At 5-7, the beleaguered Texans defense has a great reason to give it their all over the next month: self-preservation.
If the Texans continue to slide, there may be a coaching change with head coach Gary Kubiak and defensive coordinator Frank Bush leaving town. Safety Bernard Pollard knows what that usually means for players.
“I’m not saying [the coaches] are gone,” Pollard told John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. “I don’t know what’s going on. But [new coaches] would bring in their players. If you’re on the bubble, you’re gone. If they have to question your effort, you’re gone. If they don’t like you, or if they didn’t draft you, you’re gone.”
Pollard speaks from experience. He got the boot in Kansas City before becoming a difference maker in Houston last year. This season, Pollard’s struggles in pass coverage have made a terrible secondary worse.
“I don’t think some of the guys understand that,” Pollard said. “You’re dealing with a lot of young guys and a lot of guys who have only been in this situation. They only know Kube. They only know these coaches. You bring in somebody else, they’re going to shake this thing up.”
We said it before, but only massive organizational failure at every level can create a defense as bad as the 2010 Texans. They are wasting a terrific season from Arian Foster and another year of Andre Johnson in his prime. Pollard seems to know it.
“You don’t want to be that team, where everybody says, ‘Let’s get things started up against them,’ but right now, we’re that team,” Pollard said.