**
Head Coach Bill O'Brien**
(on the progression of DE Jared Crick and OLB Jadeveon Clowney) "Jared Crick is doing okay, think he'll have a chance to play. I'd say JD (Jadeveon Clowney) is still day-to-day."
(on what he gets out of QB Brian Hoyer in this game in a perfect world) "No turnovers, good on third down, get us into the right play, good leadership and just a good, smart football game."
(on if he's seen that out of QB Brian Hoyer in his last two performances) "Other than the interception against Indy, I would say yes."
(on how he gets guys to not commit mental mistakes) "Show it to them, coach them, coach them harder, find different ways to coach them. There's a lot of different ways."
(on what it means to him as a coach when he has to make a change at the quarterback position) "I know both guys, and I know Brian (Hoyer). I think that Brian, when we made the change to (Ryan) Mallett before, I think Brian handled it really well. He practiced well, and when he got his opportunity again for the most part, he did a very good job. That's why he is the starter now."
(on if not committing penalties has been an emphasis this week) "Absolutely, we've covered it a lot. I think the guys have really done a good job this week of understanding what they need to do to clean that up. We show it to them on tape. We haven't had, not saying it's been perfect, but we haven't had nearly the amount of penalties in practice, and we've been officiating that and being real attentive to that. Hopefully that shows up on Sunday."
(on if they brought officials out to practice) "No, we did it. Myself and the quality control guys officiated."
(on if they bring officials to practice during the regular season) "No, it's just been in training camp. And the reason for that is it's difficult to find NFL officials to come to your place during the week, so it'd have to be college officials. That doesn't happen very often here."
(on if he's seen RB Arian Foster respond after being hurt) "Yeah, he's had a good week. He had a good day out there today. It looks like he's getting back to full strength, yes."
(on what percentage of penalties they've committed are mental and physical) "I'd say that 90 percent of them are physical. They're trying to give great effort, they just get caught in positions and talk about leverage positions where they end up committing penalties. It's not from necessarily mental mistakes. It's just physical mistakes, and we just have to do a better job of coaching it."
(on what they can do specifically to stop the run this week) "We can coach it better and that's what we're doing. We're putting them in better positions to hopefully be able to go out there and make plays. We're showing them tape of what we've done in the past and how it should look. Again, it comes down to coaching and hopefully we've coached it better. Jacksonville is certainly going to try to run the ball. T.J. Yeldon is a very good back. They're line is playing really well. It's a big challenge on Sunday. Our guys have had a good week, should be a good game."
Defensive Coordinator Romeo Crennel
(on what he's seen from offenses trying to run the ball against them this season) "Well you know what, they're just out-playing us a lot of times. Then sometimes our guys are guessing and trying to make a play, which opens up a seam. We've talked to them about - it's a team defensive thing. Everybody has to do their job before they try to help out. Even though you talk about it and remind them, but sometimes in the course of the game, that adrenaline is flowing. They try to make a play which opens up seams. Until we become more disciplined and do our job first, and that's what we've been working on this week. We went back to basics and tried to get them to understand that it's a team deal, everybody has a responsibility and you have to take care of your responsibility and if you do that, then you can go help out."
(on if he's playing NT Vince Wilfork differently than how he was played in New England) "Well I'm not exactly sure what they were doing with him in New England. I know New England does a lot of different things. We line him up and play two-gap with him. We offset him and let him play in offset and try to use the ability, strengths that he brings with him. That's what we try to do."
(on what they're not doing well currently that they did well at the end of last season) "Well we're not getting turnovers and we have too many penalties basically. If we can eliminate some of the penalties, I think we can get off the field and if we get off the field, then we'll be more rested and maybe we don't give up some of those plays in the red zone that we end up giving up because we were on the field longer than I would like to be."
(on making penalties from trying too hard to make a play) "They have to understand how the officials are calling the game, and if they see that they are calling the game tight, they have to understand that and then they cannot be as aggressive with some of their techniques. The thing is if the penalty gets called, it hurts you. Whatever you have to do to not get penalized, that becomes the thing that will help us the most."
(on if DE J.J. Watt has had issues this season with uncertainty on the field) "No, not really. J.J. plays the game. He understands the system, and generally he covers his responsibility. Everybody is not perfect and neither is J.J. When he makes a mistake, we point it out, and he works to correct it."
(on what will help CB Kevin Johnson improve his game) "There are some things, I think the experience will be the thing that will help him the most, seeing different receivers, seeing different offenses, and understanding what an offense is trying to do, what a receiver is trying to do, how they're trying to stem him on the route to try to get open or to try to get him to lose his back pedal or whatever. Kevin is a student of the game, he tries to be as informed as he can be. He talks to the veterans. He talks to other guys. I think that's one of the things that allows him to be pretty decent. He's a competitive guy, so like I said, the more he plays, I think the better he'll get."
(on ILB Benardrick McKinney) "Yep, I like him, I've told you guys before. I like what he brings to the table. He's getting a little bit more play time because of some of the injury situations, and he's representing himself very well on the football field. I think he'll continue to get better also."
RB Arian Foster
(on if having extra time between games helped him physical) "Yes, it did."
(on how he feels like he's run the ball this year) "We have not been efficient."
(on if things can change for the Texans in the running game) "I know things can change."
(on if he's confident the team can run the ball better because they have before with the same personnel) "Definitely. That's part of the confidence, yes."
(on if he's also confident because he knows what he can do) "It's hard work, man. That's where it comes from."
(on the relationship players on the active roster have with practice squad players) "I know both sides of the coin. On one side, you're trying to get a look from the defense that you want to see on Sunday. Sometimes it gets frustrating because your body is sore, not quarterbacks, they don't get hit like that, but your body is sore, you're beat up and a practice squad player is going full-go. He has no game on Sunday. It gets frustrating, like 'Come on, man. I'm just trying to get a look.' But on the other side, it's like, practice squad is week-to-week. They'll cut you and bring somebody in just because they look like another player. I remember, I think it was Demeco Ryans, he yelled at me one time too. He's like 'Man, slow down. We're just trying to get a look.' And I said, 'Are you going to pay my bills? I don't care, man.' I see both sides, but I guess when you get drafted high, you don't see that other side. I came up through the other side of the ranks, so I understand. That's why I don't get mad at them if they go hard. I encourage it and say, 'Make me better.'"
(on if playing hard as a practice squad player got him a spot on the roster) "Yeah, that's how you show the coaches. You start showing because they have scouts that watch our film and our practices. You're evaluated every single day. As a practice squad player, I tell all the young cats, 'This is how I made it. This is how I got on the team.' I didn't get drafted. I wasn't an opening day roster guy. I grinded through the first half of the season. Then they put me on the active roster, I played special teams. I worked my way up, so I'll never get mad at that."
(on how playing well on the practice squad can lead to opportunities with other teams) "Exactly."
(on what the Jacksonville Jaguars do well) "They play very similarly to Atlanta. They like to play a lot of zone. They do a lot - they do some man, but they like to play a lot of zone. They like to corral the ball. They got good players to do that, like (Paul) Posluszny. I don't know if he's going to play this week or not. He's one of the best linebackers in the league in my opinion, has been for years. They've always had a stout defense, a very stout front seven. They've always given us fits so it's going to be tough."
(on how he's felt this week) "I felt good."
(on if playing a couple games helps him) "Yeah, just getting back in the flow of things. I missed training camp. I missed a lot of those reps that get you in football shape and the rhythm of things. Just getting that feel back has been important."
(on if there's a reason he's had success against the Jaguars in the past) "No, every year is different. New year, new team, new identity, so you have to approach it like that."
(on if he understands now why his doctor said the best rehab for him was just playing) "Yeah, I knew what he meant because it's hard to trust it. You can sprint as fast as you think you want to go in practice or in training or whatever, but there's nothing like replicating a game feel. There's nothing like that. Nothing can replace that, so I knew what he meant. It's just about getting out there and trusting it and trusting your rehab process."
(on how long it takes for him to trust his body after an injury) "It just depends. Sometimes you might feel a little something, sometimes you don't. It's just getting over that mental hurdle of – I mean, now I'm at the point, like if it's going to re-tear, it's going to re-tear so I'm just going full-go. But he's extremely confident in the attachment so I don't think we're going to have any problems."
CB Kareem Jackson
(on if he's excited about his new born baby girl and if he's on a 'no-sleep high') "Definitely. Definitely excited, but definitely operating on a no-sleep high. Definitely for a great cause though. Just the joy I felt, my first child, a baby girl. Definitely excited about that."
(on her name) "Kaylen Daisy."
(on if she's gotten her first pair of nice shoes) "She actually does. She actually does. Her mom definitely been doing a lot of shopping for her. Have a ton of stuff in her nursery closet. I think one more day we'll get a chance to get her to the house, so we're definitely excited about that."
(on if being a dad gives him a new perspective on life and sports) "Definitely because everything you're doing is definitely for a greater purpose now. You got this human being that you're responsible for. That you brought into this world. Definitely have to take care and once she gets to an age where she understands things, you definitely have to teach her some great values. The values that my parents instilled in me, I'll definitely do the same to instill them in her. Everything is a greater purpose, definitely when you have kids."
(on who she looks like) "Me. She better look like me. She definitely has some of my similarities. I think her mom was a little bit upset about that too. Jealous, for the most part, but I've got some strong genes."
(on the challenges Jaguars wide receivers Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson present) "Both of them definitely vertical threats. Definitely doing some great things for their team. As a secondary, it's definitely our job to stay on top, try to minimize them whenever we get the chance. Get our hands on them and we have to tackle them, try to make them pay for it. Like I said, they're doing some great things, definitely some vertical threats for their quarterback. We'll just try to minimize them come Sunday."
NT Vince Wilfork
(on if the penalties are guys trying too hard to make plays happen) "I think that's what it is. When you click on the film, you just see, the penalties that we make are just bone-head penalties. Just guys just trying to make plays. When you press so much to make plays, you kind of don't make them. You'll be out of position, especially with this defense. We need everybody in position. When you have two, three guys out of position, that can mean a lot for us. We're just concentrating on this. We're just getting back to fundamentals and just trusting one another. I think once we get back to that, we're going to have three good days of practice and our focus has been there. If we just can eliminate the bad football, and that's penalties, you're going to get some type of penalties, but jumping offsides, false starts, grabbing a facemask or unnecessary roughness, the stupid stuff."
(on if part of avoiding penalties is reading the officials) "Yeah, some crews are going to call them tighter, so you've just got to be aware. I think we've done a great job this week of coming back focused and just getting back to work and getting back to basics, being fundamentally sound. That starts with playing good defense and just being able to play solid. That's what we're doing. Like I said, we had three good days, very happy with where we're at right now in practice. Hopefully we can just have a chance to translate to game day."
(on wanting to see guys be able to respond in difficult circumstances) "We all want to see it. That's one thing, and the one frustrating thing is we have a good football team, and we haven't played like that yet. Hopefully we can get it turned around. I think guys have got the right attitude, especially coming in this week. Being 1-4 is tough. It's very tough. I think guys approached this week with an extra day, focus where it needs to be. Hopefully Sunday it'll show. Hopefully we can get this thing rolling."
(on if it feels like they're close) "We're very close. It's just a couple of things that we need to clean up. One of the things is penalties. We just get rid of the penalties and this will be a different ball club. We have a tough team, we play hard, we have all that. Just eliminating bad football, that's the number one key for us right now."
(on how difficult it is to get back to basics) "It's easy. When you put your mind to it and really make a point of emphasis of doing it, you'll do it. I think this week we did that. We talked about it, but until you actually go to practice and say 'Hey, it's kind of like we're starting over. This is what we're doing and this is how we're going to practice.' It happens that way, so I think it was a good thing for us. When you press so much, bad things happen. I think the past couple weeks, we were pressing so much because you have so many guys that made plays in their career and are still in their prime. They want to make those plays. They want to be that one to change the game around but when you're getting three, four, five, six guys trying to do that, now you're team is out of whack. I think we felt that's where we were headed, so it was good to get back to basics and fundamentals and come back down to earth a little bit. I think we've done a great job this week. A lot of credit goes to the coaching staff with that. A lot of the credit goes to the team, my teammates and everything, just coming in and understanding what we need to do to get back on track. Hopefully, it can start this week for us."
(on what challenges the Jaguars present) "They're tough. They're a tough bunch. Offensively, they run the ball well. They have a tough back, tough quarterback, an offensive line that's pretty good up front. They're grinders. They're thing is it might not look perfect all the time, but they're going to play for 60 minutes. They're going to give you everything they have. We've got to be ready to go on the road and play a team that has full confidence of beating us. It's going to come down to us just playing solid. We have to take what we've been doing in practice on to the field Sunday. For us, it's really not about how much they do or what all they do. We just need to start back playing the way we know how we can play."
(on how much the team feels a sense of urgency to win) "Every game you want to win, so every week is different. It's no different than any other week, so sense of urgency, you always have that when you want to win football games and every week we have that."
