Eleven years ago, former Green Bay Packers and current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers delivered a message to Packers fans who were worried about the team’s slow start after three games.
“Five letters here just for everybody out there in Packer-land: R-E-L-A-X,” the future Pro Football Hall of Famer said. “Relax. We’re going to be OK.”
On Monday, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans wasn’t as boisterous as Rogers was, but he expressed those same sentiments towards the fans who voiced their disappointment in the 14-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1.
“That’s the nature of our business,” said Ryans when asked about the criticism after one game. “You lose; fire everybody, trade every player. You win; you’re going to the Super Bowl. Then the next week, everything changes. I get it. That’s the nature of our business. It’s exciting because you have so many different outlets, so many different people having opinions, so many people love football."
“I love the passion. I love the energy that comes with this. It’s fun. We really enjoy this, and we understand the seriousness of it as well. But, to that point, the realistic point, it’s one game. It’s week one. The building isn’t burning down. It’s week one.”
Houston has a lot to clean up after committing a plethora of penalties, offensive inefficiency, and turnovers. With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers headed into town, the Texans have a short amount of time to get things together.
“We go back, and we fix what we need to fix, come out and do the things that we can control,” Ryans said. “That’s the main emphasis for this week. How can we just control the controllables and press forward? Now, when you have a chance to truly compete, let’s see what happens.”
If everything goes according to plan, the fans that will be in attendance at NRG Stadium for the first-ever Monday Night Football home opener and the Texans’ first time hosting a MNF game since November 26, 2018, against the Tennessee Titans.
“For us, we got to go play the right way,” Ryans responded when asked about the Monday night game. “Fans show up, be excited about what we do here. But, for our fans to be excited about anything we do here in Houston, the Texans got to play better.”