Texans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson is being evaluated for a leg injury after being carted off the field at Thursday's training camp practice.
Gardner-Johnson had to be helped by two Texans staffers to walk inside the performance center at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, where the Texans have been all week going into their preseason opener Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings.
The severity of the injury is unknown but head coach DeMeco Ryans after practice called the scene "heartbreaking and tough to watch."
“It's heartbreaking when you see a guy go down on the field like that and doesn't get up quickly," Ryans said. "So, I'm always nervous as a head coach anytime I see anybody hit the ground, it's tough to watch. So, we'll see, we'll evaluate [S] C.J. [Gardner-Johnson], see where he is. But, no update at this time.”
When asked about how the team regroups after an emotional situation like that at practice, Ryans spoke on the human element to the game that sometimes gets lost in the Xs and Os.
“That's the situation, right? Again, it's heartfelt because we're a team. We're all in this together and you see the emotion from our team, we care about each other. I've been on teams where you just, ‘Hey, coaches just move the ball up and you keep practicing.’ Well, I think that's very insensitive. So we're going to take the time there for guys to take a knee, pray for them and make sure they send their teammate off well and wish them well. Make sure we're saying the prayers. Because that's what it's about. It's about that moment for me. Make sure everybody cares for each other. It's not just some slogans that we throw up or just toss around. We truly care about each other. So, that's why you see, if something like that happens in practice, we're going to take our time to let everybody take their time. Then we have to hit reset. It's a tough message, but we have to hit reset and then we have to get back going.”