The Texans (5-3) face the Broncos (3-5) Sunday afternoon in Denver. Read what Broncos head coach Vance Joseph, some assistant coaches and his players had to say about the Texans.
Denver head coach Vance Joseph on the Texans defense: They're playing great defense, and that's where it starts. With that front, with J.J. Watt and Mercilus and Clowney, those guys are dominant rushers. So we've got to be smart with how we approach first, second down, to keep our third downs manageable. If it's 3rd-and-long, we've got a problem blocking those guys.
Denver offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave on the Texans defense: "Very disruptive defense, so we're trying to simulate it out here at practice and prepare for this group. They're playing well. They've got a really good front 7. They're very experienced in the back end."
Denver quarterback Case Keenum on Texans DE J.J. Watt and the Texans defense: "I've seen first-hand how good he is, and the game-wrecker that he can be. They have a couple other guys on that side of the ball with Clowney and Mercilus and some other guys that can do very similar things. We've got our work cut out for us as an offense."
Denver defensive coordinator Joe Woods on Texans QB Deshaun Watson: "He is very athletic. He's the type of guy that we have to make sure our rush plan is very good, just in terms of trying to keep him in the pocket. We also have to do some things scheme-wise of mixing it up between zone, man and pressure, just to create a little bit of chaos for him. Also, we have to cover. Part of it is just rush-and-cover, so the guys know we may have to cover them twice."
Joseph on Watson and Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins: "The quarterback's special. Hopkins is a top-five guy in this League. He's having a great year."
Denver CB Chris Harris, Jr. on Hopkins: "He's easily Top 5. He's up there. He's playing at a high level. His catch radius is number one, with the way he just goes up there and gets the ball. He's definitely number one at that. We've got to be aware of where he's at every time on the field. I think he has like 78 targets. That's unreal at Week 8. That's a lot of targets. We've just got to be ready for him."
Joseph on facing Texans WR Demaryius Thomas: "I think we're OK. Every week the gameplan changes. He wasn't here for the gameplan. He flew out last night (Tuesday) and our first gameplan day was today (Wednesday). He won't know what we're doing as far as gameplanning."
Joseph on Texans WR Keke Coutee: "Very quick, very explosive and a natural slot player. He's had some good plays for them. He's been nicked up with a hamstring, but when healthy, he's made some plays for them. He's definitely going to be a tough out for us."
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
