Following are excerpts from coach Gary Kubiak and coach Mike Sherman following the eleventh day of the Texans' 2006 training camp.**
Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on raising his voice more often today)** "I don't know. We have a lot of things we are trying to get done and cover. We were in new situations today and working without a huddle. We have to get our work done and get our point across. When you make mistakes on something over and over again, as a coach you have to take responsibility for that and say there's something we're doing wrong here. We had to stop and fix a few things this morning, that's part of the game."
(on working with any other players closely) "I'm working with all of them closely. They're doing what I want them to do. They're working hard. I think we hit kind of a wall today, but I thought we pushed through and we got our work done. We have some great film to look at here this afternoon. We'll give them a break with special teams. We'll start reeling them in toward Saturday. We're getting them fresh so they can go out and have some fun and compete.
**(on G
Pitts)** "It's precautionary. I expect him to be fine and ready to go this weekend. His knee swelled up on him yesterday and we're just holding him right now. I expect him to be back and ready to go on Saturday."
(on how long the starters will play in Saturday's game) "We haven't talked about that as a staff, we'll probably do that Thursday. We're still in training camp mode right now. We'll probably practice a couple of days for
. We have too much other work to do right now. We won't get so involved in game plans and that type of stuff. We're going to go out there and have some fun and play."
(on working on new stuff during practice) "We're working on various personnels that we think we'll see as a defense during the season, various personnels we're going to get from teams that we play, especially the opening week and some of the things we're going to get. We'll start to incorporate some of the Eagles stuff in our work as we prepare for next month."
(on today's regression being normal) "Absolutely not. The thing you have to do is work through them. Everybody is tired, worn out and beat down. You can't quite see Saturday night yet, but we'll start to see it here in a few days, but I like the way they keep going. It's one thing to be beat up and tired, but if you let it affect you, and you don't get your work done, then it's a problem. It has not been a problem, it has been a challenge and we need challenges."
(on TE Mark Bruener being a 'dinosaur' TE) "I wouldn't say that. That (blocking) is definitely his strength. We know what Mark can do for our team physically on the line of scrimmage. Right now we have a couple of very good young players. You guys watch TE Owen Daniels, he's going to be a fine player, and how far (TE) Bennie (Joppru) has come, and (TE) Jeb (Putzier), we have to get those guys ready to go. We understand what Mark does for our team, and we have to make sure he's 100% ready to do that. We have to get those other guys up to snuff with everything we're doing."
(on where Bruener fits in the offense) "Well, I think he will be our physical player on the line of scrimmage, but that doesn't mean he can't get out and make some catches for us, and make some plays. His biggest strength is playing on that line of scrimmage and handling those big defensive ends, so that's what you have to have."
(on how the offensive line looked today) "I thought today was our best nine-on-seven because they are just fighting through it. I love the leadership that (C Mike) Flanagan gives to this group. A lot of guys are going through camp and playing. You can see that it is making them better because a lot of guys are playing. From our first group to the second group, to me, they all look the same. It's the same group coming off the ball, and that's what we have to do to get better."
(on WR Eric Moulds) "This morning is a great example. How old is Eric, 32, 33? It's a tough day for this team, everybody is worn out, and how many plays did you see Eric make out here today? That's a great example for this football team. Look and see what he was doing this morning when he's just as beat up and tired as everybody. That's pretty impressive."
(on Moulds' presence on the team) "When he walks into a locker room, walks into a meeting, walks onto a field, all those young kids know who Eric is, and they look up to him. When they see him work the way we want him to work as coaches, they say 'maybe that's how you do it.' That's how you play 11, 12 years, and their is nothing better then an example."
(on the importance of pre-season games for the back up running backs) "They're huge because our (running) backs are going to come from that group right now. We're sitting here hoping for Domanick (Davis) to get back, but if that thing continues to give him problems, somebody is going to have to step up and be the starting back for this football team. We'll find out during the course of these games, and it's really hard to play four and five backs in the pre-season. I'll let you guys know. We'll probably isolate on two or three in the pre-season games, and one guy will probably wait and play the following week. So we're just going to make sure we get a good look at all of them."
**Assistant Head Coach/Offense Mike Sherman
(on C Mike Flanagan)** "The center speaks for itself. He has a true wealth of experience and knowledge. That part is a given. I think the part that people don't realize is the impact he can have and has had in the locker room, walking off the field and walking up to the locker room. His conversation with others shows he has a winning mind set, a winning attitude, and he will do whatever it takes to win a football game. He plays hurt. He is at a point in his career where I think he is able to express himself to others how it should be done. I think some of the younger players in particular will look to him as an example of, I want to play that long, I want to play that well, and if I do what Mike Flanagan does, maybe that can be me someday."
(on rookies T Eric Winston and T Charles Spencer) "It's hard to say right now, certainly the battle at left tackle has more of an opportunity there than at right tackle behind (T) Zach Wiegert. Eric Winston is developing, he came back from the mini-camps and the opportunity session we had previously and really has done a great job in training camp. Whatever he did between last mini-camp and now, he made a big jump. We will continue to make strides. With these young guys, it just needs to be consistent. They will have a couple of plays that says, yes that's the guy we want in there, and then a couple of plays, no we don't want them in there. The consistency part has to come not only with those two rookies, but with every body. That's something we have lacked in the past, we need to get that play after play."
**Post Afternoon Comments
Gary Kubiak
(on the afternoon practice)** "We just walked-through some special teams stuff. We'll take the rest of this week to really freshen up. Physically we are about as drained as we are going to get throughout camp right now. So were going to start working back, trying to get their legs under them as we work toward Saturday."
(on WR Derrick Lewis being a punt return candidate) "Yeah, you will see him on Saturday. Definitely, he and (RB) Wali (Lundy), you may see (WR)David Anderson, possibly Richie Ross back there. If (CB) Phillip (Buchanon) is up, we'll get some work for him. If not, those guys will share the duty."
(on first team expectations for Saturday) "We haven't talked about that. We'll probably talk about that as a staff Thursday. I would say you're expected to see them for about a quarter. But there are some guys within our first group that are going to play more. We have a lot of young football players. We will lock that in by Thursday."
(on RB Chris Taylor being 'too big" for kick return duties) "Yeah, but he's a down hill guy. He's the type of guy that looks like he could be a good returner. There's not a lot of shiftiness in him. He's just a speed guy, a down hill player, he's physical. That's what you want on kick off return. You want somebody to hit it."
(on running backs for this Saturday) "(RB) Antowain is (Smith) going to play some. After that, we are probably going to isolate on two players out of those other guys because we can't play them all and get a good look at them. We decide who those two will be on Thursday. We are going to make sure that they get a chance to play and not try to play four guys and end up with three or four carries each. We aren't going to do that, when they play we want them to get some reps."
(on the offense all being on the same page) "We are probably all at the same point right now. We've been doing it the same way since May. We are going to find out how far we are. That's one of the hard parts of coaching, sorting through what your players are absorbing and what they do best. As a coach, you want to move on, be creative, sometimes you want to do too much and we have to settle down and let them play and let their play tell us how much they can handle going into this year."
(on offensive line expectations on Saturday) "The thing I'd like to see is the same depth we are seeing on the football field.
I think we've been playing a lot of guys and I've felt good about all those players
that are playing. We don't come out here when a guy missing here and missing a
practice there and have a big drop off. Everything keeps going forward. I'm hoping
to continue to see good competition, we are going to play a lot of people. I think
that can happen going into the season. As I said, time will tell, hopefully we'll
just continue a good rotation, good depth, as we build toward Philadelphia."
