Texans Owner Bob McNair
(on the team’s direction) “I’m really happy
with our team. I’m happy with our coaches. I think Coach Kubiak is doing a great
job. Rick Smith is doing a wonderful job of bringing in players as we need them,
and it’s really a lot of fun to see the success that our guys are enjoying.”
(on the Texans’ new offensive scheme) “I think
that the offensive scheme itself is more fun, because you open the game up and
the quarterback can do a lot more. We’ve got very athletic quarterbacks, so it
gives them a chance to do what they do best.”
(on the upcoming season) “I’m anxious to see
how we do, and I know we’ll do very well. I’m not making any predictions, but I
know we’ll play well. I’ve seen us play well against Tampa Bay, which is a good
team, and Denver, which is a very good team. We stood right there with them, and
there’s no reason that we won’t do that with Philadelphia, who has the best
record over the last five years of any team in the NFL. I think we’ll be there
to play.”
(on Coach Kubiak) “He’s very hands-on, and he
treats everybody fairly. Any time anybody needs correcting, it doesn’t matter if
he’s the number one player or the 75th player on the roster; he’s
going to be corrected. The players like that because they know that everyone is
treated fairly and he does it in such a way that he doesn’t put people down.”
(on his approach to the upcoming regular
season) “You just have to look at it one game at a time, and not look beyond
that. We’ve got a big game with Philadelphia coming up, and I feel that we’ll be
able to play very well against them. I’m looking forward to it. The goal is to
win that game, and that’s all that counts right now.”
(on if the Texans’ preseason performance will
earn respect from other teams) “I don’t know if anybody’s paying any attention
to us at this point and, in fact, I’d prefer that they not pay any attention to
us. That’s fine with me. I think our players know that they can go out and play
with anyone. I think they have confidence in the schemes that Coach Kubiak put
together, and I think that’s very important.”
(on building confidence through preseason
wins) “I think it’s very important. Even though these games don’t count in the
standings, it’s an affirmation of the schemes that are in place. They work, and
the players can see that they work and believe it. So much of this game is
confidence, so I think our preseason was very positive.”
(on the difference in training camp this year)
“I think the main thing is that the players have confidence in Coach Kubiak. I
think that’s the number one thing.”
Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on what’s ahead in the next few
days) “We have a lot of tough decisions to make. You have an idea of where
you’re headed and then you have to take into account everything that happened
tonight. When you give young guys an opportunity to play, you give them
confidence to play their hearts out. They’re playing for jobs and a chance to
play in the National Football League, and that’s impressive.”
(on the play of Antowain Smith and
Chris Taylor) “I thought they both did some good things for us. Antowain is a
veteran guy who pounds the ball and had a big run. Taylor I thought had
exceptional speed, but he needs more vision and needs to grow as a runner.
They’re different types of players who are going to perform for us.”
(on the play of quarterback Sage Rosenfels) “I expected him to play well. He practices that way, he knows what’s
going on and he’s a great leader. He’s very poised in what he does and I’m
really not surprised. That’s why we went and got him this off season. He’s
going to make our team better.”
(on whether or not he’ll keep
three quarterbacks on the roster) “We’ll make that decision in the next few
days. It’s possible. I’ve been around two for a long time, and I’ve been
around three. I think a lot of it has to do with what you think about your
third, whether or not he has a chance to eventually be a one or a two. Both of
our guys tonight did some good stuff tonight.”
(on the play of the wide
receivers) “I liked some of the things Derrick Lewis did tonight. We have to
make a tough decision on some young guys, they could be a practice squad
decision or a fifth roster spot. We’ll look hard at what’s going on around the
league and go from there.”
(on the play of Steve McKinney)
“He looked good tonight. He needed the action. He got better as the day went
on. We’ve got three guys who I think are all starters, and we’ll rotate those
guys. We’re going to do things to keep us competitive.”
Texans General Manager Rick Smith
(on how the team makes its
decisions at RB and WR) “With the way we did the playing time tonight, (WR)
Eric (Molds) and (WR) Andre (Johnson) are obviously our first and second
receivers, and we feel really good about (WR Kevin) Walter. Kevin Walter is
going to be our third receiver. And then we have competition after that. (WR)
Derrick Lewis is showing that he can make times plays at times. (WR) Jake Schifino, we have (WR) David Anderson, a pick of ours in the draft in the
seventh round. It’s a battle there.”
(on that all seven draft picks are
in the running to make the roster) “Yes they are, and we’re always pleased with
that. You want to try to increase the depth on your football team with the
draft, so we were able to do that this yeah, and feel pretty good about that.”
(on whether the team may still be
looking for some depth at linebacker) “Well, we obviously feel good about our
rookie (LB DeMeco Ryans). Then (LB) Kailee Wong is a guy that we don’t know
right now with what we’re going to do with him in relation to the PUP (list).
We probably won’t get him back until six weeks into the season if we make that
decision. Or we may get him back in a couple weeks. We have to make that
determination, but we have those guys and obviously we’re going to look for
players too.”
(on the possible return date of WR
Jerome Mathis) “We’ve already made that decision (to put him on the PUP list).
We have not made that decision with Kailee (Wong). What happens with that over
the next couple of days will make that determination.”
(on what goes into deciding about
Kailee Wong’s status) “Basically, if he is healthy enough; if we feel he can
contribute to the football team and do so in a way that won’t damage his knee.
Or if he’s totally healthy, then we’ll get him on the field.”
(on the amount of progress Wong
has made towards coming back) “He’s been great. He wants it more than anybody.
He’s out there working really hard to rehabilitate the knee. He’s a guy that
you root for. We just want to be real careful with that and make a good
decision.”
(on whether a run-stopper is what
the defensive line needs) “No, I feel good about out inside guys right now. I
think that (DT) Robaire (Smith) and (DT) Travis (Johnson) are doing a great
job. I think (DT) Seth (Payne) adds a real big depth there, a veteran guy that
has played before in this league. We feel good about that. There is a
competition with (DE Earl) Cochran and guys down the ladder there, and we may
look to see if we could increase that depth with a guy off the waiver wire,
we’ll continue to look there. But I feel good about the group that we have
now.”
Texans QB David Carr
(on the young running backs’ role
in pass protection) “Yeah, whoever it is will have to step up, but that’s going
to be the same with whoever you put back there. I’m confident that they can get
in there and step up and make some plays. It’s not going to be all on their
shoulders just like it’s not all on mine or the line’s. We’re all in this
together.”
(on his comfort level with the new
offense)“I feel really comfortable. There’s some things we’ve had to work
through in the preseason, but it’s nice to see it happen these last couple weeks
instead of the couple weeks coming ahead, so we’ll get those things worked out,
and there were a couple of things that we had last week early on in the game. If
we get those cleaned up, we’ll be pretty salty on offense.”
(on if he’s ready for the regular
season) “Yeah, I’m ready to go. I’ve been kind of waiting for this for a long
time—to get a chance to go out there with an offensive scheme that I believe in
and have faith in the guys that are out there with me. We’re going to get some
weapons out there and we’re going to be exciting. We’re ready to go.”
Texans RB Domanick Davis
(on how his knee feels) “It gets
better, then it’ll swell up for a couple more weeks. The only thing I need to do
is let it heal up, let it get right and get back out there.”
(on what is wrong with his knee)
“It’s the meniscus—the lateral meniscus—and I have a little bit of arthritis on
my knee joint. It’s kind of rough; it’s a rough joint. I’ve had it since
college, but I just need to let it heal up and I’ll be just fine.”
(on whether he’ll need more
surgery on the knee) “No more surgery. I’m not cutting myself again. I’m
going to just heal up and take it from there.”
(on if he’s prepared for the
possibility of being placed on Injured Reserve) “I’m ready for whatever. Like
I said, it is what it is. I can only worry about the things I can control, and
that’s making sure I get myself healthy—100 percent.”
Texans TE Bennie Joppru
(on his touchdown catch) “It was
nice. I was just thinking, don’t drop it the whole was there. It was a nice way
to finish the preseason.”
(on possibly dropping the ball)
“When you are that open, and right when I came across I knew how open I was, it
definitely goes through your head. It was a good feeling, but I will feel better
when I am still here tomorrow.”
(on being a long time coming for a
touchdown catch) “It has been a while, but I tried to act like I’ve been there
before and just flipped the ball to the referee. It felt good inside.”
(on the roster cuts tomorrow)
“Once the news happens tomorrow, I will be a happy person, as long as I’m still
here.”
(on what his gut feelings are
about the roster cuts) “I don’t have a clue. You have to expect the worst. That
is all you can really do. You will always be happy then.”
(On the past couple years coming
down to tomorrow’s cuts) “I worked my hardest. It is all that I could have done.
I have no control over what happens now. I worked my butt off the last 3 years
and whatever happens I won’t be disappointed.”
Texans OL Steve McKinney
(on playing today) “It is always
great to get out there and hit come different color jerseys. It was good, I was
glad to get out there and feel comfortable that I can play through the injuries
that I have and that I am going to be ok. If you go out there in the first
regular season game without having tested it at all, you are definitely going to
be wondering in the back of your mind if it’s going to act up. Being able to
play tonight and not having any problems was very positive.”
Texans DT Seth Payne
(on the team’s preseason play)
“It’s just the preseason, but we haven’t been able to put together four solid
efforts in the last five years like we did this year, so it’s encouraging.”
(on the upcoming game against the
Eagles) “The Eagles have been the winningest franchise in football over the last
five years, so whatever we did in the preseason really doesn’t mean anything. We
have a huge, huge challenge this week.”
(on the defenses improvement)
“We’re playing the run better than we have in the past. We’re getting better
pressure on the pass rush, but we’re not getting the guy down as much as we’d
like.
(on the team’s depth) “We’ve
never had depth like this before. I was looking around in the first quarter, and
it was mostly backups, but every single one of those guys could be a starter in
the NFL.”
Texans QB Sage Rosenfels
(on the second and third team
players) “There are some real good players in that second group, and
unfortunately some of them aren’t going to make this football team. And, I tell
you what, they can play in this league.”
(on his preseason play) “I’m sort
of a perfectionist, and I could definitely have played better. There’s always
plays in any game you wish you could have back. For the most part I did a good
job of moving the ball and scoring points and executing the offense. And,
preseason games are all about execution.
(on being the backup quarterback)
“David Carr is the starting quarterback of this football team, and I’m his
biggest supporter. I’m going to support his as much as I can and give him as
much help as I can. If the team needs me, I’m going to go in there and do the
best job I can to move the ball and help the team win.”
Texans RB Antowain Smith
(on mentoring the young running
backs) “I have already made my career. I want to help somebody along the way.
Help them become a better football player. I still want to play, but if it
doesn’t happen for me, it doesn’t happen. As long as I feel as if I have helped
someone along the way, and they still look up to me and the things that I have
told them then that makes me feel good.”
(on if it doesn’t work out here,
and if he will listen to other offers) “It will have to be something that I want
to do. My kids are older and I want to get a chance to play football and
basketball with them.”
Texans RB Chris Taylor
(on showing enough to make the
roster) “Hopefully I showed enough. I hope tomorrow that I will still be a
Houston Texan.”
(on having a winning record in the
preseason) “It is a great feeling. In college I didn’t win much, so it’s a great
feeling to have a winning record now and hopefully we can continue it into the
season.”
(on how all the hard work in the
preseason comes down to tomorrows cuts) “It is nerve racking. You work all
throughout camp and then it comes to this point to make cuts. Hopefully my play
showed the coaches something.”
Texans DE Mario Williams
(on not playing tonight) “I
missed not being out there with the guys and playing.”
(on where he thinks he can
improve) “I can improve on every aspect of the game. I just try to get better
every day at practice.”
(on doing things that don’t end up
on the stat sheet) “As long as I feel like I’m out there helping the team get
better and win, that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter if I get a sack a
game, as long as I feel like I’m going out there and doing my part.”