Lovie Smith is walking into an unusual situation with the Houston Texans.
The last head coach, David Culley, was canned after the Texans unsurprisingly had a dreadful 2021 season. Smith was the defensive coordinator under Culley, and ended up getting promoted to head coach. Now, he takes over a team in the throes of a rebuild.
Of chief importance is the status of Deshaun Watson. The star quarterback wants out of Houston and didn’t play at all last season, but has been borderline impossible to trade because he has multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him that have yet to be resolved.
There’s expected to be a resolution in early April, and no matter what happens legally for Watson, there’s going to be continued uncertainty around the quarterback.
Smith explained on the “Pat McAfee Show” how he’s taking it all in stride.
“It can be hard, I guess, if you let it be,” Smith said. “For me, I think most guys in a locker room, there are a whole lot – there’s a business side of it, there’s injuries. So, if you’re a professional, you’ve got to come to work every day and do your job. And normally situations like this that happen that are there, in time they’ll take care of itself. That’s how I look at it: in time it will take care of itself. I think most of the guys are doing that, life has to go on.
“Eventually, Deshaun is going to play somewhere, our place or some other place, and if he’s not at our place, players for the Houston Texans have to go on and play football. That’s what we’ve done, that’s the NFL in general. Things change from day-to-day, and I’m going to go back: time takes care of all things, and it normally works out for the best.”
Last season, Davis Mills showed some promise under center for the Texans. Whether he’s a viable long-term option remains to be seen, but the story of Houston’s offseason has been and will continue to be all about Watson.
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