- 2 days ago
Seth and B-Scott discuss potential ramifications of Aireontae Ersery's hand injury along the Texans' offensive line.
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00:00I think that one of the therapeutic parts about this is that you can kind of help me get through this worry that I have about the Texans offensive line.
00:08We're going to definitely talk about this today.
00:11But while we're trying to celebrate, you know, the four Texans pro bowlers,
00:16while we're trying to celebrate since punch their ticket to the playoffs with a win at the Los Angeles Chargers,
00:23I'm looking at these tackles like, man, one of them's got a broken hand.
00:28You know, the other one is kind of banged up, too.
00:32So I'm hoping throughout the next four hours that maybe you can talk me off the ledge.
00:35Boy, that's a lot of responsibility to put on me on this time of the year, man.
00:41You and I were talking before the show about just the disillusionment that comes with becoming an adult
00:46and realizing, oh, this magical time of the year comes with a lot of baggage.
00:54Okay, I do feel it's interesting.
00:58For the last half of the season, we've been talking about, okay, man,
01:01never would have expected Trent Brown to make that big of a difference,
01:04but he's really helped stabilize this offensive line.
01:07And I almost feel like from at least the things I'm seeing,
01:12a lot of people are just kind of casting him aside to worry about Ariante Ursary.
01:16Yeah.
01:16And maybe it's because Trent Brown limped off on his own power from the field the other day
01:22and that if it's an ankle, you figure, okay, you can spat that up and go.
01:26But we're potentially talking both offensive tackles for this Texans offensive line,
01:31which had stabilized but wasn't awesome, but it at least stabilized.
01:35A full 40% of your offensive line potentially being out on Saturday versus one of the best teams in the AFC.
01:44If I'm going to talk you off the ledge, it's going to have to be this way,
01:49that Titus Howard will be just absolutely fine at right tackle if that's what happens.
01:54I was pleasantly surprised by how Jarrett left guard for those couple games in the middle of the season.
02:03And then, hey, you got Blake Fisher at left tackle.
02:07That's, hey, that's the reality of the deal.
02:11And I think there's an elephant in the room here.
02:13Yeah, the big thing is I think they'll still go with their 6-0 line jumbo package.
02:19I don't know who the sixth guy will be,
02:20but just by having one more large body out there,
02:23that helps potentially soften some of the weaknesses that you have if Blake Fisher is at left tackle.
02:30It is funny, the point that you mentioned earlier about how Christmas and your view of it changes a lot.
02:36Like, I think about when I'm a kid, I'm only worried about am I going to get a bike?
02:40Am I going to get a video game?
02:41Like, how are we going to spend Christmas?
02:43I'm being asked yesterday.
02:44There's selfish concerns.
02:45I'm being asked yesterday, like, are you ready for Christmas?
02:48And I'm like, all I can think about is this Texans game.
02:50And also getting past Christmas, right?
02:53Like, those are two things.
02:55If I've got two goals this week, it's to get to the 26th.
02:59Like, I'm much more looking forward to December 26th than I am tomorrow just because I want to get through the holiday.
03:07And then right behind that, right on the other side of that, is being worried about this Texans offense
03:13and specifically the offensive line.
03:14Everything you said there, I'm not as much worried about until you get to the very end.
03:20Yeah.
03:20And that's that Blake Fisher component.
03:22Here's the thing for me, Seth.
03:24It'd be one thing if I felt like he was playing well as the extra offensive lineman,
03:30as the sixth offensive lineman in the jumbo package.
03:34Now, he hasn't been terrible, but I've seen some plays where he's been whooped as the sixth offensive lineman.
03:42Now you're talking about he's going to be over there on the left side on an island against Khalil Mack
03:46or whoever it is over there on the other side of him against the Chargers.
03:50I've got to say I don't feel great about it.
03:51Don't feel great about it.
03:52On top of the Trent Brown aspect of it.
03:54You know, okay, so I think as you were saying that about, okay, there have been some times where Blake Fisher,
04:01when he's in that role, doesn't look so hot.
04:04And the Chiefs game really popped out.
04:06And I think one of the problems with the Chiefs game was that when they had six offensive linemen in,
04:11they were saying, all right, this gives us an opportunity to help out the interior offensive linemen,
04:16and we'll try to double-team Chris Jones because that's the real battle.
04:21I think with the Chargers, your battle and your concerns are more with the edge defenders.
04:26So you're going to be able to use the sixth offensive lineman to help, you know,
04:30double-team with Blake Fisher on some of those edge rushers or slide protect, you know,
04:35to help out with the edge rushers.
04:37And that's hopefully where it won't necessarily be as dicey as it was versus the Chiefs.
04:43But it is, man, it's a bad week.
04:46It's a bad week to have this issue on your offensive line because the Chargers are a really good defense,
04:52and they do a lot of the things that sometimes flummox the Texans' offense with lining up Derwin James all over the place,
05:00just, you know, enough deception that guys can get a little bit confused and out of sorts.
05:06That's by far, to me, the biggest thing that's – it's ruining Christmas, okay?
05:11Yeah.
05:12You hear that, Texans' offensive line?
05:13You're ruining Christmas for me.
05:15Yeah.
05:16Yeah, I mean, seriously, man, like you mentioned, I think the underrated part of, like, the Trent Brown.
05:22Think about it.
05:23They've won seven straight games, and I'm pretty sure that almost perfectly coincides with the seven games
05:31that Trent Brown has been out there.
05:32I'm not saying that he deserves credit for the entire winning streak,
05:35and I don't think that he thinks he deserves credit for the entire winning streak.
05:39But it is at least true that this guy, ever since he's been inserted into the rotation or into the lineup,
05:46they've been this good, and, of course, Ariante Harris.
05:48You're 100% correct, Brandon.
05:50They have not lost – the Texans have never lost a game in which Trent Brown has started at right tackle.
05:56Just saying.
05:57I'm just saying.
05:57Going back to the Jacksonville game, when you had to start your backup quarterback, you add to that,
06:05three-sevenths of the losses – or of the wins in this win streak came with Trent Brown at right tackle
06:11and Davis Mills at quarterback.
06:14So, boy, that's a pretty – it's hard to argue with that math.
06:18Yeah.
06:18When Trent Brown is starting at right tackle, they're going to win a football game 100% of the time.
06:23Let's hear from Texans offensive coordinator Nick Cayley on who he suspects could start at left.
06:29I think we all know who it is.
06:31It's probably going to be Blake Fisher.
06:32But this was Nick Cayley meeting with the media on yesterday.
06:35Yeah, we want to try to get the five best guys out there.
06:37And certainly, like, you know, does it help having some experience?
06:40Sure.
06:41You know, you look at a guy like – we've talked about Titus before.
06:43Like, Titus has outside the inside flex.
06:45But you want to be able to get a guy that obviously has confidence, comfortable out there.
06:50And, you know, if they've played the position, obviously it helps.
06:52But we're going to try to get the five best out there however we can that communicate,
06:55that are cohesive with each other.
06:57And I think that's what I'm doing right now is getting all that, you know,
07:01trying to figure that out and solidify everything.
07:03That's a – I don't fault Cayley for framing that the way he did because it's accurate.
07:08That's what they're trying to figure out.
07:09Now, as he's saying it, though, like, it's clear in front of my mind that this is a short week.
07:16It's already – today is like a normal Thursday.
07:19They've got a game on Saturday.
07:21And it's a week in which as much as you try to fight against it,
07:25there are distractions that players have just because it's the holidays people have in visiting and everything.
07:30You want to believe that shouldn't make a difference.
07:32But it's enough little issues, like extra things, guys being out of the routine that make it difficult to prepare in a week like this.
07:39That's the dicey part of it.
07:41I do like – I like that they're on the road for those very same reasons.
07:46I always – as a player, I always loved being on the road during the holidays because it's just a free pass
07:51and getting out of any kind of expectations people have of if you've got your family or in-laws visiting or anything like that.
07:59You just get away from it all.
08:00You can dial in and focus in a silo.
08:03And I don't – man, I don't think they are doing anything different.
08:07But if I were D'Amico, I would have said, hey, guys, we're traveling on Christmas Day this year.
08:12We're flying out to Los Angeles because, you know, West Coast and everything.
08:16Yeah.
08:16And you guys will do your Christmas in the morning, and then we'll fly out,
08:20and we'll just have a couple days of preparation out in Los Angeles.
08:24I don't know, man.
08:24Christmas in L.A., unless you value the wintry vibe, the snow and all of that,
08:31Christmas in L.A. actually to me sounds kind of cool.
08:33Yeah.
08:33You know, the weather's beautiful.
08:35It's still Christmas.
08:36It's just – I'm not mad at that.
08:39Your family probably, you know, that doesn't jive with the whole – all the propaganda around the holiday.
08:44Yeah.
08:44But if you inject some truth serum, people will let you know what's real.
08:48This on the news side with Ariante Ursery, I should have mentioned this on the front end.
08:52But, of course, he had a broken hand.
08:54I think we already knew that.
08:56But he had surgery on the – this is per Aaron Wilson of KPRC.
09:00This was around 4 o'clock yesterday.
09:01He had surgery on the broken hand yesterday.
09:05To aid the healing process, he's got some metal hardware inserted.
09:11Yeah.
09:11The next steps, according to Aaron Wilson again, next steps are rest and rehab and then a return to play when pain and the strength of the hand are manageable.
09:22And so, you don't imagine that that would be, you know, six days later, of course.
09:26So, his return is undetermined, but I think it's safe to say that he won't be out there.
09:30Here's something I want to throw at you, Seth.
09:31What do you think about this?
09:33This is a hypothetical here, but let's just rock with it.
09:36If Trent Brown can go, all right, and I'm not saying that he can, he probably can't, but if he can go, what would you think about Titus Howard bumping out to left tackle and then one of those other guys playing guard instead of, you know, putting Blake Fisher at left tackle and then, you know, Juice Scruggs or Jarrett Patterson at guard?
09:58You know, you see what I'm saying?
09:59Just bumping Titus Howard out and then using one of your backup guards.
10:03Is that a better combination?
10:05When they talk about trying to get their best five out there, is Titus at tackle when one of their starting tackles is down, is that their best five?
10:14That might, yeah, that might actually be, especially just giving them that you might want Titus Howard out there versus somebody else.
10:24And it also allows you to do your jumbo deal, right?
10:26Like, if you keep Blake in his current role, which I know I just a moment ago said I don't necessarily love,
10:32but instead of bumping them in to tackle, he's just still that extra offensive lineman in those jumbo sets.
10:37Yeah, no, that's, I think that's 100% in the cards and especially because, you know, because he's done that.
10:45You know, Titus Howard has played every position except center on the offensive line.
10:48I was trying to look and see how much left tackle Trent Brown has played in his career, and I think it's actually pretty extensive.
10:59You know, I couldn't even tell you whether he's been predominantly a right tackle or a left tackle.
11:03But he's, when he was with the Patriots, I think when they won their Super Bowl, he was playing left tackle.
11:11And that might make more sense just because he's had extensive experience doing it.
11:17And, you know, like Titus, I think Trent Brown's been, he's been passable and stabilizing,
11:24but it's not like he's been an awesome offensive tackle necessarily.
11:27And I think you're going to get probably the same production amount of him at left or right,
11:32whereas Titus has been at times very, very good at right tackle.
11:36And I don't think you're going to, you're not going to necessarily get that same level of performance out of him at left tackle.
11:41So you get to maximize what you get out of him, just have him at his natural position of right tackle
11:46and move Trent Brown over to left.
11:49What do you think about the jumbo package?
11:52Like, I don't think you and I have talked about this on the air, but I'm very curious on your,
11:55just your overall thoughts on them.
11:59It's to me seem terribly predictable.
12:01And as I say that, I was calling out run plays on Sunday and they threw the ball a time or two
12:05and they do that out of the jumbo.
12:07What do you think about it overall, its effectiveness and their commitment to it?
12:11It's a, it's, it's a patch, you know, it's, I don't love it.
12:16And I get frustrated with it sometimes, especially when, you know,
12:19you're talking about those times where Blake Fisher's had some rough snaps
12:22and there's the six offensive linemen when they go to pass out of it.
12:25And CJ still has to end up scrambling, but he's only got four guys out on routes instead of five.
12:32That's when I get frustrated.
12:34But I think the reality of it is they, they feel like they have to,
12:38because they just don't have as many good blockers as they would like.
12:42And it's not as simple as, hey, we're going to put an offensive tackle in there
12:45because he's a better than a tight end.
12:47And it's also that, hey, we're going to put an extra offensive lineman out there
12:51because it makes it easier to mask some of the issues we have in pass protection.
12:56It allows you to, it allows you to slide your, your protection more aggressively.
13:00Like you, you can do things with six offensive linemen to help, to help the weaker links out
13:07that it's harder to do with five.
13:09So I'm, I'm cool with it just because I think they feel like it's their best available option,
13:14but there is still an element of just, you know, we played Cole Popovich yesterday,
13:19basically flat out saying like, nah, nah, we're not, we're not nearly good enough.
13:22What the hell are you guys talking about?
13:25And so that's where I am with it.
13:27It's, it's an imperfect solution to, to some of the issues they have on the O-line.
13:32Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it as an imperfect solution.
13:35I know when they first started doing it or when, you know, you first, it's like prevalence.
13:40I thought it was more so them trying to compensate for not having their tight end depth or their
13:47tight ends healthy.
13:48Obviously, Brevin Jordan went down in training camp.
13:51Yeah.
13:51Of course, Kate Stover was down for a while.
13:54They, like, they just basically had Dalton Schultz and then whatever else they could throw
13:57out there.
13:58And I thought, okay, so maybe because they don't have tight ends and in this offense, you
14:02figure that they really want to use tight ends to help them run block and do a litany of
14:07things.
14:07This was just supplementing that, but Seth, then the tight ends came back and got healthy.
14:13Kate Stover's back and, and he's doing tight end things, but they're still running out that
14:17jumbo package.
14:18So it kind of just made you realize or made you think like they weren't just doing this
14:22to make up for the lack of tight ends.
14:24They were more so doing it to make up for not necessarily being that good overall up front.
14:31You know?
14:31Yeah.
14:31And that's where it's, that's a good timeline of it.
14:34Because when they didn't, when they only had one tight end that they liked available
14:37on Sundays, then it makes perfect sense because, hey, we don't really have a guy that we really
14:44think is all much of that much of a receiving threat anyway at tight ends.
14:47So we might as well put an offensive line there.
14:49And then you're also helping out with some of the O-line issues.
14:52And it just, I think they kind of settled in on, all right, this works for us.
14:57And it also does, even though it doesn't, it doesn't all of a sudden turn them into a
15:03super physical offense, but it does, it does create a situation where defenses still have
15:10to respect it a little bit more.
15:11And that does spring the play action.
15:13So if defenses feel like, all right, well, they're going to run and look, they've got
15:19a line on one of our either outside linebackers or lighter defensive ends or something, we've
15:24got to really anchor in versus the run here.
15:26And then, and then you pop the play action.
15:28So it's, it's provided something for them.
15:31I don't think, if you go back to some of the teams that have used six offensive linemen really
15:36effectively in the past, you know, the Patriots that one year, the year that they beat the
15:40Rams in the Superbowl, I think that was a, they were real heavy six offensive linemen
15:44that year.
15:45The Raiders, like when Derek Carr was a rookie in his first couple of years, they would use
15:51it, but it was, it was a potent force in a lot of ways.
15:54This doesn't feel like that.
15:56That, this just feels a little bit more like, all right, we're going to look, we got to put,
16:00we got to put leaded gas in this, in this engine for a little while.
16:04And because that's the only fuel we have.
16:06And we'll, when we get to a premium pump, hopefully in free agency or in the draft, that's when
16:12we'll start operating a little bit more conventionally.
16:14All right.
16:15So regardless of who plays tackle for them on Saturday, who does or does not play tackle,
16:19I think we've acknowledged already on the station this week that the offensive performance
16:24was not good enough on Sunday.
16:26So to that end, what is it that offensive coordinator Nick Cayley wants to see from the Texans offense
16:33on Saturday?
16:34Yeah, just more consistent, consistent fundamentals, consistent fundamentals, starting the right
16:38way.
16:39We've had glimpses, we've made some progress, but you know, that wasn't the way we wanted
16:43to start it.
16:43Not pleased with that.
16:44I don't think anybody was, and it wasn't just one person, it was all of us, coaches,
16:47players, we got to do a better job than that.
16:49But more consistency, better fundamentals, and especially starting the game the right way.
16:54The drive starts, especially.
16:56Seth, does that drive with what you saw at the audience watching it on Sunday?
17:00Yeah, I think one thing we talked about yesterday was that the fact that in some of these games
17:07on this seven-game win streak, things really haven't clicked until the fourth quarter, I'm
17:12more okay with that than I might expect myself to be just because I try to look at it through
17:18the lens of, hey, if it was Pat Mahomes, or if it was Tom Brady, or Drew Brees, or somebody
17:25like that, where things are just kind of lagging through the first three quarters, and then
17:30all of a sudden things click.
17:32You always give those guys, those made men, credit for that.
17:36That, oh, yep, this is just what the Patriots do, or this is just what Peyton Manning and
17:41the Colts do.
17:41They figure out, they figure out, they diagnose, and then all of a sudden by the fourth quarter,
17:46it's off to the races.
17:48I do want to, I'd like to think that's what's happening with the Texans' offense at times.
17:53And obviously, they're not operating on that same level as those all-time great offenses.
17:58But I think they're, I do grudgingly give them credit for that.
18:02Even though they're getting off to slow starts so many of the times, they do figure it out
18:07by the end.
18:07And I think that's growth in a lot of ways, and especially because they're not turning
18:13the ball over, you have time to do that.
18:16You know, CJ's making the right conservative decisions at times that might not get you a
18:22first down or might not get you a touchdown, but you live to fight another day.
18:26That's where I am with them right now.
18:28And it's just like, now it's just a question of, okay, how much more growth can they have
18:31between now and the playoffs that you really just take it up a notch in terms of,
18:37octane, octane.
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