Texans coach Lovie Smith has begun meeting with franchise owner Cal McNair to plead his case for a second year with the team, amid concerns that he may be fired at the end of a likely league-worst season in Houston, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Though no decision has been made by the Texans to part ways with Smith, Rapoport reports that there are those in Houston that believe the 64-year-old coach could face a similar fate to his predecessor—David Culley—and be dismissed after just one season. The Texans enter Week 18 with the worst record in the NFL at 2–13–1.
Rapoport says that frustration has mounted in Houston’s locker room and front office over certain aspects of Smith’s program. An example of that lingering tension which spread to the Texans’ players involved receiver Brandin Cooks, who was stripped of his captaincy after he was unable to get himself traded ahead of the league’s November deadline.
