DISRESPECT?
Texans' DeMeco Ryans clears the air on Kris Boyd shoving special teams coach
Jan 20, 2025, 3:09 pm
DISRESPECT?
Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said Monday that cornerback Kris Boyd didn’t push special teams coach Frank Ross in a “disrespectful manner” after he nearly shoved him to the ground following the opening kickoff of the team’s divisional playoff loss to the Chiefs this past weekend.
Ryans said after the game that he hadn’t seen the push before addressing it Monday.
“I don’t think he was pushing Frank in a disrespectful manner,” Ryans said. “I think it was more so he was fired up, overly fired up and thought he made a play to help us. So that narrative that he’s pushing a coach — that’s incorrect.”
The Texans kicked off and Chiefs returner Nikko Remigio had broken through their coverage, hitting the open field and racing toward the end zone. Boyd caught him and stripped the ball loose, ran toward Houston’s sideline and celebrated the fumble by ripping off his helmet and sending it skittering toward the bench.
Unfortunately for Boyd and the Texans, the Chiefs recovered the fumble.
It was a fact Boyd only realized as he neared the sideline, after his helmet was off and the penalty flag had been thrown.
Boyd proceeded to shove Ross on the sideline and ultimately was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for taking off his helmet.
Boyd said after the game that he was “just too excited” and that he apologized to Ross for letting his emotions get the best of him.
Though Ryans downplayed Boyd’s push of Ross, he reiterated Monday that the sixth-year pro has to handle himself better to avoid costly penalties.
“He came over with the excitement, overly excited that he made a play, but we can’t lose our minds in that sense of taking our helmet off,” Ryans said. “We still have to remain poised, right. We cannot take a helmet off in a game, everyone knows and understands the rules.”
Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.
Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.
He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.
“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”
Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.
The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.
“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”
You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.
#Astros GM Dana Brown has the latest on Yordan Alvarez who will see a hand specialist tomorrow
We'll discuss on @astros Pregame before tonight's game with the Rockies starting at 7PM on SCHN pic.twitter.com/7hyIFL9jah
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) July 1, 2025
Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.