games
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has stressed that he and his players are starting all over again next season.
In 2023 the Texans won the AFC South while QB C.J Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year. In 2024, they will not be a surprise and they will not be an underdog story.
DeMeco Ryans knows this, and says Houston must earn the right to compete again. The additions of veterans Diggs, Mixon and Hunter to a young roster ought to bring them to the next level.
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“The most exciting thing, what I love about the NFL is it doesn’t matter what happened last year,” said DeMeco Ryans.
“You get to hit reset. To start back from ground zero, I love that, going back to our Day 1 fundamentals, installs, and seeing guys truly grow and seeing how far we can get before the Hall of Fame Game, see our young players get better and compete against each other. That’s what I enjoy most. I still enjoy — and it comes back to the Senior Bowl — I still enjoy the growth and development of young players. That’s what gets me going. That’s why I enjoy coaching is to just have some type of imprint on those guys to help them to go and achieve whatever they want to achieve in their careers
“People talk about how exciting of a year it was, but I throw up a stat to our guys this offseason, like, ‘Look, I know we won some games, but guys, look, we had 10 games within one score, and these games were down to the wire and we had to find a way at the end.’ That doesn’t change.”
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“That’s the NFL. It’s about being smart, being confident in those crucial situations, like the last two minutes of a game. Can you go perform? Can you be clear-minded and go execute the details of your job to the highest level? That’s what it’ll come down to. So I just always remind them, like, ‘Hey, we didn’t just blow everybody out!’ Those games can go either way, and you have to continue to prepare that way coming into this new season. It’s not just going to happen again. You have to start back over at ground zero and work your way back up.”
