Cunningham cut as Culley upholds rules
HOUSTON — David Culley laid down the law Wednesday morning.
Culley got tired of inside linebacker Zach Cunningham not getting with the program — an issue that’s existed for most of the season — and the Texans released him.
General manager Nick Caserio had to approve Culley’s decision because he’s in charge of personnel and has to make it official by alerting the NFL.
The Texans did Cunningham a favor by releasing him. He has a chance to play for a playoff contender rather than a team contending for the first pick in the draft, but that’s beside the point.
If your boss sits you down and says if you continue to violate company policy you’re fired and you continue to do it, you should be fired, right?
That’s the way it is in the real world, and that’s the way it should be in the sports world, too, but we know that’s not always the case.
Some teams will sell their souls to the devil if they believe they can squeeze out another couple of victories rather than address a problem, with Tampa Bay and suspended receiver Antonio Brown being a perfect example.
But the Texans aren’t winning. They’re going nowhere fast with a 2-10 record heading into Sunday’s game against Seattle at NRG Stadium. They’re destined to be 2-11 entering the next game at Jacksonville, also expected to be 2-11.
Cunningham was a repeat offender. He’d been warned by Culley about violating rules. What’s the use of having rules if you’re not going to enforce them?
Before the second game at Cleveland, Cunningham was late to a meeting, and his punishment was not starting against the Browns. At some point after the loss to Cleveland, Culley had a heart-to-heart chat with Cunningham about his issues in his fifth season.
“I sat down and had a talk with Zach the last time we had a situation and told him this was it,” Culley said. “Any more of these kinds of situations, and we’re going to move on, and that’s what happened.”
The coup de grace for Cunningham was not showing up for a mandatory COVID-19 test before Sunday’s loss to Indianapolis. That’s a violation of protocols established by the NFL and the NFL Players Association, so the Texans made him inactive.
Cunningham started seven of the 12 games. He didn’t start two because of the violations, including the one in which he was benched. He missed another game because of COVID-19 protocols. He played a reserve role in two more games.
Culley was asked why he didn’t wait until after the season to cut Cunningham. He pointed out he’s accountable to the players who are following the rules.
“I’ve got a locker room full of players that understand what our standard is,” he said. “We preach it all the time. When guys aren’t going (by) those standards, they’re looking at me crosseyed when I’m not practicing what I preach. He didn’t follow what we needed to get done, and I made the move.”
Defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who leads the team with eight sacks, found out the news from Cunningham on Wednesday morning. Greenard didn’t seem surprised, pointing out that “rules are rules” and players are supposed to abide by them.
“It’s kind of like an unspoken rule about what the standard is,” Greenard said. “It’s the basic stuff that’s self-explanatory. He was inactive the last game, so, obviously, something was up. It wasn’t the first time, so something had to be done.”
Some are being critical of Culley’s decision to get rid of Cunningham. The players didn’t seem to have a problem with it because they understand Culley’s message crystal clear.
“I think he’s doing a great job,” receiver Brandin Cooks said about Culley implementing standards and trying to maintain them no matter what’s happening on the field. “I think he’s doing the best he can. He has a lot on his plate.
“I have a lot of respect for him (because) he never changes. Every day, he comes in here and upholds his standard and remains the same. That’s the same thing he’s asking from the team. The fact that he’s able to do it with everything that’s going on, then we should be able to do that as well.
“I have a lot of respect for him from that standpoint — being consistent no matter what’s going on.”
Some were surprised Culley didn’t make the move sooner, but as long as Cunningham did his job on and off the field, he seemed assured of at least finishing the season with the Texans.
In the victory over Tennessee, Culley said Cunningham played his best game of the season.
“Listen, we’re 2-10,” Culley said. “It has nothing to do with production. It has something to do with not meeting our standards.”
Now Cunningham’s gone, and he could be preparing to make a playoff run with his new team. You hope he got the message and avoids disciplinary problems at his new destination.
As for the Texans, Culley got his message across, and the players were listening. If this were fiction and not real life, the Texans could be putting up a united front, rallying around Culley and shocking the Seahawks the way they did the Titans.
Unfortunately for the Texans, this is reality, and they’re just not good enough to defeat the Seahawks, but perhaps they can avoid a third shutout.