The Houston Texans entered their Week 18 home matchup against the Indianapolis Colts last season in need of a loss to clinch the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
At one point during the game, it seemed as if the Colts were going to come away with a win in the contest. The Texans faced a fourth-and-12 situation and trailed by a 31-24 score in the late stages of the fourth quarter. Now-former Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks wound up extending the drive via a 30-yard catch, and quarterback Davis Mills later secured the win thanks to a 28-yard touchdown pass and a successful 2-point try.
Cooks, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys last month, recorded five catches for 106 receiving yards against the Colts. The veteran wideout knew what was on the line in the game, but at the end of the day, he does not “play to lose.”
“Well, you never suit up to lose, right?” Cooks said during a recent appearance on “The Adam Schefter Podcast.”
“And so you know that No. 1 pick is out there, but at the end of the day, you go out between those white lines, you’re putting out your resume, so as a competitor you’re not going out there saying, ‘I’m not going to give them my all because I want the Texans to have the No. 1 pick.’ You go out there, you give it your all and let the chips fall where they fall and they just happen to be one of those situations where it was a nail-biter and most people were probably like, ‘Wait, why are you guys winning?’ We don’t play to lose, at least from a player’s standpoint.”
Now-former Texans head coach Lovie Smith made clear after the game that he entered the contest with a victory as his top priority.
“Whenever you play, it’s pretty simple, you play to win the game,” Smith said during his postgame press conference. “That’s all the way down in our organization. … We understand what our win total is and that’s not enough. That wasn’t part of the plan. That’s how it goes sometimes. … We wanted to leave the season with a good taste in our mouths.”
The Chicago Bears were awarded the No. 1 selection in this year’s NFL Draft, and they later shipped off the pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for four draft picks and D.J. Moore. The Panthers are reportedly expected to select either Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud with the pick.
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