Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Texans QB Deshaun Watson: "He and the Texans have made a lot of explosive plays. He's a very accurate downfield passer, he's made some great throws on double-moves, seam routes, post patterns, go routes, things like that. And of course, we all know he's a very athletic guy with the ball in his hands. So, [he is] dangerous, can score from anywhere at any time, doesn't take long. It'll be a big challenge for us for 60 minutes, but even with a few seconds to go, it's a long way from – any game's a long way from being over if he has his hands on the ball.
Patriots QB Tom Brady on Watson: "He's off to a great start in his pro career. I really love watching him play. He's a great leader for their team. He's hard to stop. He's got a great arm. Escapes. They have a lot of playmakers. It's a very good offense.
Patriots S Devin McCourty on Watson: "He's one of those guys that can make every throw. You watch him, and you can see, especially when they go empty, and he can just see the field so clear, and his guys are all spread out, the middle opens up. He can run. Somebody shoot inside of a blocker, he can escape to the outside. Once he escapes, he can run. But he also can take a couple steps up, see who commits to him, and then drop the ball over your head.
McCourty on Texans WR duo of Will Fuller V and Kenny Stills: Having both of those guys gives you automatic deep threats. Their ability to get open, Hopkins gets so much attention, but you have to give them a lot of attention. Those two guys are really good receivers.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on the Texans defense: "They're going to be sound, they're going to play really good fundamental football, they don't beat themselves, they rarely give up big plays, they do a great job of communicating and disguising what they're doing so that you don't get – you don't have an advantage in that area. And they play really hard. That has been the hallmark of every defense that I've ever competed against Romeo with and that is the same thing you can say about this group. They're well coached, they play hard, they're never out of position and they do the things that they're being asked to do within the scheme extremely well and they play physical. They challenge you in a lot of different ways. The one thing that you know you're going to have to do is you're going to have to consistently execute against this team because they're not going to give it to you in three plays. You're going to have to string together eight, 10, 12 plays of good, solid execution and you're going to have to stay out of long yardage, avoid penalties and negative plays to give yourself an opportunity to put together scoring drives. That's the challenge.
Patriots RB James White on the Texans defense: A solid defense. Well-coached. Every time we play these guys it's a tough football game. They're going to be well-prepared.
The Houston Texans roster in photos.
DL Mario Addison, #56 (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
QB, Kyle Allen, #3
RB, Darius Anderson, #30
DB, Grayland Arnold, #35
TE, Antony Auclair, #83
DL, Ross Blacklock, #90
DL, Thomas Booker, #96
OL, Justin Britt, #68
DB, Terrence Brooks, #8
TE, Pharaoh Brown, #85
RB, Rex Burkhead, #28
WR, Jalen Camp, #17
OL, A.J. Cann, #60
LB, Blake Cashman, #53
DL, Maliek Collins, #97
WR, Nico Collins, #12
WR, Chris Conley, #18
WR, Brandin Cooks, #13
TE, Darrell Daniels, #47 (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
WR, Davion Davis, #14
LB, Tae Davis, #19
OL, Austin Deculus, #76
WR, Phillip Dorsett, #4
QB, Jeff Driskel, #6
DL, Michael Dwumfour, #98
WR, Drew Estrada, #81
K, Ka'imi Fairbairn, #7
DB, Jacobi Francis, #38
RB, Royce Freeman, #26
OL, Carson Green, #62
DL, Jonathan Greenard, #52
WR, DaeSean Hamilton, #5
OL, Kenyon Green, #59
DL, Rasheem Green (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)
LB, Kamu Grugier-Hill, #51
LB, Christian Harris, #48
DL, Demone Harris, #94
WR, Damon Hazelton, #86
OL, Charlie Heck, #67
LB, Neville Hewitt, #43
QB, Kevin Hogan, #16 (AP Photo/Stew Milne)
OL, Tytus Howard, #71
DL, Jerry Hughes, #55 (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
FB, Andy Janovich, #41
An image from the Aug. 21, 2021 Houston Texans preseason game 2 against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. The Texans won 20-14.
WR, Johnny Johnson III, #89
P, Cameron Johnston, #11
TE, Brevin Jordan, #9
DB, Desmond King II, #25
LB, Christian Kirksey, #58
DL, Roy Lopez, #91
RB, Marlon Mack, #2
DB, Tristin McCollum, #39
OL, Justin McCray, #64
WR, John Metchie III, #88
QB, Davis Mills, #10
WR, Chris Moore, #15
OL, Jimmy Morrissey, #79
DB, Eric Murray, #23
DB, Steven Nelson (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
DB, Steven Nelson, #21
DL, Adedayo Odeleye, #75
OL, Cedric Ogbuehi, #77
RB, Dare Ogunbowale, #33
DL, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, #45
DB, Jonathan Owens, #36
RB, Dameon Pierce, #31
LB, Kevin Pierre-Louis, #57
DB, Jalen Pitre, #42
FB, Paul Quessenberry, #45
OL, Scott Quessenberry, #54
TE, Teagan Quitoriano, #84
LB, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, #34 (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
DL, Derek Rivers, #95
OL, Max Scharping, #74
DB, Kendall Sheffield (AP Photo/Kevin Sabitus)
DB, Tremon Smith, #24
OL, Jordan Steckler, #70
DB, M.J. Stewart, #29
DB, Derek Stingley Jr., #24
DB, Tavierre Thomas, #37
OL, Laremy Tunsil, #78
LB, Garret Wallow, #32
WR, Connor Wedington (AP)
LS, Jon Weeks #46
DB, Isaac Yiadom, #20
