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Head Coach Gary Kubiak** QB Matt Schaub
Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on the health situation with the team) "(ILB Tim) Dobbins got nicked up, got his shoulder, back. We're getting him looked at right now, but other than that, we're kind of right where we were yesterday."
(on WR DeAndre Hopkins) "He's doing a heck of a job for a young player. He doesn't look like a very young player out here. He understands what we're doing. He's making a lot of plays every day. He's a worker and, as a coach, that's probably the greatest gift you can get when you get a draft choice and they come in. You know they're good players or you wouldn't draft them, but when they've got these tremendous work habits, it adds to what you've already got on your team."
(on if WR DeAndre Hopkins reminds him of any other players he's coached at that age) "I don't know. He moves a little bit like (WR) Rod Smith to me, a player that I had a bunch who made a lot of contested plays. I think they're all different. The biggest thing with him is he's a very competitive kid. When it's him and a DB (defensive back) and a lot of bumping and grinding going on, he finds a way to make a play. In our league, you're going to get covered. There are good people in this league, so you've got to make contested plays."
(on if it's exciting to see how WR DeAndre Hopkins will transition from practices to games) "Yeah and then that's the next step for him. I think probably the thing I'm most excited about is the fact of how well he's kept up with what we're doing. We've thrown it all at him. He's worked as a starter every rep. He's handled himself very, very good, so (WRs Coach) Larry (Kirksey) and (Asst. WRs Coach) Marc (Lubick) have done a really good job with him."
(on WR Andre Johnson saying WR DeAndre Hopkins is not thinking any more) "Well, that's what happens. I've said to you guys, you've got decisions to make when you've got a top-notch rookie like that. Do I bring him along slow? And our process here has always been we drafted him to play. So he went through a tough OTAs, had a lot of rough days out here, but it looks like it's paid off because he's way ahead."
(on throwing rookies right into the fire and if it's harder when they struggle because of that) "I think some portion of struggle is a given coming into this league. I think if anything, if you've got the right guy, it makes them tougher. It makes them appreciate because they've been pretty successful where they've been and they realize how hard it is in this league and it settles them down to what the next 10 years are going to be like. I think it's about a response and the good ones always respond."
(on when he will make a decision on quarterback reps for the Minnesota game) "I probably won't even talk about that until Wednesday. We'll wait and see. We've got some serious health situations, especially at linebacker right now. I've got to get them to Friday right now and get them ready to play. We'll make those decision later."
(on if he has any plans to have QB Matt Schaub take days off) "He is not taking any reps when we go inside. I let the other guys do that. Of course, that's jog-through stuff, but I think he needs the work. I made him get his weight down a little bit this year and go back to some of his youth. I want to keep it there and I think he's responded and had a good camp."
(on the health at linebacker and who is his biggest concern) "Well, my biggest concern is we've got 15 of them and I think seven of them are practicing. That's my biggest concern."
(on if there is one linebacker who is of particular concern not practicing) "No, we need them all back. We need the (OLB Sam) Montgomery kid; we've got to figure out what he's made of. We've got to get him back. We need them all. (ILB Cameron) Collins is having a good camp and now he's missing time. Tough situation when it seems like you get beat up in one spot."
(on if RB Dennis Johnson has had a good training camp) "Yeah, he has. He's been impressive and he's kept up. He's operated as the starter the last two days and he continues to make plays. A real worker, that goes kind of with what I just said, but he's been a nice surprise and hopefully he keeps going."
(on if it's too soon for RB Dennis Johnson to be starting as an undrafted free agent) "Yeah, it's way too soon for him to be starting, but you get caught in situations and that's usually how you find guys. He's getting a great opportunity."
QB Matt Schaub
(on how many snaps he will take during Friday's preseason game) "I don't know. I can gauge it just based on what we've done in the past, but it's up to the coach. We got to be ready to go out and play a football game. It's going to be nice to end the week going against somebody different other than just hitting on ourselves and competing against ourselves, so we're excited to move through this week and get ourselves ready to go play a game."
(on the competition between QB T.J Yates and QB Case Keenum) "Oh, it's been great. We all compete with one another and it's great for the group. They're both working extremely hard, they're in their book, and they understand the offense: the reads, the progressions, and seeing the defense. It's great to compete against our defense because from top to bottom, ones to the threes, everyone is competing. The receivers are competing with the DBs and they're tough throws in there. Those guys are working hard."
(on chemistry with WR DeAndre Hopkins) "It's going great. We are getting a lot of balls thrown to him based on the coverage's we're getting, but we're trying to get him involved with everything we're doing just so he's ready to go when we get to week one. He's really showing some growth as we get into week two here of camp and we just got to keep working."
(on if WR DeAndre Hopkins is ahead of schedule) "Yeah, based on where he started when he first walked in the door, yeah he's right on pace. He's ahead of schedule, but it's hard to gauge that until we get in a game. You can do it out here in practice when you get rep after rep, but when it comes to crunch time in a game, that's when you really got to do it. We've just got to get to the first preseason game and see how far he has come and then progress from there."
(on improving red zone efficiency) "Absolutely, because the field's shorter, there's less area for the defense to defend, and we've got to be crisp in our timing and our reads. Everything, the windows are smaller and knowing when our guys are getting open. Them understanding red zone coverage's because they are different than you see in the field. We've got to run the football well down there to put ourselves in manageable third downs then we've got to be able to convert."
(on the intensity of these practices) "Oh, it's big time. It's not quite the game and you try to simulate the game as much as possible, but it's hard to do that in practice especially when maybe the pads are taken off or something like that. We try to play fast. We try to simulate the game as much as possible and our defense really makes it tough on us as we do them. It's great competition back and forth, but anytime we get out here we try and simulate the game situations and the game environment as much as we can."
(on what he expects from the young receivers) "I think if you look just at the offensive side, I'm anxious to see (WR) DeAndre (Hopkins) get out there in a game when the lights are on. I'm excited to see (WR) Keshawn Martin get out there after his rookie year last year. He's coming into year two and really understanding the offense, getting open, exploding through routes, and creating separation. I'm excited to get Keshawn out there and get some balls thrown his way. Our young backs are getting a lot of reps, so let's see them in a game environment, control their emotions, work their reads, stay patient in the run game and their pass protection. I'm excited to see them get out and work, too."
(on losing weight this offseason) "I feel great. I feel great. The offseason was good. It was nice not having to rehab like I was last year for my foot injury. I feel great and I'm ready to get going."
(on how hard it is to build chemistry within the offense) "It's not hard at all. That's our job, that's what we're here to do and it's my job throwing to them and make sure those guys are working and understanding their routes. The combinations of when the ball is going to come to them so they're open at the point of a catch and still those guys are (inaudible due to wind). You know, I'm excited to get going because we've spent a lot of time working on that chemistry and that route timing."
(on what attracted the coaches to WR DeAndre Hopkins) "Well yeah, that was what the guys upstairs and the coaching staff and the scouting department saw in him when he was playing. When I saw a tape of him after we drafted him, I realized we had a kid that had size, had speed, had exceptional catching radius. Go up and get the football and he's demonstrated day-in and day-out out here so I'm excited to get him in a game environment when the defense doesn't know what he's going to be doing in his routes where as our defense kind has an idea of how we run our offense so I'm excited about that."
