A season’s worth of frustration for Texans fans boiled over on Sunday.
During the third quarter of a 38-13 shellacking at the hands of the visiting St. Louis Rams, much-maligned Houston quarterback Matt Schaub went down with an ankle injury after being sacked by Chris Long.
As the signal caller, who had thrown a pick-six in four consecutive games but had completed 15 of 21 passes with no interceptions at the time of the injury Sunday, was attended to by trainers and helped off the field, some fans at Reliant Stadium cheered.
The actions of the crowd were immediately blasted by Houston’s radio announcers, and Schaub’s teammates unanimously criticized the home crowd after the game.
Left tackle Duane Brown called the cheering of Schaub’s injury “disgusting,” and wide receiver Andre Johnson lamented the fans’ lack of class. Running back Arian Foster called it “tactless and tasteless,” and cornerback Kareem Jackson used the term “ridiculous.” (Pro Football Talk gathered a full roundup of player quotes, which can be found here.)
To linebacker Brian Cushing, it was “barbaric” to cheer a player being injured, and cornerback Johnathan Joseph politely told the guilty fans what they can do, via Sports Radio 610’s Paul Gallant.
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Even Long, whose hit resulted in the injury, was critical of Texans fans after the game, saying that even he would not have celebrated the sack if he knew Schaub had been hurt on the play.
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Texans backup T.J. Yates did not fare well in relief, completing 12 of 17 passes for zero touchdowns and a pair of picks as Houston tumbled to 2-4 on the season.
