Texans' Matt Burke reacts to demotion amid DeMeco Ryans hot-seat rumors

Shortly after the Houston Texans suffered a 34-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys that dropped the Texans to 0-4 on the season, Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans revealed that he was taking defensive play-calling duties from coordinator Matt Burke.

While speaking with reporters during his weekly news conference, Burke reacted to that demotion. 

Matt Burke "a little disappointed" by DeMeco Ryans move

"Obviously a little disappointed, not even about me, just obviously I think we’re all disappointed in where we’re at and how we performed and being 0-4 at this point," Burke said, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "DeMeco and I have a very honest relationship. He just said, 'I think we need to spark a change.' I said, 'OK, what do you need from me?' He said, 'I just need to keep game planning and working on the plan with me through the week, and same as we’ve always done.' So, that’s what we’re going to do." 

On Oct. 4, Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb torched Burke's defense en route to recording 17 receptions for 189 yards, including a game-winning grab with 40 seconds remaining in regulation. 

ESPN stats show that the Texans began Friday ranked 20th in the NFL with 343.8 total yards allowed per game and tied for 27th with 27.3 points surrendered per contest. Meanwhile, the temperature of Ryans' figurative seat could get warmer if the Texans don't soon right the ship. 

This Sunday, the Texans will play at a winless Tennessee Titans (0-4) side that is seen by some as the overall worst team in the league. 

Matt Burke: Texans needed to "try to spark a change"

Burke acknowledged that "things haven’t gone well" for a Texans team that opened the campaign with four straight defeats. 

"I think we’ll all be honest to admit that," Burke continued. "Not the way we wanted to. Sometimes you have to just sort of try to spark a change and just see something different and see if something else clicks. To adjust to those roles a little bit. Hopefully it shows on Sunday. ...I just think we haven’t performed the way we all want to perform. When you get to this point, you just got to keep doing the same thing and probably expecting different results. We have to just try to change things up a little bit. We’ll go see how it looks." 

As of Friday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Texans as 7.5-point road favorites over the Titans.