On if he is healthy:*
"I'm getting there. I'm probably about 75, 80 percent right now."
On if he would play if the first game of the regular season was today:
"I wouldn't play. I wouldn't play because of the long haul of the season. You know how much that grind is. When we have to make that run at the end of the season, that's when I plan to be there. Do I want to be at the first game? Yes. Am I glad it's not today? Yes. If the Super Bowl is today, I'm playing. We still have a lot of time [until the start of the regular season]. Honestly I feel good today; I feel a lot better than I did yesterday because I [had] seven days of straight work, no recovery and I have to recover. Right now I'm recovering, took the day off; feeling good, moving good. I can move around; like I told coach, I could probably be out here but at the same time it wouldn't be smart because [of] that long season, it'll get you."
On why critics bring up his age:
"That's what critics do, that's how they keep their job. It's all good. I know I'm 34, I feel 34 but at the same time, I know how to play this game. I know I can still play this game and I know guys who did it at the age of 34."
On the Texans giving up more deep balls than any other team last season:*
"That's not going to be the thing that gets us over the hump. We have to bring that way down; we have to be top-five with that." **
On covering the middle of the field:
"I've told the guys even in Baltimore I'm not covering your fade anymore [laughing]…The middle of the field is mine now. I used to really say that a lot when I was younger, but now the middle of the field is totally mine."
On what he is telling his younger teammates:
"Just today talking to [Alan] Bonner, he asked me about the coverages; how can he get better at the coverages. Read your corners, read your safeties, study the tape. The experiences, the knowledge that we have, that's what we're supposed to do: give it to the younger guys."
On getting better as a player:
"The repetition, doing it constantly. People ask me all of the time, players ask me, 'How can I get better?' I've been playing this game since I was a kid and those repetitions count. The more you do it, the better you get. I talked to the defensive backs a week ago, come out here and work on your craft. You're an artist…We're artists out here. Ray [Lewis] taught me that; work on your craft, get better at your craft. I got better at my craft. I'm not the best physical-looking guy…You see guys that are built and [you say], 'Man, he's going to be a monster,' and they get out here and can't move because they haven't done it. When you've done it so many times, it's easy."
