• Blog: Good decision

The Brian Cushing experiment appears to be over.

Although the coaches say Cushing will continue to spend some time at middle (Mike) linebacker, he has moved back to the strong side (Sam), where he made an impact last season when he was voted NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

“Whatever the coaches ask me to do, I’m going to do it,” Cushing said after practice Wednesday. “If (coach Gary Kubiak) asks me to play Sam, I’ll play Sam. If it’s Mike, then I’m Mike.

“Sam is where I’ve made the majority of my plays. I’m going be back at the position that I need to be.

“I think the coaches could see the frustrations that I had. I didn’t feel that anything was wrong, but I didn’t feel like I was really playing the game that I can.”

When DeMeco Ryans suffered a season-ending injury to his Achilles tendon, Cushing replaced him. Kevin Bentley, who backed up Ryans the last three seasons, was moved to the strong side.

Depending on the situation, Kubiak said both players would play at each position at Jacksonville. Expect Cushing to spend most of his time outside because the NFL’s worst defense needs him to make some big plays.

“Now (that) I’m going back to Sam and doing things that I’m good at, like playing the edge and rushing the passer, it’s going to be a lot more pressure (taken) off me,” Cushing said. “I can play both and Kevin can play both, so this adds versatility at linebacker.”

Nickel and Diles

Karen Warren/Chronicle

The coaches moved Cushing into the middle for the Indianapolis game because they stayed in the nickel defense against the Colts’ multiple-receiver formations. Cushing and Zac Diles, the starter on the weak side, stayed on the field.

Against the Colts and San Diego, both losses, Cushing spent too much time thinking and not enough time reacting instinctively and making plays.

Bentley, a nine-year veteran, has the experience to make sure the calls are correct and everyone is in the right spot.

“As far as getting everybody in the right position and doing the right things, I think I have a good understanding of our defense and what coach (defensive coordinator Frank) Bush wants,” Bentley said. “I’m very comfortable there. It fits my skill set very well.”

The Texans are last in total defense, last in pass defense and last in red-zone defense. They have three sacks in four games and have forced only eight turnovers.

Something had to be done because the Texans are 4-4 and tied with Jacksonville for third place in the AFC South, one game behind Indianapolis and Tennessee.

“We have some flexibility at linebacker for the first time if we want to move him to play Sam or move him to Mike in the nickel,” Kubiak said about linebackers returning from injuries.

Much-needed flexibility

Bentley, rookie Darryl Sharpton and veteran Xavier Adibi have missed time because of injuries. Only Adibi (hamstring) isn’t healthy.

“It’s definitely on my mind,” Kubiak said about returning Cushing outside. “But we did what we had to do two weeks ago. Now we are starting to get a little bit healthy. We would love to have Adibi out here because that gives us even more flexibility.

“As long as we have everybody healthy, we’ve got some wiggle room, an opportunity to do more things.”

john.mcclain@chron.com