Latricia Archie - Houston, TX, US: How can I get information on singing the National Anthem at the Texans home football games. A friend pass some information on to me about fans singing the National Anthem at the football game. Thank you, Latricia
Nick Scurfield:
Hope everybody's having a nice Tuesday. Bunch of questions to get to, but before I get started, wanted to give a reminder that tight end Owen Daniels will be signing autographs at the Go Texan Store at Reliant Stadium today from 6-7 p.m.
As for the first question - one fan will be chosen to sing the national anthem before the Texans-Patriots game on Fan Appreciation Day in the season finale. Submissions are being accepted already. Check out this page for more info: /gameday/NationalAnthemContest.asp
Peter - The Woodlands, TX, US: Nick, WR Jacoby Jones has really looked like he's turned a corner in the past two games with his play at wideout. What's the prognosis for keeping him involved in the offense once Andre Davis returns from his concussion injury?
Nick Scurfield: He has really stepped up with a TD catch in two consecutive games and solid play as a returner. I think it's a good problem for the coaches to have and they're excited about the possiblities of finally having Jacoby, Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter, Davis and David Anderson healthy at the same time (hasn't happened yet this season). Lot of weapons for Matt Schaub..
Neal - Austin, TX, US: What have you heard from the coaches about Kasey Studdard's performance in his first game as a starter? Go Texans and Hook 'Em!
Nick Scurfield: The Texans' running game was much better in Week 3, though they did give up 2 sacks. Coaches love Studdard's aggressiveness and how he plays with a mean streak - he's just got to keep the aggression controlled so he doesn't make mistakes. Kubiak said that Studdard played like a starter in the preseason, and he fit right in with the o-line against the Jags.
Millar - Dallas, TX, US: Are the Texans going to continue to split the carries between Slaton and Brown? Against the Jaguars Slaton looked good for the first time this season.
Nick Scurfield: Thanks for the question, Millar. Slaton has twice as many carries as Brown this season, so I wouldn't call it a split. Kubiak has said they like Brown as an option in short-yardage and goal line situations. The team still has confidence in Brown after the fumble. But yes, Slaton did look much better against Jacksonville... by far his best game of the season
David - Lufkin, TX, US: I was watching Tiger and Phil battle it out in the FedEx Cup this weekend when it got me thinking - Who is the best golfer on the Texans? Thanks, David
Nick Scurfield:
Depends on which player you ask, but Schaub, Kris Brown and Kevin Walter are the names most often thrown out there as the best golfers. Sage Rosenfels probably had that distinction before getting traded
Sam - Seabrook, TX, US: With Darren McFadden getting off to an awfully slow start this year, what are the Texans going to need to do Sunday to make sure he doesn't have a breakout performance?
Nick Scurfield: Stay on their assignments and execute the defensive calls. Kubiak said that's been the big issue on almost every big play the Texans have given up this season. Lot of players after the game were talking about guys being out of their gaps
Millar - Dallas, TX, US: Has Kubiak indicated any defensive changes to prevent big runs? Three weeks in, the big plays are not looking like a anomaly. We have been completely shredded by Thomas Jones, Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones-Drew. McFadden must be licking his chops at the opportunity to face our run D.
Nick Scurfield:
Kubiak said that they're going to give more players opportunities to play. Tim Jamison and Jesse Nading are two practice squad D-linemen he mentioned who might get a look. They're going to continue to play a bunch of people at safety, which means that Bernard Pollard could get a chance along with Busing and Barber.
LIam - Edmonton, CA: How soon do you expect Pollard to be getting first-team reps in practice?
Nick Scurfield:
There hasn't been any talk of that. Kubiak did say yesterday that they're looking for answers at safety, so that would seem to indicate Pollard might be in line for more practice reps. But remember, he just signed with the team last week
Alan - Houston, TX, US: Has John Busing taken over a starting spot on this team? He sure seems to be seeing a lot of gametime and defensive snaps.
Nick Scurfield:
Busing started against the Jags at strong safety. Kubiak replaced him with Barber after he made a few mistakes, which was probably natural for a first-time starter. Wilson has the FS spot locked up, but SS sounds up in the air
mohi - St.Louis, MO, US: I read this morning in the Houston Chronicle that the Texan's defense is on pace to become the worst in the history of the NFL, in terms of Rush yards and Total yards allowed. Are the coaching staff and/or players aware of this fact? If not, they should be. It could add a little fire and motivation for the rest of the season on defense
Nick Scurfield:
They're definitely aware that the defense has struggled. I coudln't tell you if they read the paper this morning, but they know that the bleeding needs to stop and stop soon. Kubiak has been concerned about the big plays and missed assignments since the preseason
Scott - Houston, TX, US: Raiders cb Nmandi Asomugha has such a strong reputation around the league that most teams don't even throw in his direction....Will he be matched up against Andre Johnson on Sunday, and if so how do we get Andre the ball (assuming that we need to do that to win!)
Nick Scurfield: Yesterday, Kubiak called Asomugha the best corner he's seen in a while. Sometimes the Raiders lock him in on one player, sometimes they don't. They didn't stick him exclusively on Andre last year.. I would venture to guess Tom Cable will put him on Andre more often than not, though. Johnson only had two catches at Oakland last year
Robbie - Katy, TX, US: When I was at the game on Sunday, i saw all of those signs on the sidelines for "Kris Brown's Kick Club" or "DeMeco's Tenacious Tacklers." What are those signs for?
Nick Scurfield: That's for the TACT (Texans All Community Team) program. Players give tickets to kids from a local non-profit organization for the season and usually interact with the kids at some point, too. As you can tell from the number of signs, a lot of players are involved
Dave - Durham, NC, US: With the addition of safety Bernard Pollard to the roster this past week, will the Texans look to make some changes in the secondary against the Raiders on Sunday?
Nick Scurfield: Like I said, Kubiak has said that they'll continue to give players a look at safety. They're looking for answers back there
Larry - College Station, TX, US: With as many losses at home this year as we had through all of last year, has there been any talk amongst the players of needing to win in order to reestablish that homefield edge we've seemed to have in years past?
Nick Scurfield: Hard to believe the Texans are 0-2 at home. Players love the homefield advantage.. they went 12-4 here over the past two seasons. A win this week would be the first step
Josh - Brazoria, TX, US: The Texans backield sure has had a lot of fumbles in the past few games...I know some of them have been the unavoidable type with a helmet-on-ball tackle, but what else have the running backs been doing to make sure they hold on to the rock?
Nick Scurfield: I asked Slaton about this last week, and he said the main thing he was going to do was constantly have it on his mind that he couldn't afford to let go of the ball. Other than having it on your mind all the time and focusing on using correct carrying technique in practice, not sure what else they can do to avoid fumbles
nakiabrowning - bessemer, AL, US: that dynamic player earl cochran who played defensive end last yearwhat is thehold up on signing him back he was all over the field doing a super job he was the talk of the coac and others, check the man out see is he available we sure do need him.
Nick Scurfield: Cochran had some nagging injury troubles during his time in Houston. Solid player when he was on the field. If you're looking for d-line help, Kubiak named practice squad players Tim Jamison and Jesse Nading as guys who might get a look
fez - katy, TX, US: Do you think Bernard Pollard will start this week? The play of the safeties has been horrible
Nick Scurfield: Kubiak said Busing did some good things, did some not so good things and looked like a guy making his first start. Barber made a big mistake at Tennessee, but he made some plays after spelling Busing vs. Jacksonville. Between Barber, Busing and Nick Ferguson, that's a lot of change going on at safety in the first 3 games. They've got to find consistency there.
paul - laporte, TX, US: why not put jessie nading he play good last year against titans.do you think we se more of rookie barwin and mc cain .they cant do any worse the d is doing latey.i like to see jessie nading and fran okam in the middle with barwin and mario out side.
Nick Scurfield: Nading did some good things last year when he got called up. Plays hard, has the ability to drop back into coverage a little bit. Barwin has gotten close to the QB a few times this year (including Week 3) but hasn't quite been able to get there- a problem the whole team is having right now. Okam was inactive for the last game
Joel - US, TX, Sugar Land:
IS shawn thompson out for the season? thoguth i read that on chron.com this morning
Nick Scurfield: I haven't seen that reported anywhere - McClain speculated that Chaun Thompson might be out for the season, but nobody has said he will yet. Thompson hurt his knee making a special teams tackle against the Jags and Kubiak said yesterday that it looked like a pretty serious injury. We'll see what happens today after they've had time to evaluate it.
Steve Thomas - Lubbock, TX, US: tim jamison?? never heard of him
Nick Scurfield: Jamison signed this year as an undrafted rookie out of Michigan. Defensive end; nice pass rushing ability. He seemed to flash in just about every preseason game, and Kubiak mentioned him on more than one occasion during the preseason
GOTEXANS - US, Houston: When will all the matt Schaub haters finally pipe down?!? 7 TDs in 3 games - pro bowl bound, baby!
Nick Scurfield: Tied for the AFC lead with Peyton Manning in that category.. and all of this TDs have come in the past two games. He's playing like the QB that Kubiak has long said he could be
fez - katy, TX, US: when will fred bennett be cut from the team?
Nick Scurfield: Started all 3 games this season, led team with INTs as a rookie in 2007, great frame for a corner.. not likely
Kirk - Pasadena, TX, US: When can we expect to see James Casey, other than on just Special Teams... I mean he is special, lets get hin on the field...
Nick Scurfield: Very gifted athlete (and he writes a great rookie diary for HoustonTexans.com, too). He's got two talented TEs ahead of him at one position and one of the best FBs in the league at another. I'd say it's an accomplishment for a fifth-round pick to be active and play in his first 3 games, even if it is just on ST
texansfan81 - US, htown:
How does the autograph signing work? is it free? Why don't they announce it more ahead of time so we can find out, I don't know if I can go today
Nick Scurfield:
It's free, yes.. 6-7 p.m. at the Go Texan Store at Reliant Stadium. Owen Daniels will be signing autographs and interacting with fans. We put it out there a lot to try to spread the word, but we'll try to do it even more in the future. If you can't make today's, there's a signing at the same time and place every Tuesday after home games.
Only have time for one or two more questions...
Michael - Houston, TX, US: I heard Coach Kubiak say that the team has submitted the phantom pass interference call to the league for review. Who cares! We got screwed and lost the game... that's not going to change
Nick Scurfield: Outcome won't change, but it's a process that happens every week if there are calls a team disagrees with. At least teams have a medium through which they can express their frustrations. Kubiak said he was disappointed in the call, but it's done with and they're moving on to Oakland
Steven Wilkerson - Pearland, TX, US: Nick it seems Gary has really diverted a lot of his focus on Shaub and has improved him significantly, but it seems at the expense of the running game and the Defense. My question is, Is it possible for Kubiak to now take a step away from Shaub and put the ball in the Hands of Steve Slaton and the running game to control the game better? or is it too late?
Nick Scurfield:
Kubiak is known as a great coach for quarterbacks, but let's not forget the running game was as good last year as it ever has been with this franchise. Kubiak always says that he wants to run the ball better.. always has been a key to his offenses.. and that's why Slaton's rebound game this week was particularly encouraging. if the running game continues to improve, you can expect the texans to look to the ground game even more
That was the last question I have time for today. Thanks to all who sent one in, and sorry if I couldn't get to yours in time. I'll be back for another live chat at the same time next week.
