The team also officially promoted Jack Easterby as well

Bill O'Brien now Texans General Manager in addition to head coach

Texans Bill O'Brien
Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Bill O'Brien has a new placard on his desk.

New title for O'Brien and his unofficial assistant GM

As seen above the Texans have named Bill O'Brien as the general manager in addition to his role as the team's head coach. O'Brien joins his former boss Bill Belichick as one of the members of the NFL coaching community who also has the decision-making powers.

Jack Easterby, who also previously worked with the New England Patriots, now has an official title too. It was widely believed he had heavy input on the team in his past year with the team.

This had been coming

It would be interesting to know if this was something known in the building by the team or just assumed. Either way, something long whispered, came to fruition.

With the amount of front office talent that has left the organization in the past year there was some belief O'Brien was consolidating his power. Today, he has all the power in the organization.

Business as usual, with the titles

SB Nation Radio NFL Insider Adam Caplan told me teams have treated the situation in Houston as if O'Brien was the Texans general manager since Brian Gaine was fired by the team.

Now O'Brien has the title with the work. He is in charge of the team from a management perspective, he is the head coach, and he calls the plays for the teams.

How does this work?

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I don't think it does work. I don't see it. SB Nation Radio NFL Insider Adam Caplan told me the expectation from the league is O'Brien will do whatever he has to do to keep his job.

O'Brien did a ton this past offseason and yet the team regressed in many areas. Without a regular slate of draft picks and quite a few of their own players set to hit free agency the Texans are in a tough spot.

Short of O'Brien really taking the next step along with a few of his key players and some solid and smart spending the Texans might have hit their ceiling in 2019. If that's the case, O'Brien could theoretically survive a similar campaign in 2020. But, there are no more excuses. O'Brien has nobody to blame but himself now.

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For McCullers and the Astros, this one hit different

Houston Texans coach sets record straight on C.J. Stroud

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Is CJ Stroud recovering from a surgery? Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Coming out of Tuesday's Texans press conference, it feels like we may have been left with more questions than answers.

Head coach DeMeco Ryans continued to downplay CJ Stroud's “soreness” that has kept him from throwing at OTAs.

I noted in my article on Tuesday, that it I found it interesting that Ryans dodged a question from ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime about Stroud's availability for next week's mandatory minicamp.

However, Mike Florio of NBC Sports' biggest takeaway from the press conference really raised some red flags. When Ryans was asked if Stroud had any work performed on him in the offseason, his body language shifted dramatically. He started aggressively adjusting the sleeves on his shirt and looking quite uncomfortable. Seth Payne shared some similar thoughts on his YouTube channel, too.

Florio makes a point in the video below that coaches have to be careful with their movements during these press conferences when asked tough questions. Or people will start reading into body language and wonder why the coach is refusing to answer further questions on the subject.

Something DeMeco did Tuesday after the “work” question. Media members suddenly become professional poker players looking for any tell.

That's a “no” from me dawg

Florio's co-host Chris Simms on the other hand wasn't buying it. He believes if there was any kind of procedure in the offseason, somebody would have heard about it.

He chalks up Stroud's absence to something much more minor, like tendonitis in the shoulder or elbow. KPRC 2's Aaron Wilson is reporting that his sources are telling him Stroud is dealing with tightness in his shoulder muscle. So it could be something as simple as that.

At the end of the day, let's hope Simms and Wilson are correct, and this isn't something we should worry about with the season still several months away.

But it is worth mentioning, CJ is learning a new offense and working with many new receivers that are expected to make an impact this year (Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel). A lot could be achieved by throwing to his new weapons and gaining experience in an unfamiliar system.

Something has to be bothering him enough to miss these valuable reps.

Be sure to check out the video below for the full conversation and see where you come out on the debate.

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