Notes and quotes from Texans head coach Gary Kubiak’s Sunday afternoon press conference at Reliant Stadium, a day after the Texans beat the Carolina Panthers 26-13 in their preseason opener in Charlotte:
Martin keeps coming
Rookie wide receiver 
“He has tremendous speed,” Kubiak said. “He outran a couple guys (on the end around) and found a way to make a 10- or 11-yard gain where it might be a 5-yard loss. He’s a very talented young man. I thought he held himself together pretty good. Had some mistakes, some consistency stuff, but for a guy to be here two weeks and start at receiver in his first preseason game, I thought he did a pretty good job.”
A fourth-round draft pick, Martin has had an excellent offseason and emerged as the Texans’ most consistent receiver behind Johnson and
Big potential
Second-year wide receiver
“(He) did some really good stuff – needs to get consistent because he has a chance to be a heck of a player,” Kubiak said. “But made some tough catches last night for us, did a pretty good job in the running game, made a couple tackles on special teams. But needs to continue to get consistent with what he’s doing because he has a chance to be a big-time player in this league – not just a good player. So we’re going to push him, trying to find that next level.”
In the only two full preseason games of his career, Jean now has four catches for 103 yards (25.8 average). Undrafted out of Florida Atlantic in 2011, he had two catches for 53 yards in last year’s preseason opener, then injured his shoulder in the next game and spent the rest of the year on injured reserve.
Graham on his way
Texans tight end
“He’s a very-much-improved player, and we’ve seen that the last two weeks; it didn’t just happen last night,” Kubiak said. “He’s come a long way. He’s bigger, stronger, he’s faster. He’s had a great offseason with (strength and conditioning coach) Cedric (Smith)… and if he continues to step up the way he has in his first few weeks, it’s going to be a really nice year for him. I’ve been very impressed with his play.”
Solid debut for Grimes
Rookie running back
“I’ve been impressed with him the whole time,” Kubiak said. “Y’all know that. He not only played well offensively but played well on special teams… He’s a very reliable, sharp young man, handles himself like he’s been around for a couple years, and it showed on the field last night.”
Kubiak said there’s a “great competition going on” for the Texans’ third running back spot among fifth-year veteran
More for Keenum
Working as the Texans’ fourth quarterback, undrafted rookie
“I think Case did a good job,” Kubiak said. “He’s working with our young offensive line. We had some breakdowns up front, but he found a way to keep things positive and move the football. I’ll give him some more this week.”
Veteran presence
Inside linebacker
“I think Dobbins is a much-improved player, kind of like Garrett Graham,” Kubiak said. “Dobbins had a great camp and played very well last night.”
Dobbins was the Texans’ top reserve inside linebacker in 2011 after
O-line competition
“I think that Butler and Caldwell played like they were more veterans than the other two, which you would expect, but I think they all did some good things,” Kubiak said. “The young kid (Brooks) came in and I thought he did some good things, especially in pass-pro. I thought Newton was a little inconsistent but continues to flash.”
Kubiak hopes to settle on starters at the two positions by the third week of the preseason.
“It’s going to be a good battle,” he said. “We played those guys probably more than any of our older players last night, and that will be on a continuous basis over the next couple weeks. I think they kind of played the way I expected them to play.”
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