DeMeco Ryans appears to have cold shoulder for Aaron Rodgers after Texans’ loss

After the Jets’ 21-13 win over Houston, Aaron Rodgers appeared to wait patiently to shake the hand of Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. It didn’t seem to happen. Rodgers, who is nearly eight months older than Ryans, got even with the former linebacker in their second-ever meeting on Thursday night. Ryans sacked the quarterback in their first meeting, a 24-21 Texans win back in 2008.

Regardless of the reason Ryans didn’t seem to shake Rodgers’ hand on Thursday night, the Texans (6-3) suddenly find the Colts (4-4) and new quarterback Joe Flacco breathing down their necks in the AFC South. Fortunately, Houston already has two head-to-head wins over Indianapolis, but C.J. Stroud is not comfortable.

“I would say, honestly, we’ve just got to play football better,” said Stroud, who was just 11 of 30 for 191 yards and sacked eight times in the loss to the Jets, who snapped a five-game losing streak. “Execute better, stop pointing the finger and realize, at the end of the day, this is not winning ball. We can’t keep squeezing our way by every game.”

Tank Dell (six catches, 126 yards) stepped up to fill some of the void left by injured receivers Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs, and Joe Mixon (24 carries, 106 yards) was his solid self, including a short touchdown run to cap a 98-yard drive.

But Houston couldn’t overcome its leaky offensive line and a normally dependable Ka’imi Fairbairn, who missed field goals of 56 and 27 yards.

The good news for Ryans’ club is that Collins is hopeful to return for the next game, at home in an interconference showdown with Detroit (6-1) on Nov. 10. The Houston playmaker was leading the league in receiving before sitting out the last four games with a hamstring injury.

The bad news for Ryans’ club is injuries, including newly named AFC Defensive Player of the Month Will Anderson, who dislocated his shoulder and missed most of the first quarter before returning to the game. Penalties also continue to plague the Texans, something they’ll need to clean up before Detroit comes to town. While, the defensive holding call on Derek Stingley was questionable, giving the Jets a fourth-down conversion on the first play of the final quarter, Houston also had pre-snap and holding calls that sputtered drives.

Stroud has played much better in Houston than on the road. Including an Oct. 20 loss at Green Bay, he’s now 0-2 over his last two road starts (21 of 51, 41.2 percent, no touchdowns or interceptions, 59.0 passer rating).