After a much-needed BYE, the Jacksonville Jaguars are gearing up to face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9. A win not only will keep them in the thick of the AFC South, but it will also allow them to maintain their one-game lead over the rival Houston Texans.
Speaking of the Texans, head coach DeMeco Ryans complained about the coverage his team receives, noting that the press is focused only on the negative. Here's the skinny.
DeMeco Ryans says the press only says negative things about the Texans
One day after Houston's win over the San Francisco 49ers, DeMeco Ryans was asked how the team tunes the noise out. He took advantage of the opportunity to talk about how the Texans only get negative coverage. Below's the skinny.
"No, it really doesn't matter. I mean, here you can see it's a lot of negative talk about us. We get it. I hear people try to give it to me all the time. I get it right," Ryans told the Texans beat. "It's like, but it really doesn't matter, right? And again, I talk about it. Everybody wants to write a hot story, and most of the time it's negative stuff that people want to talk about, right?
Ryans continued, "Nobody wants to talk about the positive stuff that happens. And again, if you feed off of that, and you're riding the pendulum of, oh, we're great because we won, no, we suck because we lost the fight. Like, that's our business. I get it and but that's what that's the nature of it. We keep moving forward. Really, it doesn't drive anything. It means nothing, literally nothing, to what we're about. Like, it does nothing to drive our team. We just got to go out and play good football."
Following his remarks, Ryans got pushback from the Texans beat, with several reporters asking whether he didn't think Houston got positive comments. But instead of giving a straight answer, the head coach went on to say that reporters thrive on negativity.
"I said that's what people thrive on, is the negative stuff," Ryans said. When asked again, he doubled down on his response, wondering if the reporters asking the question were "the ones with the negative stuff."
"I said, people thrive on the negative. You guys are good? You guys must be the next ones with the negative stuff. We're playing football. You talk about outside noise. I'll say it again. It doesn't matter. Good, bad. It doesn't change how we prepare. It doesn't change our week of preparation. We're gonna work. We're gonna work our best, the game plan our best, and go out and play good football."
Rightly, Ryans got plenty of pushback in the aftermath. As John Granato of ESPN 95.7 Houston pointed out, the third-year head coach has gotten plenty of positive press since he got the job. Will Kunkel of Kickin' it with Kunkel echoed that sentiment, noting that Ryans and the Texans have indeed gotten lots of favorable coverage.
"Texans HC DeMeco Ryans says NO ONE in the media wants to talk about the positives with his team. This is just false," Kunkel wrote on social media. "He was pressed on this statement, and he replied, "You guys good?" Trying to end the press conference. I don't get it. DeMeco and the Texans have received A LOT of positive press conference over his tenure."
Sean Pendergast of Audacy even brought receipts, disproving Ryans' narrative. But you be the judge, below is the exchange with the Texans beat.
🤯Texans HC DeMeco Ryans tries to end his press conference with "YOU GUYS GOOD??"
Reporters pushed back on Ryans after he said no one wants to cover the positives with the Texans.
Ryans is flat out wrong. There has been a TON of positives over the years.
This is… pic.twitter.com/SS65qsEpCC
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelV) October 27, 2025
There's a day and night difference between DeMeco Ryans and Liam Coen
It would be disingenuous to say that the Houston Texans only receive coverage. The truth is that they've gotten their fair share of scrutiny when their offense has struggled or when they made questionable moves in free agency. And that's the thing, DeMeco Ryans is making it sound like he's been flawless of beyond criticism.
I’d say this one implies plenty pic.twitter.com/lVIskanMzN
— Louie Stewart (@thelstewart503) October 27, 2025
Heck, Twitter user @thelstewart503 caught wind of the exchange and said that he empathized with Ryans, noting that he would be testy too if reporters were calling for his job every week. The thing is that he was asked to share proof of his statement, all he could find was a tweet by DJ Bien-Aime noting that Ryans deserves some of the blame for his team's performance. That's it, he was not calling him to be fired but rather to be held accountable.
Texans HC DeMeco Ryans:
"Everybody wants to write a hot story and most of the time it's negative. Nobody wants to talk about the positive."
Honestly, that just isn't true.
— Will Kunkel (@WillKunkelV) October 27, 2025
The good news is that the Jaguars don't have to worry about having a head coach who will act defensively when questioned. Liam Coen has been very upfront about his shortcomings and will hold himself accountable for their mistakes. Maybe that's why the Jaguars currently have a better record than their division foe and are trending in the right direction.