It’s one thing to lose to a superior team. But when you’re getting scored on and not trying, that’s when players can expect to be called out.
That’s why Texans linebacker Brian Cushing said he understood why NBC analyst Rodney Harrison mentioned him by name.
Via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle, Cushing said he knew the play Harrison spoke of, a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry. Cushing said he thought Landry had stepped out of bounds “or I would have run harder to the ball.”
“Knowing what I know now, obviously, I would have gone after the play a lot harder,” Cushing said.
Harrison said the most troubling part of last week’s loss to the Dolphins was the way several Texans appearing to put it in cruise control.
“You saw some of their key players not even hustling,” Harrison said. “One guy I particular who I love, Brian Cushing, I saw him loaf on a couple of plays. And it was surprising to me that a guy who has a reputation of work ethic and things like that to loaf on a couple of plays like that.”
“That’s a player I respect a lot,” Cushing said of Harrison. “I hear his opinion, but I’m definitely not a player that loafs.
“It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t motivate me. Everyone has an opinion. When you lose, everyone’s going to say some stuff. I’m still going to play the way I play, and that’s relentless.”
The Texans aren’t good enough to get by with anything other than full effort, and if they’re going to have any chance, they’re going to have to be better on defense.
