Following are postgame quotes from the Texans' 37-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10 at Raymond James Stadium.
HOUSTON TEXANS
HEAD COACH GARY KUBIAK
LB CONNOR BARWIN
LB BRIAN CUSHING
RB ARIAN FOSTER
WR JACOBY JONES
CB JOHNATHAN JOSEPH
QB MATT SCHAUB
DE ANTONIO SMITH
HEAD COACH GARY KUBIAK
(Opening statement) "It's a good way to get to the bye, you know. We knew coming in here that [Tampa Bay] played very well at home. We had been playing very good football, and once again we got off to a fast start as a football team and defensively played great. We got four turnovers. We didn't run the ball very good in the first half, but we came back in the second half and ran it like a good football team. [I'm] a little disappointed [with] a couple things on special teams that we have to get corrected and need to be automatic, but a good win and we need to get healthy now."
(On the first play) "Well you sure as heck don't expect it. We practiced that play in practice three or four times and [the score] never happened, so that's just guys playing hard, doing the right thing. Jacoby [Jones] is doing a heck of a job for us, making big plays off of our run game. Our boot game was pretty good today and in the second half we just settled down and ran the ball."
(On why he called the first play) "Our plan was to come out and boot them a little bit and move, eventually knowing that we were going to get in our run mode and run the football, but they run very good as a defense so we were going to come and boot them and screen them early which is what we did and then settle down and run our stuff so it is what we do best so it just worked out today."
(On Tampa Bay's overturned interception) "They did a great job on covering us down the field, we dumped the ball to Arian [Foster] and the difference in that being a 12-yard play, and that being a 70-something yard play is James Casey working, it's Kevin [Walter] working, it's Owen [Daniels] working. Guys being unselfish, playing very unselfish football as a team right now."
(On improving special teams) "We had two bad snaps. We had a really bad snap on the missed extra point. He gave him another bad snap. We missed a field goal that puts it in a four-score game instead of a three-score game. You need to continue to be automatic; you can't sit here and say those things are okay. Those things will get you beat someday."
LB CONNOR BARWIN
(On the defense improving) "There is more and more confidence. I think we are learning the system. I think it's the coaches pushing us every week; they're not satisfied with what we've done so far. Coach Kubiak and Coach Reggie Herring keep pushing us to keep getting better and better so I think that's part of it."
(On how the offense affects the defense) "Our offense keeps improving, which helps us on defense. You know, I think it's just everybody kind of holding each other accountable, too. As the defense starts playing better, all the players are playing better, then you just have to kind of keep up with everybody. Everybody is just holding each other accountable."
(On rushing Josh Freeman) "You just kind of have to rush smart. You can't just speed rush around because he is a guy that is pretty mobile. [We] kind of talked about it all week, just seeing the quarterback as we rush. Yeah, we kind of got away from that, but, as the game went on, we saw him moving up in the pocket. We just have to see him as we rush, and we did."
LB BRIAN CUSHING
(On the victory) "It's something you want to accomplish. It's fulfilling because it's the football we know we can play and something we're going to try to continue to do week in and week out. Just play tough physical football, run the ball real well, and play great defense."
(On stopping LeGarrette Blount) "I think it was just being physical with him; he's a downhill kind of runner. You want to hit him and you want to hit him early, and just let him know you're a physical defense. There's no question he's going to break arm tackles, one-on-one he's very tough to bring down. I think that if you get two or three guys around the pile every time, you'll be able to accomplish that."
RB ARIAN FOSTER
(On his long touchdown reception) "It was a play-action pass and it was a flat route. It's pretty routine; we run that play a lot. And when you get the ball in your hands in this league, you're paid to make people miss and I was just doing my job."
(On what he felt during the play) "You know, when you get the ball in your hands, it's fun. I think that's what sets me apart from other running backs—I make guys miss in the open field. It's been part of my game for a long time and it felt good. Like I said last week, I'm just starting to get in my game shape, my game form, and it feels good. The offense is coming together and our offensive line continues to play well. It's just fun when you have the offense clicking on all cylinders."
WR JACOBY JONES
(On being 7-3 going into the bye week) "I've been here five years and this team has a whole different attitude. Defense, offense and special teams. Offense is rolling, defense is rolling, and special teams stays special. All three phases stick together."
(On his touchdown reception on the game's first play) "We lined up and had a nice play call. We built some things in practice. We try to execute it while we're in practice, you know, we ran it, snapped the ball, I saw everybody bite, went up top, Schauby [Matt Schaub] found me, blessed my God I caught it, and threw my head back like a little kid and ran for my life."
CB JOHNATHAN JOSEPH
(On being a complete team) "I think if you look at what we've done so far, I think we are somewhat of a complete team, offense, defense, special teams-wise. We still have to go out each week and perform. Saying it isn't going to get it done, you could say we're a good team, but we are still going to have to go out each week and prove ourselves every Sunday. So for us, it's about going 1 and 0."
(On being 7-3) "I guess we are sitting in the best position possible going into this bye week. We didn't want to go into this bye week at 6-4. 7-3 is a lot better then 6-4, even though you can't complain about 6-4, either. But 7-3 looks a lot better then 6-4."
QB MATT SCHAUB
(On if there are any areas of concern) "Well, we are playing well as a team. Offensively we are controlling the line of scrimmage, our offensive line and tight ends are playing extremely well and we're making big plays. We have some playmakers on this offense. Defensively, we're playing really well. They are holding teams, making them turn the ball over. They are just playing exceptional football; we are getting some plays on our special [teams]. So as far as holes, we just got to go out and focus on playing well every week. It's so tough to win in this league, but we are just fortunate to get our seventh win here in a tough place to play."
(On Andre Johnson returning next week) "It will be exciting to get him back in the huddle after missing some time. Guys have really stepped up, and when we get him back, we're full strength—it will be full speed ahead. It will be a boost of energy in everybody if we get him back on the field."
(On being 7-3 going into the bye week) "It's a great feeling for our team. With the bye week here, [and being] seven and three with six games to play. We get a little break here because we have been going strong since the start of training camp. It's some much needed rest for a lot of guys, and the coaching staff. We'll come back off the bye and be ready to go. "
(On the first play of the game) "Yeah [Jacoby Jones] is a lure for us in that play. We are coming out, looking underneath first, but we caught [Tampa Bay] off balance and [Jones] was able to get behind the defense and I just gave him a chance. It wasn't a pretty throw, but I just tried to get it to him and let him run with it after."
(On being able to open the game with play-action) "We had a couple of weeks there where it wasn't quite working as well, because teams were planning for it. Then our running game took over and so teams were playing more of the run, and focusing on that, so we had some opportunities to get on the edge and make some plays."
DE ANTONIO SMITH
(On winning building a winning mindset) "With winning comes a winning mindset, and believing in each other keeps it flowing. It keeps that positive energy flowing. I think that everybody is in on it from top to bottom. We're looking at this team with all the people that went down and people just filling in, and still being able to keep it trucking, you know, I just got to tip my hat to each and every player on this team for giving it up, sacrificing what ever needs to be sacrificed to making this team a winning team."
(On the team's confidence) "That's another thing with a winning mindset. Everybody's having fun. When you're having fun and everybody is believing in each other and believing in yourself, you're going to be a winner. You get the mindset of losing your going to be the loser."
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
K CONNOR BARTH
DE MICHAEL BENNETT
C JEFF FAINE
QB JOSH FREEMAN
DT ALBERT HAYNESWORTH
S SEAN JONES
DT BRIAN PRICE
HEAD COACH RAHEEM MORRIS
(On whether the team has regressed) "The last three weeks have been tough. You know, we haven't won in about a month. The guys right now are not playing well and we got to find a way to get better. Again, any regression, you've got to put that right on my shoulders, because I got it. It was my fault -- my fault, guys."
(On what he said to players in the locker room) "I said to them exactly what I'm telling you right now. I told those guys that there will be some changes made on how we do some things and they could put the blame on me, because my shoulders are big enough for that. We'll fix it, because that's my job."
(On what type of changes will be made this week) "We'll do some changes in practice this week. You got to go out and get your pads on, because we're not making plays in pads and that's what we got to go practice. You got to work on making plays in our pads in game-like situations. That's what we've got to do this week."
(On what happened on the first play of the game) "The first play of the game was bad execution. The other long pass to [Arian] Foster in the flat was just a terrible missed tackle and a terrible secondary-level tackle. The hustle, I'll be grading that on tape for you tomorrow, letting you know who was there. It should have been a 40-yard gain, not an 80-yard gain, and you've got to eliminate those things and that's my fault. Again, all of that stuff, put it all on me."
(On Albert Haynesworth's play) "It's hard to evaluate our new d-tackle. We talked about him today. He made a couple plays. I saw that. We got to get a chance to go look at him on tape and I'll be able to give you a more accurate description of how he plays his game tomorrow, but I did know he did showed up a little bit and made a couple plays in there for us."
(On not getting much done on offense with dropped passes and penalties) "I have to do a better job of coaching the football team. I haven't done a great job for our offense. I haven't done a great job for our defense or special teams. So put that on me. I'll fix it this week."
K CONNOR BARTH
(On his 55-yard field goal) "I was just trying to get points on the board when we can, and, like I said, we just did not come out with a win today. I don't really have much to [add] to that."
(On preparing for next week's game) "It's just one game [today]. It's a long season, [and] we still got seven left. [We] just have to learn from it and that's all you could ever do is learn. That's what you do: learn, learn, learn, watch the tape, keep working, and come back next week [to] hopefully get another win."
DE MICHAEL BENNETT
(On the overall game) "I mean…we lost. I feel bad."
(On what can be done to improve the defense) "Tackling. That's our only problem; it's tackling. We need to do some tackling drills."
(On finishing strong this season) "We can finish strong. We still got our division games and we just got to win our division. We just got to keep going."
C JEFF FAINE
(On difficulty of upcoming games) "Oh, it's not getting any easier and we got a very, very huge challenge against Green Bay next weekend. We just got to work hard next week, continue to focus on the basics, continue to focus on cleaning it up, playing smarter, playing more disciplined, and we just got to work hard. There's no substitute for that and it's just unfortunate we're in the position we are right now. We just have to try and pick ourselves up."
QB JOSH FREEMAN
(On Houston's defense) "On the passing game, they played a lot of man like they've been doing all year, and those are just tough—tough for us to get going. We had a couple deep [passes] earlier on. I wonder if we would have capitalized late in that drive, but really, they came as advertised: a really good defense. They generated some pass rush and really didn't allow us to get in any offensive rhythm."
(On frustration after loss) "It's always frustrating when you don't win, but at the same time you have to look at yourself first. You can't go out and say, 'This guy's got to do this; this guy's got to do that.' You have to say 'What can I do better to win the game?' That's the mentality and approach that I think everybody on the team has to take if we want everyone to get better and come out with some wins."
(On team regressing since last year) "It's just that we have not played nearly up to our potential. We are a young team, and as a young team you have to understand that this is the NFL. You see some success and you can't rest on that. You have to continue to prepare and go out and give it all you've got every week because even when you have a great week of preparation, you're not guaranteed to win if you're not making plays in the game. Everybody's got to look internally within themselves, reevaluate their preparation. Also when the game comes, there are moments in the game that can alter the outcome. You can't let that moment catch you off guard."
(On if he feels as if he has regressed) "Nothing's wrong with me. I feel like I'm a better quarterback this year than I was last year. As crazy as that may sound, looking at the numbers, I feel like I continue to get better in preparation and execution. I feel like I'm throwing the ball as well as I ever have; it's just things aren't going my way."
(On next week's game) "It's the NFL. Every week's got to be a huge emphasis. You go out and play to win. Obviously, Green Bay is playing very well right now, but we got to go in and look at this week like any other week. You've got to prepare. You can't let the fact that they're the defending Super Bowl champs change anything. You've got to prepare and be prepared to execute and play a game and know that when you have your opportunities, you've got to take advantage."
DT ALBERT HAYNESWORTH
(On today's game) "I think we've got a good team. I see the way we practice and see the talent we have. We're a young team and instead of letting a bad play go and wiping it out your mind, and going and playing football, we let it pile on and kept thinking about it. Then, there's another bad play and that was kind of the game you saw. Our head coach came in and said to blame it on him, but he didn't play a snap of football. We're out on the field, and we've got to take responsibility. We can't let one bad play keep us down."
(On any limitations being on a new team) "I got the scheme pretty quick. I can kind of relate it to what I did in Tennessee. The thing that got to me was the switching, because I never played left [defensive tackle]. That's the only thing I've got to get used to and better at for sure."
(On being disruptive) "I want to be disruptive and make more plays. My job, like what I did in Tennessee, was to help my teammates get better. A lot of people were focused on me, and that created opportunities for my teammates. Same thing here, hopefully, they'll recognize me. That way, guys can make a lot of plays and we can get back on a winning streak."
(On how he felt physically) "I felt fine. I was a little bit tired, but that was the most plays I've played all year. I felt a little bit tired, but felt pretty good [overall]. When I was in New England it was hard, you play like three or four plays, and then you sit for a quarter, quarter and a half, and have to go back out and play. It was hard to get into a rhythm. The more I played the better I got."
S SEAN JONES
(On the game) "We got to execute better and we have to have [a greater] sense of urgency. If you don't play with passion and go out there and play like it's your last play, it's not going to work. We didn't do that [today]."
(On defending Houston's passing game) "Today we didn't see it. I am not going [to go into detail] about the whole year, because obviously we have had games [where we have] played lights out and everybody is doing what they are supposed to do. Today that didn't happen."
DT BRIAN PRICE
(On today's game) "There are a lot of thoughts going through your head when you lose, it's just the competitive nature you have as a man. When you lose you just sit back and think what you could have done better and how you could have played harder. We've got a lot to fight for and a lot to prove, and we can't get discouraged by one game."
(On the first play of the game) "Yes, that was unfortunate but things like that happen. It's the NFL. Every team is good, every player is an all-star, and you've just got to look at it that way. We got caught slipping and it was an eye opener. But, we didn't get down, we didn't blink, we just have to go out there and fight. It's our job."
