DeMeco Ryans cleared up a misunderstanding created by television cameras panning back and forth to him yelling on the Texans’ sideline in the fourth quarter of a road loss Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Ryans quelled speculation about the flap with many assuming he was upset with oft-criticized offensive coordinator Nick Caley. That’s because the cameras showed Caley perusing his play sheet while Ryans is yelling at someone outside of the camera view.
As it turned out, Ryans was upset with the officials. He emphasized Monday that he was upset with the officiating. Specifically, that the referee thought the Texans were substituting when they weren’t and that mistake prevented them from running their hurry-up offense.
“If you guys saw me animated on the field, that was directed, I think during that snap, we got on the ball, we went tempo, and the refs held our offense from continuing to run their play,” Ryans said Monday at NRG Stadium. “The ref said that we were substituting, which we were not substituting. No one on our sideline got off the sideline or moved.
“So, they didn’t allow us to run our tempo offense. They held the huddle. That’s who I was talking to, the official. Making sure that we were able to run our offense the proper way.”
What was DeMeco Ryans saying to Nick Caley? pic.twitter.com/qv8m0nLTd0
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Down a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Stroud completed a pass to wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson.
That’s when Ryans felt like the officials slowed down the offense in a way that they shouldn’t. Then, Stroud was intercepted by Jaguars cornerback Jourdan Lewis on a throw intended for wide receiver Christian Kirk.
The Texans are off to an 0-3 start and have the worst offense statistically in terms of scoring per game, are the only NFL team that haven’t scored a red-zone touchdown and are 0-for-4 in that category so far. They’re also the lowest-ranked offense on third downs.
“I just said I was talking to the official,” Ryans said. “No, I was not yelling at anybody on our sideline, any coaches, any players. I’m too cool for that.”
Ryans said he doesn’t hesitate to turn plays into the league office for review.
“Every week, if we have any issues, anything that arise from that standpoint of how the game was managed, we’ll go through it with the league office and make sure we talk about that,” Ryans said. “Really, it’s also about talking to the officials for the next game of things we want to do offensively. If we wanted to do that, just having awareness.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com