Houston Texans D coordinator Wade Phillips taking medical leave
AHN Sports Staff
Houston, TX, United States (AHN Sports) – Houston Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will take a medical leave to have surgery on his kidney on Thursday morning. He expects to return from a medical leave of absence within 10 days.
The 64-year-old Phillips was at practice on Wednesday. He declined to go into detail about his upcoming procedure but believes he will coach in the Texans’ regular-season finale against Tennessee on Jan. 1.
“I feel good,” Phillips said. “I don’t have any physical problems right now. If I get this done, the procedure that I’m doing, then I’ll be fine. I’ll be out for maybe a week, maybe a little longer than that.
“It’s the next man up. That’s what we’ve done all year. The team is we, it’s not me. I’ve been getting too much credit, but it’s a football team, and they’re going to play. I haven’t done a good job if they’re not ready to play, if they’re not ready to practice and they’re not ready to prepare to play.”
Phillips said his procedure is not life-threatening or cancer-related while trying to make light of his situation.
“I don’t want to get into it,” he said. “It’s personal, but, it’s not a vasectomy, in case you wondered.”
Hired on Jan. 5, Phillips has transformed the Texans’ defense from 30th in 2010 to first in 2011. The Texans have held seven consecutive opponents to less than 20 points and have 36 sacks, one shy of the team record.
Linebackers coach Reggie Herring will be the Texans’ interim defensive coordinator. He was Phillips’ linebackers coach and right-hand man in Dallas from 2008-10.
“This is a system,” Herring said. “I’ve been raised under Wade Phillips for the last four years. I’ve studied him. We think a lot alike. At the end of the day, I’m not Wade Phillips, but it’s Wade Phillips’ system. It’s our calls. It’s what the players know. We have confidence. It’s going to come down to execution and consistency, what it does every week.”
Herring has 11 years of experience as a defensive coordinator at the college level.
“I feel very confident about this,” he said. “The players are all in a good frame of mind right now. We have a lot of things to finish, home-field advantage and we’re number on in the NFL right now. We have a lot to play for. Players have shown a lot of character and pride. I don’t see any letdown in these guys.”
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