Head coach Gary Kubiak addressed the media following Monday's practice.
Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on the team's health) "(RG Antoine) Caldwell has an ankle sprain. He went back on the field the second half. He could have went in, had we got in trouble. I think he's going to be day-to-day, and we do have an extra day of rest for him this week so I'll have to let you guys know come Thursday. (SS Quintin) Demps had surgery today, broke his forearm so he's had two surgeries in a row, back-to-back. We do expect him to come back, don't quite know how long that will be but he is going to miss some time. That's where we're at with him today. (FS Shiloh) Keo banged his shoulder a little bit. He's fine. He's back to work today. Ben (Tate)'s got a toe bothering him. He missed practice today, missed our walk through. We're getting some X-rays on that and we'll find out where we're at on Thursday."
(on SS Quintin Demps' broken forearm) "It's the opposite, broke his forearm on the opposite side. He's got a couple of casts, one on each side."
(on how much time SS Quintin Demps will miss) "I know he's going to miss some time. It's not a season-ending situation. I'll know more when he does come out of the surgery and everything is done. He's not totally finished yet."
(on replacing S Quintin Demps) "I don't know. That's something we got to sit down and talk about. (FS Shiloh) Keo obviously moves up. We've got (SS) Eddie (Pleasant) on our practice squad. We take a look at what's out there from that standpoint. The good news is we got a couple days to deal with that and it will probably be dealt with tomorrow at some point."
(on the running game and stopping the opponent's run game heading into the game against the New York Jets) "It always concerns you. First off, you know you're going to play a big, physical team. I haven't really gotten started on them yet because we're still finishing up today. The first place I'm looking to be honest with you, I'm looking at myself, talking to (Offensive Line Coach) John (Benton) and Rico (Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison) and what we're doing, the position that we're putting them in, I'm putting them in when I call the plays. That's the first place I want to start. I want to make sure I'm giving (RB) Arian (Foster) and (RB) Ben (Tate) the best possible opportunities and the offensive line. That's going to be my approach today since I do have an extra day on my hands to make sure and take a look at that. You always want to look at that film and feel like you're putting your players in a good position so they can be successful so I'm going to start with me."
(on the running game issues) "I could sit here and give you a lot of things that I initially saw, but it's going to go back to everybody who is involved. There was some good in the first half, two yards per carry was good. At the end of the day, probably the thing that's bothering me the most is I think in the first half we score on two of four possessions if I'm right, maybe there was a fifth. We miss third and one and we miss third and two running the ball. We have to convert a fourth and inches to stay on the field and score the touchdown. We've been pretty darn good converting third and short, running the football as team. (RB) Arian (Foster) has been pretty good and that's not the case right now. We got to look at ourselves, us as coaches, and what we're doing and make sure we improve."
(on RB Arian Foster's workload) "He can handle it I know that. You never know how the season's going to go and what it's going to take to win each week. We're giving (RB) Arian (Foster) some breaks during the course of practice during the week. He looks fine to me. He's holding up fine. He hasn't missed any time other than the time we've given him. Now we're sitting here with this situation with (RB) Ben (Tate). We'll see if he misses a few days or what happens. I'm going to play him according to how he's playing, how he's feeling, how he's doing. He makes us go so I'm not too concerned with that at this point."
(on the play of C Ben Jones) "He played like a young guy, played like a first-year guy. We've got basically two rookies on the right side when you think about (RT Derek) Newton playing for the first time. There's going to be some growing pains. I would say first off, (C) Ben (Jones) played 40-plus plays because of (RG Antoine) Caldwell's injury. There are some things he can do better, but he's doing some real good stuff too and he's playing a position he never played in college. He was a center. There will be some growing pains there, but I like his effort. I like his preparation. Newton was better than he was last week. We took about 20 snaps off of Newton with (T) Ryan (Harris) and I think it helped. I think it really did help Newton play more consistently throughout the course of the game. Also, Ryan did some good stuff. We'll continue there. We understand what we're working with. We've got to be patient, but hard on them and expect them to play well."
(on holding the Titans to poor field position) "That was a key to the game, in my opinion. They had 13 possessions, eight of them started inside their 20 if I'm right. When you play defense the way we're playing defense and you make a team go 80 yards consistently, I think we're going to like the results at the end of the day. I thought it was our best outing from a special teams standpoint with the whole group and how we played. (WR) Trindon (Holliday) was very close a couple times. Our punter has been punting well. Hopefully we take a step forward. We had some guys really play well. (OLB)Bryan Braman was our special teams player of the game."
(on how pleased he is with CB Kareem Jackson) "The thing for me is it's fun to see a guy mature. What (CB) Kareem's (Jackson) been through, his growth as a pro, and where he's at today, has been special to watch. He's come a long way. (Defensive Backs Coach Vance Joseph) has done a great job with him. I think he's really benefitted from J-Joe (CB Johnathan Joseph) being here and he's grown up a lot. I said this to you all last week, not only as a player but as a kid too, he's really come a long ways. We're excited with the direction he's headed."
(on how he's kept the team levelheaded as expectations evolve) "I just think they're pretty mature and I've told you all that. It's a good group of guys. They're really hard on each other. They understand that they're winning football games because they're playing well. They're not out there just winning because they're showing up and we got good guys at this spot or that spot. They're playing well together. They're feeding off each other. They're playing very hard. The best thing we've done as a team is we've protected the ball and taken it away. Those two things together win games in this league. I think at the end of a month we have two turnovers and two sacks. That's as good as I've been around on the offensive side. Then defensively we've been getting sacks and taking the ball away. Those things add up to some positive things happening for your team."
(on if he has ever seen a defense play better than the Texans' defense through the past four games) "They're playing extremely well. I think yesterday we gave up the most yards we've given up all year, but it was probably the best we've played really, when you look at it. Statistics sometimes don't tell the whole story. You score 14 points on defense, four sacks total, three turnovers, when you're doing that type of stuff, it's special. We forced eight punts. We forced quite a few punts as a defensive football team this year, got to be up there at the top. They're playing well, and they're doing it because they're playing together and playing very hard."
(on his first impressions of the Jets) "I haven't really gotten started. I know we haven't beaten that. I know that since I've been here. It's going to be physical. That's the first thing. When you play (Head Coach) Rex's (Ryan) team, it's going to be very physical on both sides of the ball and tough place to play, tough environment on a big stage. We need to have a good week. It's kind of good for us, get my guys an extra day of rest here with Wednesday and then we start our routine on Thursday. We understand the challenge."
(on if he translates anything from past undefeated team's he has been a part of) "No, you just keep playing. I think we understand every week is a new week. We talked yesterday after the game. We had a good month, good September. It's a new day. Today's October 1 isn't it? It's a new month. We get three opportunities this month because our bye week comes at the end. We're just focused on each opportunity we have to win. The next one is in New York so we'll have to go on the road and play very well."
(on QB Matt Schaub's season so far) "He's playing very good. He's totally on top of what we're doing. He's getting rid of the ball tremendously. Like I said, we have two sacks and you got to give him a ton of credit for that. He's getting rid of the ball. If we get caught in a bad situation protection-wise, he's handling that, the no-huddle stuff that we've been doing, very, very well. I think he's very driven. He missed that time last year. He wants to be a part of this. He's finding a way not to take so many hits he's taken in the past. He's learned from some of that. He's very focused and off to a good start."
(on OLB Connor Barwin's play this season) "I think he's playing very well. I don't know that I've ever seen a ball go away from a guy so much. I know it's difficult because he's used to having those sacks and those production-type things that people see statistically. But I can just tell you (OLB) Connor (Barwin) is playing as well as he's ever played, as hard as he's ever played. Things will come his way. They tend to even out. We're proud of how he's playing. I think we're benefiting inside because of how well Connor and (OLB) Brooks (Reed) are playing outside."
(on explaining QB Matt Schaub's road production) "I don't know. He's very focused all the time. Like yesterday, if (QB) Matt (Schaub) is throwing for 200 yards, we're probably playing pretty good football because that means we're really balanced and game wise we probably got a lead. We're probably running the ball, very committed to the run. When I see those stats like he had yesterday, he's 20-of-28 with two touchdowns, that's a hell of a performance. We've just come to expect it. He's very capable in any game. If you want Matt to put it up 50 times and throw for those type of yards, he can do it home or on the road. He's very focused all the time. I don't know how to explain that, maybe just different ball games, different ways they went."
(on the most important factor for Super Bowl teams throughout the season) "To be real good at the end, that's the key. We got about four months to work toward that so we're about week five. Don't get so far ahead of yourself."
(on TE Owen Daniels) "He was our offensive player of the game. (TE) Owen (Daniels) is really playing well. I hate to be redundant, but (TE Coach) Brian (Pariani) is doing a really good job with him. He's getting him fresh. We've taken some time off of Owen on the practice field with a couple things he's been through with his knees and I think he's benefited from that. I think (TE) Garrett (Graham's) development has given us more confidence to give Owen some breaks. He's had a really good month as a player. (FS Glover Quin) GQ is our defensive player of the game. He's had a really good month. Owen (Daniels) is off to a good start."
