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Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on if the team can correct its offensive play) “Yeah, we’ve got to. We’ve got to play better than we’ve played. Obviously those six quarters have not been our best this year. We did move the ball last night in the first half very well. We had 180 yards of offense and had no points to show for it. I think we penetrated to the 21, the 33, the 38. You have to get something out of those plays. My biggest disappointment right now offensively is our inability to stay on the field on third down. To make some tough plays, and that’s what you have to do in this business. You have to step up and make those plays, regardless of whether it’s a catch, a throw, a run, whatever it is, to stay out there. Like I said, we were unable to do that last night.”

(on RB Arian Foster being underworked and why he didn’t get the ball more) “Yeah, we were throwing it trying to get back in the game so it wouldn’t have mattered who was back there. There weren’t a lot of carries to go around for what we were trying to do. Obviously I reached a point, too, where I wanted to take another look at (RB) Ben (Tate) and see how he was performing after his second week back, which I thought was pretty good. It’s a combination of those things. (RB) Arian (Foster) is fine. If we’re playing in the type of game we want to play in, I think he carries the ball last night 25, 28 times, but it just didn’t happen that way.”

(on how concerned he is about the defense after the last three or four games) “I’m concerned about a lot of things. But it’s part of the situation that we’re in. There are things you have to fight through. Our football team is in a very good situation. We’re playing at home this week for an opportunity to win a division title. That’s a darn good thing. We’ve got issues. We’ve got to stop people better. We’ve got to move the ball better. We’ve got to get rid of penalties on special teams. It’s always going to be something. That’s football. But we know the things that we’ve got to clean up to get more consistent in our play and we definitely weren’t going to get away with the team we were playing last night.”

(on if he thinks the team is mature enough to put yesterday’s game behind them) “Yeah, I do. It’s part of this business. Fortunately, I should say we’ve only had this trouble twice this year, where we’ve had to turn around and go back after getting beat. That’s a good thing. That’s part of this league. When you’re doing things good, not to listen to people, and keep working and trying to be consistent in what you’re doing. When things don’t go very good, let them go and move onto the next week. Along with that we’ve got other challenges, too, going on with our football team that we’ve got to fight through. But we’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us and we need to stay focused on that.”

(on the Texans’ secondary play last night) “It was a lot like, I think I saw it as a team the same way. I wouldn’t say it was defensively or offensively. I think in any given game, regardless of what the game is, there are usually eight or 10 big opportunities in the game, difference-maker-type plays, in a game. Whether it’s your chance defensively to make a play or your chance offensively to make a play. And you’ve got to make the majority of those if you’re going to win. And if you’re playing a team like we played last night, you better make a bunch of them. We just didn’t do it when the ball was there, whether it was defensively not making a play or offensively not making the play. They were the ones doing it. And that’s why they are what they are as a football team. They’re very consistent and have been for a long time. We know the emphasis. We know what we have to do if we’re going to be successful, especially down the stretch and especially against people like that. It’s part of the learning curve I guess. It was a tough lesson to learn last night.”

(on if CB Brandon Harris is ready to see heavy play time) “Yeah, I think he’s done some good stuff. It’s a tough position to get put in and how much he’s played the last two weeks and to line up against one of the great, great players in the slot last night. But I like the way he went in there and battled. He got a penalty, he got a penalty I think on special teams also, so that’s something he’s got to work on, but I like the way he competes. He’s got confidence, and you’ve got to be able to do that. I see a player who’s getting better and he’s getting a big opportunity. He’s got to continue to improve. We’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”

(on if it’s better to have a big game after a loss like this) “I’m going to answer that the way I think I’ve answered that question. I think every game is big. It’s the next one we’re playing. Yeah, it’s a chance for us to win our division. It’s a chance for us to win our 12th football game, which is huge. But they’re all big and you prepare the same way. You’ve got to get yourself to game day and get ready to go and step up and make plays. And this week will be no different. But we’ve got a quick turnaround here. It’s a tough trip. Some tired bodies around here that I’ve
got to get back and get them ready to go, not only playing but coaching, too. It’s a quick turnaround that we’ve got to be ready to handle.”

(on how much TE Garrett Graham’s absence affected the offense) “Well, we miss (TE) Garrett (Graham), he’s a fine player. He might be as improved of a football player as we have on this team. He gives us a lot of flexibility in what we do with two tight (ends) and three tight (ends). You saw we had a tackle playing some tight end last night. Yeah it’s important, but also the most important thing is Garrett’s health.  He’s expected to be on, well he will be on the field tomorrow, I can tell you that. He’s got one more test, I guess, to pass. One more phase to pass to be cleared to go on game day. He’s making progress, but he was not ready to go.”

(on QB Matt Schaub’s play in big games) “No. I have no concerns. I think (QB) Matt (Schaub) led his team to a lot of wins this year. I think he’s done a fine job. He made a mistake with the ball last night in the red zone. The guy made a great play. Matt also made some great throws in that game. He can’t block the blitz. He’s got to do his job, but there’s a lot of people who have to help him too. I’ve got no doubts about that at all.”

(on what New England was doing to keep the Texans from making big plays) “Well, we made some plays throwing the ball. We just didn’t finish stuff. We had a chance early in the game to make a huge play down the field. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but as far as plays over 20 yards, I know we had a few of those. We made some plays, we just didn’t put any points on the board. We dropped a big go-route early in the game. We dropped a fourth down play. We had some opportunities to make some plays that we needed to make.”

(on if OT Derek Newton is coming back) “He’s doing good. Until he’s back on the field I’m not ready to tell you he will be ready to play. I think there’s a process that he’s got to go through this week. But he did work today and worked well.”

(on if anyone else is suffering from injuries) “No. (OT Derek) Newton and (TE) Garrett (Graham) obviously I just talked about. (ILB Tim) Dobbins and (ILB Darryl) Sharpton came out of the game a little banged up. Other than that, that’s the good thing, we didn’t take any steps backwards with anybody physically, so we should be okay.”

(on going to New England with high expectations and losing by a large margin) “Well any time you lose, it’s tough. It’s not just getting beat last night. I don’t know that any loss is more difficult than any other one because you work so hard in each and every game that you prepare for. Last night is disappointing. We played a hell of a football team and you’ve got to go in there and play close to perfect and be at your best. We were far from that and we paid the price. We got our tails beat, so it’s part of this business.”