And just when it seems like the rancor over the anthem controversy had settled to a slow simmer, it’s back on the front burner, lid rattling on the pan.
Tackle Duane Brown said Friday that Texans players considered walking out of practice on Friday over owner Bob McNair’s comment at last week’s ownership meeting that "[w]e can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
“I’m very upset,” Brown said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “It sickened me. . . . It’s horrible. It’s frustrating.”
Brown added that, even though players decided not to leave, it’s not over.
It’s possible that receiver DeAndre Hopkins wasn’t sufficiently persuaded, given that he missed practice due to a personal day -- and in light of the reality that coach Bill O’Brien refused to comment on whether the absence is connected to the McNair remark.
McNair has apologized for the choice of words, but not for the message. And that’s what should bother players more than McNair’s decision to use a fairly common figure of speech.
And now McNair has an uncommon problem: A possible revolt and a major distraction as the Texans prepare for an already daunting challenge in Seattle on Sunday.