AFC South

The Houston Texans are reportedly considering moving on from David Culley after just one year with him as head coach.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported Wednesday that "there is at least some chatter in NFL circles about David Culley's future in Houston" and it "has been going on for a few weeks now."

The Texans are 3-11 in Culley's first opportunity as a head coach. He has served as an assistant around the league since 1994.

ESPN's Dan Graziano countered that the Texans could give him a second year, if only because it might be difficult to land a top candidate:

If general manager Nick Caserio has a difference-making head-coaching candidate in mind, he might be better off waiting until after the 2022 season, when the direction of the franchise has a little more clarity, if he wants to attract the best possible candidates.

The Texans were just 4-12 in 2020 and have played all season without Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson, who requested a trade in January amid dissatisfaction with the franchise.

In the spring, 22 civil lawsuits were filed against him by women alleging sexual assault and misconduct. He is not set to be deposed until at least February. Ten women have also filed criminal complaints against Watson that are being investigated by the Houston Police Department.

Without any first- or second-round pick in the 2021 draft, the roster is relatively devoid of talent.

The team ranks 31st in points scored per game (14.8) and 29th in points allowed (26.6).

Adding in the uncertainty at quarterback, this likely won't be a top destination for perspective head coaching candidates this offseason. 

Houston could let Culley stay in charge for at least another season as the organization continues its rebuild.   

Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich said Tuesday there will be games in which quarterback Carson Wentz will need to shine if his team is going to make the playoffs and ultimately win the Super Bowl.

"I think for us to go where we want to go, there are going to be games where Carson will be the quote-unquote star of the game," Reich told reporters. "I think that'll have to happen."

The Colts sit fifth in the AFC standings with an 8-6 record, but the crowded nature of the conference's playoff race leaves plenty of room for movement. The top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs (10-4) and 13th-seeded Denver Broncos (7-7) are separated by just three games with three weeks left in the regular season.

Reich and Co. face a tough test Saturday when they visit the Arizona Cardinals (10-4) for a prime-time game on Christmas Day and then wrap up the regular season with contests against the Las Vegas Raiders (7-7) and Jacksonville Jaguars (2-12).

Indy will likely need to win at least two of those games to reach the postseason.

Wentz has put together a solid first season with the Colts after spending the first five years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. He's completed 62.7 percent of his throws for 3,005 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in 14 games.

He's rarely been asked to carry the offense on his shoulders, though. The unit has leaned heavily on running back Jonathan Taylor, who's vaulted himself into the MVP discussion by leading the NFL in both yards from scrimmage (1,854) and total touchdowns (19).

Taylor's dominance means opponents are going to stack the box with eight or nine defenders on the early downs and force Wentz to beat them.

Reich, who noted his quarterback has "had many good games," believes the passing game can lead the Colts to victory if called upon.

"What I really mean is I've just got a lot of confidence in Carson," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in our skill players and I have a lot of confidence in the way we protect the passer. And I have a lot of confidence in our offensive coaching staff the way we scheme things up to help the players."

Saturday's clash with the Cardinals could be a major test of the aerial attack. Arizona features one of the league's most explosive offenses, led by quarterback Kyler Murray, and it'll be looking to bounce back after a forgettable performance in the loss to the Detroit Lions (2-11-1) in Week 15.

If Wentz does elevate his game when called upon, the Colts have the other pieces in place, with the Taylor-led ground game and the league's ninth-ranked scoring defense, to become a serious threat in the AFC.

A fight between Michael Pittman and Kyle Dugger led to ejections for both players in Saturday's game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, but T.Y. Hilton might have also deserved an ejection.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick thinks the veteran receiver should have been tossed for contacting an official.

"Bottom line is both players got ejected," Belichick said of the fight Monday, per ESPN's Mike Reiss. "I would say I understand that. Whether I agree with it or not, that's a whole another discussion. [But] I don't understand why T.Y. Hilton wasn't ejected for contacting an official. Intentionally or unintentionally, that has no bearing on the play. And those plays are reviewable and are reviewed."

The main scuffle was between Pittman and Dugger, leading to a wider altercation between the two teams.

Michael Pitman Jr. and Kyle Dugger got ejected after this scuffle pic.twitter.com/GXtBtHliAW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 19, 2021

Hilton was caught up in the pile and was seen pushing over an official when getting to his feet.

The NFL rules state "under no circumstance is a player allowed to shove, push, or strike an official in an offensive, disrespectful, or unsportsmanlike manner."

There is also an option for the replay official to "instruct the on-field officiating crew to disqualify the player" if an act is determined to be flagrant.

"Based on the rule, I don't see why T.Y. Hilton wasn't ejected," Belichick said. "I mean, he pushed an official. That was pretty clear. But that wasn't called at all. That's a clear-cut ejection to me."

Hilton remained in the game as the Colts closed out the 27-17 victory. Though the wideout caught just one pass in the win, the 32-year-old is a veteran leader for the Colts, and his impact likely goes beyond his on-field production.

The league will review the incident and could hand out additional punishment to the players involved.    

Two days before 2022 Pro Bowl rosters are announced, the NFL has revealed the standings from the latest round of fan voting. 

Per an official release from NFL Communications, Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor leads all players with 265,370 fan votes. 

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa is a close second with 264,687 votes. Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (262,540), 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk (244,714) and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (242,900) round out the top five. 

Taylor has been the top vote-getter since the NFL opened ballots to fans. The Colts star has seen his lead decrease from the previous update nearly two weeks ago. 

On Dec. 9, Taylor had a lead of 9,589 votes over Kelce, who was in second place at the time, for the top spot. The 22-year-old ranks first in the NFL in rushing attempts (270), rushing yards (1,518) and rushing touchdowns (17). 

Taylor carried Indianapolis to a 27-17 win over the New England Patriots on Saturday night. He ran for 170 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries. The Wisconsin alum has hit the 170-yard mark three times in the past six games. 

Kelce is coming off his best game of the season with 191 yards and two touchdowns on 10 receptions in a 34-28 overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday. 

Bosa has been making a late-season surge in the race for Defensive Player of the Year. The 49ers star has recorded at least one sack in six consecutive games. He's recorded at least two quarterback hits in 11 of 14 games and leads the NFL with 18 tackles for loss.

Tight end George Kittle and left tackle Trent Williams give the 49ers an NFL-high four players leading the fan vote at their position. Kansas City leads all teams in total votes. The Cowboys, 49ers, New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers round out the top five in fan voting by team. 

Tom Brady and Justin Herbert are the top vote-getters among quarterbacks in the NFC and AFC. 

Fan voting for the Pro Bowl concluded Dec. 16. Rosters will be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on NFL Network.    

Coaches around the NFL are reportedly impressed with how Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence handled the drama surrounding former head coach Urban Meyer, who was fired Thursday after less than a year with the franchise.

"Based on the coaches I've talked to, inside and outside the Jaguars' organization, there's a pretty healthy respect for how Trevor Lawrence has handled the last week," Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported Monday. "I had one tell me Lawrence's ability to weather everything that comes his way reminded him of Troy Aikman in 1989."

It's been a rocky rookie season for Lawrence, the first overall pick in the 2021 draft. He's completed 58.1 percent of his throws for 2,945 yards with nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions through his first 14 NFL appearances.

For a quarterback viewed as a generational talent on the level of former No. 1 picks like Aikman, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, those numbers may appear concerning.

Yet, none of those eventual superstars took the league by storm in their debut campaigns either. Here's a look at their numbers:

• Aikman: 9 TD, 18 INT in 11 games (1989)
• Manning: 26 TD, 28 INT in 16 games (1998)
• Luck: 23 TD, 18 INT in 16 games (2012)

So it's too soon to start worrying about Lawrence's production, especially when you consider the never-ending drama that surrounded Meyer during his brief stint as the Jags' coach. It wasn't an environment conducive to developing a first-year quarterback.

Lawrence told reporters Thursday the constant noise, both inside and outside the organization, played a role in a season that saw the Jags drop to 2-12 with a loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday:

I wouldn't believe you if you told me this is how this year was going to go. ... I think it [the coaching change] brings a little bit of clarity to the guys in the locker room. I wouldn't say relief, but I would say just bring some clarity and some direction moving forward.

You know, we really want to go and finish the season strong and to be honest, it's been hard to last the last week with everything going on. And there's a lot of things being stirred up I think by the outside, too. That didn't help [and] made things a lot worse, but also everything that's going on.

It's hard to be focused and have all your attention and efforts going towards winning the game when there's so many things going on.

A new direction, something different than what one NFL coach described to Mike Sando of The Athletic as Meyer's "tough-guy disciplinarian stuff" that was destined to fail at the sport's highest level, should help everybody on the roster, including Lawrence.

Jacksonville will likely seek out an offensive-minded coach to replace Meyer in an effort to jump-start their young signal-caller's development.

The question is whether the Jags will be able to attract a high-end candidate. Breer reported it's not a lock the best options available will want to work for team owner Shad Khan:

Even with Trevor Lawrence in place, the Jaguars' job isn't as attractive as it was a year ago, when the team was flush with draft picks and cap space. Yes, there's still money that can be spent, but the war chest of picks isn't nearly as full, and last year's free agents and draftees are on the front end of contracts. Also, you've got Shad Khan himself, who's gotten the benefit of the doubt a lot, but hasn't accomplished much in a decade of ownership. It's fair to have questions on that if you're a candidate, looking at a boss who hasn't been the most engaged owner in the league to begin with.

Jacksonville has made the playoffs just once since Khan finalized his purchase of the organization in January 2012.

That said, a franchise quarterback is still the most important factor in whether a team has a chance to seriously contend. The Jaguars hope to have that in Lawrence, and that should attract interest from plenty of candidates, even though the QB needs time and the rest of the roster needs work.

The Jags are in desperate need of a strong offseason, highlighted by the right coaching hire, but first they must wrap up 2021. They have three games left beginning Sunday when they visit the New York Jets in a game with major No. 1 overall pick implications.

While most fans and analysts don't read a lot into preseason games, former Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer reportedly had a hard time losing those exhibition contests.

According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, the "first big sign of trouble internally" with the Jaguars during Meyer's tenure came after their preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns.

One team staffer told Breer that Meyer's reaction to that game was "really over the top, and you could tell all this was new to him."

This isn't the first story about how irrationally angry Meyer got about Jacksonville's preseason results.

Prior to the Jaguars' Week 1 game against the Houston Texans, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported morale within the locker room "has suffered" because of Meyer's outbursts directed at players and coaches.

"He has everyone looking over their shoulders already," one source with direct knowledge of the daily operations in Jacksonville told La Canfora. "He becomes unhinged way too easily, and he doesn't know how to handle losing, even in the preseason. He loses it and wants to take over the drills himself. It's not good."

Things continued to spiral for Meyer over the next three months.

Some of the notable events included not flying home with the team after a Week 4 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, being filmed at a bar in Ohio with a woman who wasn't his wife dancing on him, blaming assistants for James Robinson's lack of touches in games and not being aware of the snap count for defensive back Andre Cisco.

On Dec. 11, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Meyer called his assistant coaches losers during a staff meeting and challenged them to defend their resumes.

The Jaguars fired Meyer on Thursday amid a 2-11 start to the season. ESPN's Jeff Darlington and Adam Schefter reported the team dismissed Meyer for cause and doesn't intend to pay the remainder of Meyer's contract that ran through the 2025 season.

Speaking to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport after his firing, Meyer apologized to Jacksonville and said "losing eats away at your soul."

One coach with extensive experience in the NFL told The Athletic's Mike Sando that comment by Meyer was emblematic of why he didn't succeed in this league: 

Professional coaches and professional athletes, they do not have that type of response. The 2020 Buccaneers were 7-5, finished second in their division and got beat by the division winner by 35. The 2010 Giants were 9-5 and must-win in the final week to squeak in as a wild card and then win four in a row. That is professional football.

Another NFL coach who previously worked with Meyer in college called him "maniacal" in his approach.

“It is like coaching in dog years,” the coach told Sando. "Other guys on staff would say, 'Not every place is like this. Don’t give up on the profession. Stick around.'"

Jacksonville was Meyer's first stint as a coach in the NFL. The 57-year-old is one of the most successful college coaches in history. He won three national titles—two with Florida, one with Ohio State—and had a 187-32 overall record in 17 seasons with four programs.   

The Tennessee Titans took a 13-3 halftime lead into the locker room of Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it wasn't all good news for the AFC South team.

Wide receiver Julio Jones was ruled out for the remainder of the contest with a hamstring injury.

He did not finish with a single catch and had just one target before he exited.

Jones was placed on injured reserve earlier on Nov. 13 because of a hamstring ailment and just returned for last week's win over the Jacksonville Jaguars for the first time since Nov. 7. He posted four catches for 33 yards against Jacksonville.

The injury concerns have prevented the 32-year-old from living up to expectations during his first season with the Titans.

He was widely considered one of the best wide receivers in the league for much of his time on the Atlanta Falcons that lasted from 2011 through 2020. He was a seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection in Atlanta and led the league in receiving yards on two occasions.

This is yet another injury for a Titans team that is already without star running back Derrick Henry because of a broken foot.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown also hasn't played since Nov. 21, although he is eligible to return in Week 16 for the team's matchup with the San Francisco 49ers.

That eventual return will be even more important if Jones is sidelined again.        

A frustrating season for the Jacksonville Jaguars at least had a moment of levity during Sunday's game against the Houston Texans. 

As James Robinson was scoring a rushing touchdown from the 1-yard line, a Jaguars fan was standing on the field in the end zone celebrating before security tackled him. 

Urban Meyer truther on the field pic.twitter.com/EZB1TmBLYn

— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) December 19, 2021

It's certainly easy to laugh at the situation now because no one got hurt, but security did seem to give the young man a lot of time on the field before stepping in. 

This has been an emotional week for the Jaguars in what has been a turbulent season for the franchise and their fans.

There haven't been a lot of things to cheer about in Jacksonville for many years, but especially in 2021 amid everything that happened with Urban Meyer before he was fired Thursday. 

If nothing else, Jaguars fans will be able to look back fondly on the moment when one of their own got to stand in the end zone and briefly, albeit indirectly, celebrate a touchdown by their second-year running back who struggled to get playing time under Meyer. 

With the Jacksonville Jaguars looking for a permanent head coach after firing Urban Meyer, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich is reportedly getting a lot of support for the job. 

Per Jay Glazer of Fox Sports (h/t Billy Marshall of The Roar podcast), Leftwich has a "big groundswell of support" to take over for the Jaguars after this season. 

Jaguars owner Shad Khan announced Thursday that Meyer had been relieved of his duties amid a tumultuous 2-11 start. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is serving as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. 

Meyer's tenure was more notable for off-field stories than for anything that happened in games. He was filmed at an Ohio bar with a woman dancing on him who wasn't his wife after he didn't didn't fly home with the team after a Week 4 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

One day before Meyer's firing, former Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo accused the coach of kicking him during warm-ups before a game. 

It would stand to reason that Jaguars ownership and management will be looking for a stabilizing force as their next head coach, as well as someone who can help bring out the best in quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

Leftwich is in his fifth season as an NFL assistant coach. The 41-year-old spent two seasons with the Arizona Cardinals as quarterbacks coach from 2017-18. He also took over as interim offensive coordinator midway through the 2018 season after Mike McCoy was fired. 

Bruce Arians, who hired Leftwich in Arizona in 2017, brought him to the Bucs in 2019 as their offensive coordinator. 

The Buccaneers haven't ranked lower than third in points per game under Leftwich. They currently lead the NFL in scoring average with 31.5 points per contest.    

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz took particular exception from what he thought was a cheap shot by New England Patriots pass-rusher Matthew Judon.

"Don’t need to go into specifics, obviously, but when a man’s ability to reproduce is being in question and there’s some other extracurriculars, guys’ hands need to be at their sides," Wentz said, per the Indianapolis Star's Joel A. Erickson and Scott Horner. "Let’s just say that. When that happens, you can get pretty riled up."

Fans were initially a bit confused as to why Wentz became so heated toward Judon in the third quarter of the Colts' 27-17 victory. The Indianapolis signal-caller had been sacked by Deatrich Wise Jr. on the preceding play.

Wentz unsuccessfully attempted to discuss the matter with Judon after the game:

Wentz tried to go up to Judon on the field postgame. I caught the very end of their exchange. I saw Judon walking away from Wentz as Wentz was left with his arms raised and stretched out trying to still talk to Judon as he apparently wasn’t having any of it. https://t.co/DY4rPAALlj

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) December 19, 2021

Judon didn't provide much clarity as to his supposed offense, telling reporters that Wentz "got mad about something, and I guess that anger was directed towards me."

If Judon did in fact go after his groin, then it's easy to see why the 2017 Pro Bowler became so upset. ProFootballTalk's Michael David Smith alluded to potential retrospective action by the NFL 

Wentz didn't have a great game Saturday, finishing 5-of-12 for 57 yards, one touchdown and one interception. But he exacted the perfect kind of revenge on Judon by coming out on the winning side.

The Patriots and Colts are both on track to make the playoffs, so there's a chance the two players could cross paths again later this year.