BALTIMORE, Md. – Jalen Pitre was instinctive and alert, snatching the football away from Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews when he bobbled a potential catch into the hands of the Texans’ veteran nickel back.
The Stafford graduate intercepted two passes during a 44-10 victory at M&T Bank Stadium, picking off Ravens quarterback Cooper Rush. On the first interception, Pitre capitalized on the pressure on Rush. On the second one, he benefited from safety Calen Bullock popping the football into the air.
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“It was just pure execution,” Pitre told KPRC 2. “Definitely some great plays, but shoutout to my teammates who allowed me to do it. If you go back and look at the tape, I’m sure Cooper Rush was rushed on the first pick. And then shoutout Calen on the second one for hitting me and making the ball go up and allowing me to get the interception. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to make those plays.”
Pitre, a Stafford graduate and former Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Baylor, has three interceptions this season. That ties him for the NFL lead in that category.
The Texans intercepted Rush three times, including one from second-year cornerback Kamari Lassiter as he essentially ran the route for the receiver and mirrored his movements for the turnover.
Pitre has rewarded the faith and investment the Texans made in him this offseason with a $42.6 million contract extension. Pitre is making plays on the football, as he did as a rookie when he intercepted a career-high five interceptions. Pitre also had a crushing tackle on Ravens powerhouse running back Derrick Henry, who was held to 33 yards and one score on 15 carries.
“Jalen has been outstanding, outstanding start to the season,” Texans coach The growth piece is what we saw for the past three weeks, him attacking the football and now having three interceptions on the year. That’s the growth that I’ve seen. Everybody understands how active he is around the line of scrimmage and blitzing, but just the pass coverage piece and being able to take the football away.
“That’s the piece of his game that’s taking another step. I know he did that his rookie year. There’s many more to come from him. He’s playing physical. He had a really big hit. He’s playing physical. He’s having fun on the field. If you watch the tape and you just watch Jalen Pitre play the game, that’s how I want everybody to play. He’s out there flying around, having fun, being where he’s supposed to be, playing clean football and doing it with a huge smile on his face. He’s making a ton of plays for us, and I couldn’t be happier with where he is right now and what he’s doing for our team.”
In 49 career games and 48 starts, the former second-round draft pick has nine interceptions and 318 tackles, one forced fumble, one sack, 19 tackles for losses and five quarterback hits.
The Texans won for the first time in Baltimore.
“God is good,” Pitre said. “I’m thankful for it.”
Now, the Texans have a week off before a Monday night road game against the Seattle Seahawks. They’ve won two games in a row and are 2-3 overall after a rough start to the season.
“We’ve still got to show up and do the same thing,” Pitre said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re correcting the things that we didn’t do as well and making sure that we are building on the things that we did do well. I know my teammates and coaches are definitely pleased with the outcome of today.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com