Texans

Texans CB Kamari Lassiter recorded his first interception of the season in Week 6’s win over the Ravens. Lassiter reflected on the play, saying he could tell Baltimore WR Rashod Bateman was anticipating the throw. 

“I just saw the receiver, speed release, and you know, sometimes you know whenever somebody’s getting ready to get the ball,” Lassiter said, via Aaron Wilson. “I mean speed release, take-off and I could just feel his mannerisms. I was on my sideline so I heard: ‘Ball, ball, ball! Look, go find it and get it.”

Lassiter keeps a high standard for himself and is hungry for more success. 

“I’ve always had that itch to practice hard, that’s where I come from, but I feel like I’ve definitely kind of just tuned in more on like my weekly process and I feel like it’s not coming to fruition yet,” Lassiter said. “To be brutally honest, I’m not really satisfied. Despite the play at the end of the game, like with the pick, everything. I feel like that’s expected. We have a high standard amongst each other that every ball is ours. It’s great to be able to make a play, but I want to make every play. So I’m just blessed to be in a position to be around these guys and a coach like this. To be able to make a play like that. I’m hungry for more, I’m not really satisfied. I don’t really think that, outside of us winning, me personally, when you tap in, I need to dig deeper.’”

Texans HC DeMeco Ryans wants all of his players to keep a similar mentality as Lassiter.

“From that mindset, I want our entire team thinking that way, how Kamari is thinking,” Ryans said. “It’s not about getting overly excited about the big play or the win. It’s focusing on, ‘What about those plays you missed?’ That’s where you should harp on the most to me, because how can you get better and play a complete game as a player? That’s what you’re always seeking. I understand nobody’s going to be perfect, but we’re striving for perfection every single time that you’re out there. If you’re a true pro, if it means a lot to you like Kamari, every single play matters. There is no, ‘Oh, it’s okay. I let them get a play here or there.’ You cannot have that mindset. That’s the mindset that Kamari has. That’s why he’s always straining. He has that desire to continue to grow, continue to get better. That allows him to be a really great, great pro for us.”

• Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair was fined $17,389 for a blow to the quarterback’s head/neck.

Titans

The Titans promoted Mike McCoy to interim head coach after being their senior offensive assistant. McCoy wants to clean up some of QB Cam Ward‘s ball-security mistakes, given he’s relinquished eight turnovers thus far. 

“That’s one thing we have to clean up,” McCoy said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN. “You see what happened the other day in the game where there was some drifting and then the ball security in the pocket, things like that we got to clean up, and that’s our job as coaches.”

McCoy came to Tennessee after being the Jaguars’ quarterbacks coach from 2022 to 2024, working directly with Trevor Lawrence. McCoy is keeping a similar message with Ward as he did with Lawrence, reassuring the rookie quarterback that he’s improving. 

“It’s going to be the same thing every week,” McCoy said. “‘You’re getting better.’ That’s what I kept on telling Trevor and what I’m going to tell Cam.”

On the defensive side, McCoy plans on relying on team leaders like DL Jeffery Simmons.

“Seeing what Jeff does every day, there’s a reason why he goes out and dominates every game,” McCoy said. “The way you see him at the end of games, on the sideline with the offense as they’re coming off, regardless of what the score is. That’s just one guy that I’m mentioning. There’s a lot of guys, the veteran players we have here, they know what it means to play this game every day.”

Titans

• Given that Titans QB Cam Ward will be their presumed starter for at least another two years, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated writes that the play from Ward for the rest of the season will impact how attractive the Tennessee job is.
• Breer points out that the Titans’ current framework of the head coach reporting to GM Mike Borgonzi, who reports to the president of football operations, Chad Brinker, limits the power of the head coach outside of game day. In the end, Breer feels reassessing the organization’s structure could make the job more enticing.
• Breer has a difficult time seeing Jon Gruden being a candidate for the Titans’ head coaching job. 
• Titans DC Dennard Wilson called DT T’Vondre Sweat “one of our best” starters and thinks he’ll improve the rest of their defense when he returns from injured reserve, via Terry McCormick. 
• Wilson said they will continue to look at Jayln Armour-Davis at cornerback but will also watch how Darrell Baker Jr. approaches special teams duties, per Turron Davenport.