The slumping Houston Texans took a blow to their depth last week, especially at running back, when three rookies, Sam Montgomery, Cierre Wood, and Willie Jefferson were shown the door after allegedly getting caught smoking marijuana in the team hotel.
Montgomery's agent, however, has come forward to deny that marijuana was the impetus for Montgomery's dismissal. "It is our position that the story written about Sam Montgomery by ESPN, which sets forth that he was dismissed from the Houston Texans for using marijuana, is completely inaccurate," agent Jeff Guerriero told ESPN in a text message. "Mr. Montgomery was dismissed from the team for allegedly violating a team rule. This can be confirmed by the Houston Texan personnel."
Texans coach Gary Kubiak refused to illuminate the murky circumstances behind the dismissal of the three players. "I won't discuss team rules and those type of things," Kubiak said Monday. "I'll make decisions based on a body of work in everything I do. I've got five months of work invested in those three young men and made a decision today to move forward."
Jefferson's agent Chad Cannon also denied the three players were doing drugs, and said they were in fact smoking a cigar in their hotel room. The released trio is said to be considering filing a grievance.
"We're discussing the possibility of filing a grievance," Cannon said. "I need to be in touch with them and really figure if that's the best route to take."
The timing of the release was especially unfortunate for Cierre Wood, who likely would've received a major opportunity after Arian Foster left Sunday's contest with a strained hamstring. Backup Ben Tate later exited with fractured ribs, pressing fullback Greg Jones into duty. That would surely have been Wood getting carries.
Both Montgomery and Jefferson have had issues prior to this release. Montgomery hasn't seen the field this season and struggled with his offseason conditioning, while Jefferson was booted out of the Baylor football program in college.
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