Andre Johnson does not participate in Houston Texans' first OTA

Andre Johnson said he wasn’t going to show up for the Houston Texans OTAs, and the star wide receiver held true to his word, according to ESPN NFL reporter Tania Ganguli.

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Johnson has openly vented his frustration with the Texans recently, even going to the point of a passive-aggressive hint that he wanted to play elsewhere next season, despite being under contract with Houston.

There was nothing passive about his contention that he would skip the mandatory mini-camp, which has to send up a few red flags for the Texans’ brass.

The thing that puts Houston in an odd position with Johnson is that he’s not really making any new contract demands or holding out for more money, he just isn’t sure he wants to be part of yet another rebuilding process with the team.

Johnson is under contract through the 2016 season, and trading him would hit the team with $11.96 million in dead money against the 2014 salary cap number, so a trade scenario is unlikely.

That means the Texans are going to have to find a way to assure Johnson that their lack of a big-time quarterback doesn’t necessarily mean a repeat of 2013’s dismal 2-14 season (a season that started 2-0 by the way). Johnson, for his part, may have to just pull up his big boy pants and suck it up, or sit out and not get paid.

The options are truly limited for both sides here. The Texans can only hope that the player who has been the face of their franchise — at least offensively — will see his way clear to showing up for training camp.

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Andre Johnson does not participate in Houston Texans’ first OTA

By Michael Collins | May 27, 2014