The Texans presumably have a plan in place when it comes to their handling of quarterback Deshaun Watson. They apparently have not shared it with new coach David Culley. Or, perhaps, they don’t trust him to not blurt it out during a press conference.
As a result, Culley is getting regularly grilled about the status of Watson, and Culley regularly is coming off as having no idea about the situation. For a man trying to establish himself as an NFL-caliber head coach after the team’s surprising decision to hire a candidate who had never been mentioned by anyone as a potential NFL head coach, Culley is being done no favors by the Texans.
On Tuesday, Culley was asked about the absence of Watson from the team’s first padded practice of training camp.
“Well, as I said before, we’re day-to-day with it,” Culley said. “The only thing that’s changed from the standpoint of that is we make decisions every day based on what’s best for our football team, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
Culley was then asked, “You can’t tell us why he was not at practice today?”
“Again, I’m going to leave it at that,” Culley said. (The video doesn’t make it look any better.)
It’s not Culley’s fault. These decisions surely are being made by G.M. Nick Caserio and/or others in the front office, such as Jack Easterby and/or Cal McNair. It’s unfair for Culley to be the one to face the music while the others hide behind a curtain.
By all appearances, the Texans have placed Watson on de facto paid leave while waiting to see whether someone makes an acceptable trade offer and/or whether the league office places Watson on the Commissioner Exempt list. Caserio, as we’ve heard it, doesn’t want to solicit and accept the best available offer for Watson because he is partially paralyzed by fear of not getting enough for the franchise quarterback.
However it goes and whatever the plan, Culley shouldn’t be serving as the media interface on Watson’s status. Someone else -- Caserio, Easterby, or McNair -- need to be the ones answering the questions. Culley is clearly clueless on the issue, and clueless isn’t a good look for a coach who is trying to motivate and inspire a large group of professional athletes.