DeMeco Ryans Says Kris Boyd's Push Of Assistant Was Not 'Disrespectful'

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is coming to the aid of cornerback Kris Boyd, who found himself in the spotlight for a less than ideal reason.

On the opening kickoff of Saturday's Divisional Round matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, Boyd tackled Nikko Remigio and caused a fumble. Boyd thought Houston recovered the ball (they didn’t), so in his excitement he threw his helmet at the sideline and shoved special teams head coach Frank Ross.

When this incident unfolded Saturday, I reported that Boyd was mad at Ross and took out his frustration on the coach. However, that’s not the way that Ryans saw it.

"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."

Boyd seemed to corroborate Ryans’ explanation Monday, saying he was excited and let his emotions get the better of him. He also said that he respects everyone on the staff and wouldn’t do anything to harm one of them.

"I love everybody here. I love my coaches," Boyd said. "I would never disrespect anybody. I love Frank, I’m a God-fearing man. I respect everybody in that building."

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That’s a perfectly fair explanation, and Boyd seems sincere in his apology. Sometimes, the camera only catches the dramatic moment, and I made the wrong assumption about what happened.

However, Ryans did say that Boyd, who has been in the NFL for six years, should know how to control his emotions in big moments like that. 

"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."

Next year, Boyd will get the chance to prove he learned his lesson.