Commentary: When this Andre speaks...

MAYBE it’s the fact that Andre Johnson sees another season going nowhere.

Maybe it’s another year of lousy football and having his talent wasted. Maybe he’s just tired of being part of a doormat franchise that prompted him to speak up Wednesday.

“I think after a while, it kind of takes a toll on you,” he said.

For the first time, he appears to have had enough. It has been reflected in his body language and in his postgame comments.

When he dropped those two touchdown passes in Tennessee, he did what a leader is supposed to do. He stepped up and accepted the blame for the defeat even though there were a dozen other things that went wrong.

So the Texans go to Jacksonville and Johnson touches the ball three times.

“It’s not just me,” he said. “I’m pretty sure it’s that way with a lot of the guys around the locker room. I guess it just bothers me a little bit more because I’ve been going through it since I’ve been here. So, I just have to continue to work.”

For six seasons, he has played the role of good soldier. Never complained. You never heard him say the quarterback was lousy and the coaching even worse.

He could have. He would have been accurate. He just didn’t.

He continued to work hard and play hard and hope the people in charge did the right thing.

Last season when the Texans went 8-8, it appeared they finally would be playing for something this season.

Prime time for Andre
Now he’s 28 and in what should be the prime years of his career. He surely figured things would be different by now.

He had to think the Texans would matter by his sixth year. Can you imagine Terrell Owens keeping his mouth shut this long?

Thirty-six NFL players have more receptions than Johnson. His next touchdown catch will be his first of the year. Ridiculous, right?

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “You want to get involved in the game. You want to go out there and make plays. You just try to do your best when the ball is thrown to you. You know other guys go through it. Other guys on other teams go through it. It’s part of the game. “

He has 15 catches and no touchdowns. Kevin Walter also has 15 catches. Steve Slaton has 15 catches.

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” he said. “That’s not my call. That’s out of my control. I just go out and play. I just go out and do what I can do to help the team win, and that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”

He’s good enough to play for a championship team. He’d make the Patriots or Giants better. Instead, he’s stuck on a team that just keeps losing.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak said Johnson was taken out of the game by Jacksonville rolling its defense to his side of the field.

That’s silly. If he can’t figure out a way to get the ball to his best offensive player, he should hire someone who can.

When someone asked Johnson about his creating opportunities for Walter, he didn’t buy it.

“If that’s how you guys feel about it,” he said. “I just go out and play. All I care about is winning. Like you said, you can see the frustration. I’m tired of losing. I’m pretty sure everyone else around here is tired of losing.”

It’s always something. If you listen to some of these coaches long enough, you’d think they were designing a nuclear reactor.

There are ways to get a player the ball if there’s a desire to do so. How about a quick screen or a slant? How about a four-wide receiver set? How about attacking instead of reacting?

The Texans appear to be at another turning point of sorts this week as the Indianapolis Colts come to Reliant Stadium. They’re one of four winless teams.

A statement game
There’s winless and there’s winless. The Texans have been blown out in two games. If they can’t at least make a game of it against the Colts, wouldn’t it be time for Bob McNair to start holding some people accountable?

Kubiak and Rick Smith have had three offseasons to overhaul the franchise.

Now, this team is mostly players they picked and coaches they hired. If it’s broken, it’s no longer Charley Casserly’s fault.

“We needed one more play to be made to win that game (against Jacksonville),” Johnson said, “but we just didn’t make that play. So, that’s pretty much been the story week in and week out, not making enough plays or not executing on offense.

“So, hopefully we can get that done Sunday. We’re going to go out and give it our best shot.”

(chron.com)