Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak
Q:
Why did you walk away during Miami’s two-point conversion?
Kubiak: “That was pretty cowardly. I’ve been that way in football through a lot
of things I’ll make a call and just walk away that’s just the way I am in
certain situations. I knew it would come down to that I kept telling (defensive
coordinator) Richard (Smith) to prepare for that situation cause it could very
well come down to that.”
Q: What are your thoughts on the game?
Kubiak: “The place got exciting in the second half and I thought our football
team played with tremendous heart. We had some problems in the game. We lost a
LT (Ephraim Salaam) and moved down (T) Brad Bedell who had never played left
tackle for us. We had DB’s go down. Our football team found something out about
themselves today through playing a very good football team. The reached way down
deep and I’m truly proud off them.”
Q: How do you think QB David Carr did?
Kubiak: “First off I’ll say this about David; when you get a ball knocked out,
it’s not much for you to do. I have to stay on him and try not to have things
like that happen, but he really is becoming a fighter. It hasn’t been pretty and
it’s not going to always be pretty, but David is learning how to battle for a
whole afternoon. That’s what I like about what I see from him, he made some
great plays at the end of the game. I told him when we made that call on the
third down and short on the goal, I’m going to put this ball in your hands and
you have to make a great fake. And if we don’t fool them just make sure we don’t
make a mistake. But I wanted him to know I have confidence in him in those
situations.”
Q: How about WR Andre Johnson’s performance?
Kubiak: “Andre is a superb football player we can’t get him the ball enough,
but the problem is everybody knows that we are playing him. The Dolphins did a
really good job and they did one or two things; they either came after us or
they rolled over the top and double Andre and (WR) Eric Moulds. So it was a
guessing game the whole way and fortunately we guessed it right a couple of the
times.”
Q: What about DE Mario Williams?
Kubiak: “He’s a rookie and we are asking him to do a lot. The quicker we get
any consistency out of a rookie then they are no longer rookies, and that’s what
we are after right now. You look at (LB) DeMeco Ryans, (TE) Owen Daniels, and
Mario, players that we are asking to grow up like three and four year players
real fast for us to turn this program around. They understand that and they are
doing everything that they can.”
Q: Were you pleased with defensive coordinator Richard
Smith after the game?
Kubiak: “I’m so proud of him. Richard is a tough guy he knew when he came here
what he was taking on. But he loves his work, and I like the group we have
around him. It has been hard on everybody, but this business is about guys that
can continue to battle. And that group will do that and you guys know Richard
will continue to do that. I’m happy for him.”
Texans Defensive Coordinator Richard Smith
Q:
What are your thoughts on the game?
Smith: “We’re really pleased. I’m really glad. Out backs were up against the
wall. We hadn’t played well the first three weeks, and that’s kind of the style
that we’d like to play. The guys preformed and executed the game plan the way
it was designed, and we’re proud of them.”
Q: What made the difference for the defensive line?
Smith: “Well, we’ll wait and see. This week in practice guys were really
focused in to execute the plan. Like I said, sometimes watching the game from
up in the (coaches) box, and calling the game, it looked like the guys played
hard. And that’s all you can ask. We made some mistakes that we’ll go back
tomorrow and correct, and try to get better. We were better on the mistakes
that we did have.”
Q: Did you expect a sack to open the game?
Smith: “Well, we had to play it aggressively. The Dolphins are a good football
team. I was there a year. They are extremely well coached by Nick Saban and
his staff. The hang in there, we had to get after them, and that’s what the
plan was. We’re proud of the players; they executed pretty good.”
Was seeing DE Mario Williams get his first sack a
relief?
Smith: “Well, really to be honest with you (LB) DeMeco Ryans missed (QB) Daunte Culpepper and (DE) Mario Williams got him. From watching the game, like I said,
once you watch film you obviously see a lot more. I thought he played
aggressively and much better than last week. This isn’t just a Mario Williams
story here, it a whole defense. With winning comes confidence, and hopefully
there’s more.”