HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- No one is being called out by name, but there is a clear frustration in the work ethic and effort some Texans players are putting in, despite their losing record.
J.J. Watt, arguably the greatest player in franchise history, sounded off about it after Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Watt said if there are players who can't get up for this final game against the Titans, they shouldn't be on the team. He cited the passionate fans who still support the team as motivation to play more inspired football.
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It is not exactly clear who Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, is referring to, or if it's even someone specific.
But interim head coach Romeo Crennel backed what Watt had to say, acknowledging every player is motivated differently, and coaches are not always getting what they from players.
“I think that on a football team, there’s a lot of different characteristics about a team, and generally the teams that win have better characteristics than the teams that lose," Crennel said Monday. "We’re a losing team so everything’s not perfect. We try to keep the focus, try to keep the guys together, try to keep them playing to the best of our ability. Sometimes it looks good, sometimes it doesn’t. I can understand J.J.’s frustration because he has been in this league and been a very good player in this league for a while. I’m frustrated because we’re not winning. That’s what everybody cares about in this business, is did you win or did you lose. When you’re losing, nobody is very happy.”
When asked if Crennel thought he was getting the best from players and coaches, he said this:
“I think all the coaches are doing everything they can and I think most of the players are doing everything they can. There are some guys that need more work than others because everybody is a different individual and they’re motivated differently. You can’t just push one button and that impacts everybody. You have to figure out which button to push on different players to get them to do what you need them to do. Then, that takes some time too because some players are not wired to do what I want them to do every time. It’s a process that you have to go through and a lot of it involves practice. You have to practice. But part of the deal this year is that we haven’t really been able to practice the way that we need to practice, haven’t been able to meet the way we need to meet so that we can get the best out of everybody.”