News

Head Coach Gary Kubiak
RB Justin Forsett
DE Antonio Smith

Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on the team’s health) “Practice-wise, the only guy who was out of practice was (RB Ben) Tate. So (NT) Shaun (Cody) and (TE Owen Daniels) OD did practice. I think they’re both game-time decisions as we move forward and (ILB Tim) Dobbins, I think, is still a game time decision. The only guy we will rule out today is Tate.”

(on DE Antonio Smith’s health) “He’s fine. We’ve had some people sick, some stuff going around since we got back on the trip, but he’s back out there today and practiced today.”

(on how optimistic he is about TE Owen Daniels and NT Shaun Cody being game-time decisions) “They made a lot of progress throughout the week, so I would say with 48 hours here to go, I feel like they’re heading in the right direction. We’ll have to see. I think they both looked good in practice. They’ve both done good, and I think it’s at the same time we’ve got to collectively get together and see where we think they’re at. I think they’re both working toward playing. I think they’ve both got an excellent chance at playing.”

(on if they’ve made a decision on ILB Darryl Sharpton) “No, that’s something else we have to talk about this afternoon. I’ve got a few thoughts on it, personally. I think it really boils down to what we suit this weekend. Obviously, if we’re going to activate him, we’re going to suit him. We don’t have to do that yet so if we’re not going to activate him then obviously we’ll wait and use our last week so we’ll see. He’s had a good week. He’s prepared to go  for (Special Teams Coordinator)Joe (Marciano). He’s prepared to go for (Linebackers Coach) Reggie (Herring). If we do make a move and suit him up, if we do make a move we will suit him and he’ll contribute.”

(on RB Ben Tate’s progress) “Well I would say we thought going into the week he’d be ready to go. Went back on the field and had looked positive on Wednesday and then obviously came out sore on Thursday, so we hold him out. He did go back out. He did work today but not with the team. It’s just frustrating because we need him out there. What has it been now? Three weeks I think with this thing. I know it’s very frustrating for him. For himself, he needs to get back out there and contribute, be a part of what’s going on. Hopefully we’re getting closer to that, but what happened the last couple of days says no for this week, still.”

(on RB Justin Forsett’s contributions) “He’s been really good. We have a lot of confidence in him. He’s played well. He really fits in with what we do. He’s a very unselfish player as the backup back. He plays a lot of special teams. He contributes to the team in a lot of ways and our players really respect him.”

(on the team’s confidence in themselves) “Yeah, I think they have confidence in their preparation. That’s the biggest thing, the way they’re going about their business, the way they work. The last two days have been very good. I just think they feel like, ‘Hey, if we put in the effort and the time Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, then we’re going to probably like the results on Sunday or we’re going to play close to our expectations.’ That’s a good thing. They’re very mature, good meetings, good practice habits, all of those things. Just got to keep going, it’s a long grind. It’s only Week 10. There is a lot of football games left to play and just trying to keep them focused.”

(on the team’s drive) “No doubt. It’s a hungry group of players. You’ve got to remember mostly young players on our team. The majority of our players have only been in two playoff games and that was last year. Once you’ve tasted that a little bit, that stage or that level of football in the National Football League you want more of it. You can tell the way these guys work and their goals, how they go about their business. They want to get back there and better.”

(on QB Matt Schaub not turning the ball over a lot) “That’s him. Offensively, they’ve still got to go out there and execute whatever we do. We haven’t thrown the ball a great deal like some teams have because we run the ball so well, but still, he’s the guy pulling the trigger. He’s very advanced in his decision making. He knows what type of team he’s on. He knows situations that ‘Hey I can’t hurt the team’ and he’s done a very good job of that.”

(on how TE Garrett Graham and FB James Casey played without TE Owen Daniels last week) “We miss (TE) Owen (Daniels) because Owen gives us flexibility. With what we’re doing last week, we lost some flexibility as an offensive football team because you start a tackle at tight end. He’s not going to run many go routes. We lost some flexibility there. I will say this. I think (TE) Garrett (Graham) and (FB) James (Casey) did a very good job. I look at Garrett like a starter because he and OD both play the same amount. Like I said, James went to a 50-play player last week and did a good job.”

RB Justin Forsett
(on receiving more opportunities this Sunday) “It’s been a blessing for me to get a shot and opportunity. It’s my job to go out there and make the most if it. I’ve been having some success, but I just really want to continue to work hard and have big productions.”

(on his ability to do it all on the field and seizing opportunities) “Every game we keep going, we keep winning. The games get bigger. November, December is when you really want to win. For me to have the opportunity to go out and play and be a part of it on the offensive side of the ball, I take it as a great deal for me. I want to go out and show my teammates, show everyone that’s watching I’m playing in this league and I can help this team in a major way. I just try to take advantage of it.”

(on if he’s heard if he’ll get more carries) “I never now until I get in and get a feel of the game because a lot of running back is rhythm and want to make sure (RB Arian Foster) 23 gets in a rhythm. When I get my opportunity, just go out there and make sure I’m already ready and just staying warm and staying loose to get in that rhythm as well.”

DE Antonio Smith
(on if the team’s hunger keeps them from being overconfident) “Yeah exactly that, our hunger is growing. We want more out of what we’ve been blessed with, with this year and the team that we have. We’re not in a settling mind state. We really want more than anybody thinks that we’re capable of doing, due to all of the I would call overlooking that goes on around here about the Houston Texans.”

(on if it was emotional when Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line Bill Kollar returned to the defensive line meetings) “No, it wasn’t that emotional. (Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line) Bill (Kollar) just comes in. He makes a joke out of everything, so as soon as I got to see Bill he was like his old self. It was like nothing ever even happened. He’s cracking jokes. He’s talking about what happened when he was gone and who was going to get fined and this and that. It was crazy.”