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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Mark Lane

Texans assistant coaches aren’t at NFL combine but still playing critical role

INDIANAPOLIS — Some NFL teams bring their entire coaching staff to the NFL combine. The Houston Texans are not one of those teams.

The Texans chose to have their staff stay behind during the week that the entire league evaluates a majority of the draft eligible prospects. However, that does not mean that the assistant coaches aren’t playing a key role towards getting Houston ready for the 2023 campaign.

“Our coaches are back,” Ryans said at the NFL combine. “They are going through their scheme. Coaches are implementing schemes on the offensive and defensive side. They’re going through scheme work, but they are also evaluating free agents in the process as well.”

The coaching staff was officially announced on Feb. 24. Nevertheless the Texans have taken the time to synchronize their expectations for what type of player they seek to acquire in free agency.

“We’ve talked about our profile of players that we look for,” said Ryans. “We went through that process. Offensively and defensively, we know the type of guys that we’re looking for. Our coaches are just combing through to make sure.”

Ryans acknowledged that the field of free agents will have a bevy of players who are talented and worthy of lucrative contracts in their own right. Yet the Texans have to be deliberate in their approach and partner with players who are ideal fits.

Said Ryans: “There are a lot of great free agents out there, but every free agent isn’t for us. We want to make sure we get guys who are scheme fits and guys who fit exactly what we want them to do.”

The Texans are expected to be buyers in free agency with their $37.1 million in salary cap space, the fourth-most cap space in the NFL.

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