Texans coach DeMeco Ryans on practice fights: ‘I don’t want, I also understand it, I don’t like it, it’s sloppy’

HOUSTON – DeMeco Ryans was a hard-hitting Pro Bowl linebacker for the Texans accustomed to the altercations that tend to flare up in football.

As the Texans’ coach, he doesn’t encourage the scuffles that have ensued in each of the past two practices of training camp.

The largest altercation of camp involved retaliation from the offense after a big hit from safety Jimmie Ward on wide receiver Stefon Diggs on Wednesday. After the shot from Ward, offensive players, including tight end Dalton Schultz, responded. Schultz grabbed the facemask of cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., and words were exchanged. Stingley retaliated by knocking Schultz to the ground.

Ryans gets it that tempers will boil over occasionally. That doesn’t make it acceptable, especially against another team when a fight will lead to an ejection and fines.

“When it comes to the skirmishes in practice, I don’t want it,” Ryans said. “I also understand it. Myself as a former player, I was involved in some so I’m not going to act like it doesn’t happen. The tempers get raised. It always happens in camp. You have skirmishes and fights, but what I tell guys is, what we can learn from it? For me if we’re in a game, are you throwing hands in a game?

“If you do, then you’re thrown out of the game. For me it’s just learning lesson that if you throw punches, or whatever you do, are you really protecting the team? Because now you’re kicked out of the game. I don’t want it, I don’t like it. It’s sloppy and I think it’s not representative of who we are as a team and as an organization.”

On Thursday, there was a brief back-and-forth between linebacker Max Tooley and wide receiver Ben Skowronek that was quickly broken up as practice resumed.

“It’s not what we’re about and we’re not encouraging that, but it does happen in camp,” Ryans said. “We just want guys to move forward from it. Nobody is holding any grudges. We’re still teammates. We’re still brothers. Skirmishes happen in our families all the time. We get upset, but at the end of the day we’re still family and it’s still all love.”

Texans tight end Brevin Jordan had a more elemental take on what’s been transpiring at practice.

“Yeah, I think that is just a bunch of grown men with a bunch of testosterone,” Jordan said. “Guys out here are just hitting, guys out here are competitive, it is a part of the game of football. It shouldn’t be a part of the game but practicing out here, we are competing, and it is what it is.”

NOTES: Texans wide receiver John Metchie III returned to practice and caught a touchdown pass in red-zone drills. ... Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon (soft-tissue injury), linebacker Christian Harris (soft-tissue injury), offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (offseason knee scope), cornerback C.J. Henderson (ankle) and fullback Andrew Beck (strained calf, active-physically unable to perform list) didn’t practice. ...The Texans practiced through a relatively heavy rainstorm. There were some rough moments, including an offsides penalty on offensive guard Kenyon Green. His punishment: a lap around the practice field. “It was good for us to just get in the elements,” Ryans said. “Getting in the rain and everyone has been complaining about how hot it is in Houston and now and now we’ve got a lot of rain. I’m happy we were able to get into this situation and see if guys can execute with external factors that we don’t control, can you still go out operate and execute. Today wasn’t great by any means when you look at how sloppy we were. Just pre-snap penalties and just guys being where they’re supposed to be, so a lot of to clean up but I’m very thankful for having the NFL officials here today so we can get in and learn from our mistakes and grow from it.” ... In a loss last season to the New York Jets in a torrential downpour, the Texans didn’t handle the adverse weather conditions well. “When you think about the elements and the rain, I definitely flash back to our game against the Jets last year where when we stepped on the field, I could feel that the energy wasn’t there,” Ryans said. “We were more so sulking about what was happening, things we can’t control. And the quicker we could get out of it and we didn’t get over it in that game, and we see the results, so it was great for us to have this outing today in the rain and hopefully we can learn from it, get better from it and understand we don’t control the weather, but you control how you respond. A lot of things can happen to us and we don’t control, how are you responding? And if you respond in the right manner, we can go out and handle any elements be it cold weather, rainy weather, sun, it doesn’t matter. When you line up, are you locked in and ready to compete?” ... The Texans are expected to rest their starters in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game next Thursday night against the Chicago Bears in Canton, Ohio. Multiple young players will make their NFL debuts. “When it comes to the Hall of Fame game, we’re still continuing to evaluate who will play,” Ryans said. “Still we got a few days before we get there and we’ll evaluate who will play. If you look at the premise of it, you’ll definitely see a lot of our young guys in the Hall of Fame game and try to see those guys get as many reps as possible.” ... Ryans had noticed progress from rookie running backs Jawhar Jordan and British Brooks. Both are expected to play extensively against Chicago. “When it comes to our young backs, we’ve challenged them to play fast, to play physical and we’ve seen more of that from Jordan and from Brooks,” Ryans said. “Both guys are getting better with the reps that they’ve gotten, so I’m encouraged with where they are. For the backs, it’ll be great to see them in live action. That’s the benefit of playing in the Hall of Fame game having young backs, seeing them go out and execute in a game, that’s when guys really surprise a lot of people. It’s hard to tell in practice, but you’ll see guys really step up in a game and see who’s ready to compete and contribute to our team.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.