The Houston Texans made a puzzling move Sunday ahead of their Week 12 matchup with the New York Jets at NRG Stadium.
The 2-8 club, also facing a 2-8 team, decided to bench safety Justin Reid due to disciplinary reasons.
ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark, who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008 as part of his 13-year career from 2002-14, took the organization to task for benching the former 2019 Ed Block Courage Award winner.
“The Houston Texans’ Justin Reid is a healthy scratch today,” Clark said. “He started all four years for the Houston Texans. He’s played free safety, he’s played strong safety. He’s a healthy scratch because of a disagreement. He’s a healthy scratch because he answered a question honestly when asked by the coaching staff.
“Now, coaching staffs have disagreements with players all the time. They usually move on when it’s not a fight, when it’s not a fight. When it’s amicable, they find a way to get to the solution for the problem and they field the best team they possibly can. That’s what winning organizations do. The Houston Texans have decided to let egos, to let emotions, to let feelings get in the way of fielding the best team possible.
“Justin Reid was a professional. As the leader of the team, he answered a question that was asked of him. Now, he won’t suit up. This is one of the best players on the team, a player that sacrificed much for the Houston Texans. Now, he’s repaid by not getting his helmet because he was honest.”
The @HoustonTexans’ starting safety @JustinqReid will be a healthy scratch today. Sources tell me it isn’t performance related. Coaching staff & Reid had a disagreement recently. That disagreement resulted in the Texans deciding to bench one of their best players! Seems petty pic.twitter.com/WIF4UHZBO8
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) November 28, 2021
Reid has collected 42 combined tackles, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and two interceptions through nine games with Houston this season, all of which he has started.
