Following are quotes from the Texans after the team's 31-15 loss to the Washington Redskins at Reliant Stadium.
Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on the Texans play after the first drive) "We didn't do anything good after that. I take full responsibility. That's my group out there, and we have to get better. It's my responsibility to make sure we go out and play for four quarters."
(on the Redskins' defense) "They did everything we thought they would do. They made a big play early and they came after us until the end of the game. That's what they do on defense."
(on the Texans' defense) "It wasn't good. We didn't stop them all day except for the first drive. We'll have to take a hard look at what we're doing, how we're doing it and who we're doing it with. We've got a long way to go. I take responsibility for that and I have to find a way to fix it."
(on the loss overall) "It's extremely disappointing.You want to see progress in what you're doing and today was definitely not progress. You can't play for just a series or a quarter, you have to play all day."
(on being so hard on himself) "That's the way I feel. That was ugly today. Some of the things that happened out there today are inexcusable, but I take full responsibility."
(on getting an early lead and losing it) "I haven't had to deal with this particular aspect of the game a lot. I've been in professional football a long time and you make plays and sometimes you get stuck. That's football, that's part of the game. They're all great players out there on the field, and we just have to step up and make plays."
* TE Mark Bruener*
(on the pace of the game) "We obviously started fast the way we wanted to; unfortunately the outcome wasn't how we wanted it to be. I really can't put my finger on why we we're able to execute after we did in that first drive. That's the most frustrating thing, with the talent we have and the schemes that we have. They seem to be effective when we execute, but when we don't execute it's really not the outcome that we want. Unfortunately, that is the way today went."
(on the extended drive of Washington) "Yeah, they were able to sustain some long drives, and there has been a lot of talk about their offense and the capabilities with what they could do with (assistant head) Coach (Al) Saunders over there. And they showed that they have a thick playbook and were able to execute some plays and keep their offense on the field and really have some long drives that wore us down. It was really tough to deal with that."
(on whether there is some positive progress being made) "We're seeing some, but it's still not the outcome that we want. Until you look at the film you can't really exactly tell if you're making the progress and the strides that we want. The outcome of the game and the score is kind of putting a dark cloud over us right now."
TE Owen Daniels
(on the mixed feelings having his second touchdown in a loss) "Well, it is good to get in there (the endzone) definitely and put some points on the board for the team. Definitely, I could have played a lot better. As a whole, as a team, we need to play a lot better. It's disappointing. Again, we got off to a really good start and couldn't get anything going for a long time."
(on whether he takes anything positive from a game like this) "We came out and we didn't quit. We kept fighting there in the fourth (quarter). From what I could tell out there nobody was giving up. Everybody was doing their best to make things work."
QB David Carr
(on the offense after the first drive) "It was bad. We were just doing stupid stuff. The penalties killed us. It was embarrassing from the fumbled snaps. It made no sense. Other than that we moved the ball."
(on this being the toughest loss of the season) "Yes, definitely, because we did it to ourselves. Granted, we scored some points, but we could have scored more. We had the ability to do that, but we did it to ourselves."
(on what happened during the fumble) "We were working on some dummy cadences, things we were trying to work on for a long time. We just have some things we need to work on. Obviously there are things that didn't get done today."
(on starting the season 0-3) "It is tough. We have to stay as positive as we can. We just want to keep the guys fighting and keep competing. We need to keep coming on the other side of the ball, and keep those guys going. We go into the huddle and move on to the next play. If we have a bad play we can't just say, 'Oh, here we go again.' We can't have that bad attitude and I felt that sometimes that's what it was today. Guys get into some situations with bad plays—well, not really bad plays, just some penalties and some holding—but so what, let's get out there again and play. We can't get into a situation where we hang our heads.
(on the defense) "It's tough for me to comment because I don't really know what is going on, but we have some great guys ready to compete, like Dunta Robinson. He's ready for a battle."
(on starting the game hot) "We start so well and they score and we are like they have tied. It's frustrating. Not frustrating because of the tie, it's a football game they are going to score, but the attitude sometimes is what worries me. I don't want them to think that since the other team scored a touchdown that it's the end of the game. We have to go out and continue to play. It's just something that we focus on and make sure it's not the attitude that we carry around."
(on Miami next week) "Good test, good defense. Just like today, actually the first three weeks. We have a good test coming in here; we know the defense pretty well. So there will be challenges there, it will be exciting for them to come back and here and play. We have to run the ball. We have good talent outside and we can make good plays. We need to try not to hurt ourselves. We just need to be able to run the football."
(on former coach Dom Capers coming to town next week with Miami) "We have seen all the stuff he has, and I am sure they have some new tricks. They have a talented defense, and we will take care of it. It is going to be the same as this game. We have the talent to go and play against anybody; we just don't need to hurt ourselves."
(on being shocked to be 0-3) "Actually I am. Going into the season I felt really good and I still do. I am a little surprise by the offense that we are running."
(on maintaining team morale) "I have to be aware of the feeling of here we go again. Even though millions are saying it, even around the league and many fans. That cannot be your attitude if you are strapped on with me. You have to stay positive."
RB Ron Dayne
(on the offense) "We didn't get into a rhythm and that threw the offense off a little. Hopefully we can work on that in practice and get ready to go out next week."
(on the impact the success of the Redskins offense had on the team) "We only got on the field once in the 3 rd Quarter, that's tough. But, we need to help the defense out when we do get on the field. We need to be the team that is driving and keep our defense off the field."
(on finding his rhythm) "I started to get in a rhythm but then we got behind a little bit so we had to start throwing it to get it down-field faster."
(on Clinton Portis) "He played well. I guess he backed up what he said about they need him to win. I take my hat off to him, he played well and did what he had to do."
(on the good start then stalling) "It seems the be the same story every week, you know, start off good, but then you kick yourself in the butt or you start off bad and pick it up at the end. It was just mistakes, just little things we did to stop ourselves. You drop the ball on second-and-three on the snap, or little things like that. Those are the kind of things that hurt you."
(on his long reception to setup the first TD) "It was something we had been practicing all week. You know that they're an aggressive defense. We knew that if we kept (QB) David (Carr) protected that that play would be wide open, and it worked out just like we planned."
(on getting quite a few touches this week) "I just try to make the best of my opportunities. I just come in and work my butt every week and just play to win every Sunday. Every opportunity that I get, I just try to make the best of it."
(on how he, as a leader, helps keep the team positive) "There's still a lot of football left to be played. I know guys are frustrated; some guys have been here since it started, and we have been going through the same thing over and over. You just have to keep working. Eventually things will get better."
(on his attitude after the loss) "I'm not a loser, and I don't think anybody in this locker room is a loser. When you lose a game like that, it's difficult."
(on which aspect of Washington's offense was most effective) "Pick your poison. They played well, and we didn't."
(on the defense's performance)"We didn't stop them on third down or second and long when we really needed to. We were shooting ourselves in the foot. When you don't get off the field on third down, it's everybody's fault."
DT Seth Payne
(on the Texans' third consecutive loss) "All we can do is get angry about it and try to get angry enough to go out and fix it next week."
(on the team's performance this season)"Our fans don't deserve this. Coach Kubiak doesn't deserve this. It's just unacceptable and we deserve any criticism anybody wants to give us."
(on Washington's offensive strategy) "We knew they were going to try to get the ball to (RB Clinton) Portis and we just flat out didn't get it done. Whether it was mental breakdowns or physical breakdowns, we'll find out tomorrow. Any time you let a team do that to you, we're all at fault."
(on his outlook on the game) "I don't look at the scoreboard, I just look at the next play. Whatever the
next play is, go do it as well as I can, the next play, play as well as I can
play. I don't pay much attention to the scoreboard because you can't control that.
All you can do is your job and play within yourself, so that's what I concentrate
on."
(on mistakes) "We have to overcome our small mistakes. Some teams are good enough to have 100 yards in penalties and still put up a lot of points. There are teams that can do that, but we aren't one of them. We can't have any kind of penalties or make mistakes."
(on getting mad about how the season started) "You can get mad about any time you step onto the field and you don't win the game. Do you say that because you lose two in a row you are more upset about losing the first one? No. You are just as upset about every game."
(on the possibility of things getting out of control) "It obviously isn't good. Out of control is not winning any games. We are three games in and we haven't won one, but we have to find a way to win the next one. Miami is coming in next week, and we have to find a way to beat Miami."
CB Dunta Robinson
(on the defense's performance) "I'm shocked. Things have got to change. Hopefully we'll get some things changed. We've still got 13 games left, I still believe in this group of guys, and we're going to keep fighting."
(on being 0-3) "It's an embarrassing situation. Right now, we can't even keep a game close. That's embarrassing in the NFL, where everybody's supposed to be professional. But we're not going to give up."
(on the Redskins' trick plays) "No matter what teams throw at you, you've got to be able to stop them. Nobody's going to line up and do what you think they're going to do. You have to stop them from running the trick plays, and we didn't do that. They ran reverses, they moved people all over, lined wide receivers up in the backfield, all of that."
(on losing the first three regular-season games) "I'm shocked. Coming out of the preseason 3-1, you couldn't have told me that we'd be 0-3. We did some really good things in the preseason, so I thought that things would be different in these first three games. There are 13 games left now, and we're still not going to stop fighting."
(on record-setting performances against the Texans' defense) "Last week, (Indianapolis WR) Marvin (Harrison) set a record on us. This week, (QB Mark) Brunell set a record on us. What else can go wrong? We've got to play better, and that's the bottom line."
LB DeMeco Ryans
(on the Redskins offense) "They ran a lot of gadget plays that kind of caught us on our heels and it ended up with a lot of big plays for them."
(on the string of plays the Redskins put together) "Its really tough any time the opposing offense has a rhythm going and keeps making play after play it."
(on the trick plays that were run) "It was good calls at the time. It caught us. We could have been in a better defense at the time but they just made a play on us. We should have been making plays and getting the ball out and causing turnovers."
(on reaction to the trick plays) "We talked to everyone to do their job, do their assignments but you still have to come up with a play of our own. We have to come up with a turn-overs to give our offense the ball."
(on Washington's big plays) "As a defense, you just have busts here and there, and they capitalized on them."
(on defense's lack of pressure on QB Mark Brunell) "He was throwing the ball quickly for one thing, and I was getting double and triple-teamed. They were using play action pass with a tight end and a tackle blocking me. As a unit, though we still have to make strides to get better and get back there to disrupt the play."
(on Washington having 22 consecutive completions) "We can't sit here and just lay down. We have to keep chopping wood, like
I said. Just prepare for better things to happen."
