At a time when some are wondering whether defensive end Mario Williams will fail in Buffalo, plenty of folks are willing to apply a “F” to Williams’ six-year tenure in Houston.
Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips isn’t one of them.
“No,” Phillips said Thursday, via comments transcribed and distributed by the team. “Mario played well for us the early part of last year.”
The fact that Williams was injured early in the 2011 season and the Texans played well without him made it easier for G.M. Rick Smith to let Williams walk away.
“We had time to adjust because it was really four games and nine plays is all he played last year,” Phillips added. “We had a chance to adjust defensively and see what our players could do. We had some guys come in that played tremendously well for us, obviously.”
And that obviously made it easier to let Williams leave. As he returns this weekend for a game between Buffalo and Houston, Phillips is pragmatic about the sounds Mario will hear.
“They booed me when I went back to Buffalo,” Phillips said. “I did the best I could do. You’ve got to figure that’s going to happen.”
Speaking of Buffalo, Phillips provided one of the better lines of the week when talking about whether he misses shoveling snow.
“I had somebody do that for me,” Phillips said. “She’s still with me though.”
The Texans are surely very glad Phillips is still with them. He has transformed the defense and in turn the fortunes of the franchise, which remains on the short list of elite NFL teams.