TEXANS HEAD COACH BILL O'BRIEN
(on why the team has started slow for the second straight week)
Can't put my finger on it. Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out soon, but that's just not good enough.
(on Texans defensive end/outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney's taunting penalty from the bench)
I didn't get a full explanation on that. I'll tell you tomorrow when I get a full explanation on it. I'm not sure. I didn't get a full explanation on it.
(on what happened on the final play)
We're just trying to get it in field goal range, and just trying to – we've got to do a better job of coaching that play up.
(on the pass protection today)
No, we tried to slam the edges and tried to do a lot of things. But there was – it was tough. It was tough, no doubt about it.
(on if he felt the Texans were ready to play today)
Yeah, I felt like they were ready. Yeah, I felt like they were ready. Just didn't end up being that way, I guess.
(on the Titans' fake punt that went for a touchdown)
Yeah, we had a plan there and we just didn't execute it. It's on us, on the coaching.
_(on if he got an explanation on the double pass by Titans quarterback Blaine Gabbert) _
No, not really.
(on what he tells his players after an 0-2 start to the season)
You've got to keep fighting. It's a long season, keep fighting. What are you going to do? You have two choices. One is not very good, so you've got to fight your way up.
(on the Titans having offensive tackles out due to injury and if he thought they would get more opportunity to rush the passer because of the different protection)
It's pro football. They did a good job, did a real good job. It's the next guy up in all these situations. I think everybody fought hard, we just didn't finish the game.
(on the penalties in the first half)
Oh yeah, it killed us. You probably have it down, like first-and-27, second-and-30, third-and-30, thereabouts. Tough play calls there.
(on the penalties incurred by Texans on special teams)
Yeah, not good. We got some holdings and things like that, so not very good.
(on the taunting penalty by defensive end/outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney)
Yeah, it's terrible. I don't really know exactly what happened, might be able to maybe rehash it for you guys tomorrow.
(on how much the team has to stick together to overcome the loss)
Yeah, I mean, that's the whole deal. It's a long season. We've got to figure it out. We're not playing very well, especially offensively, so we have to figure it out.
(on the team's run game through Week 2)
It's been all right.
(on wide receiver Will Fuller V's return)
He did a good job. It's good to have him back. Did a nice job.
TEXANS QB DESHAUN WATSON
(on the last play of the game)
They played good coverage. Time ran out. That was pretty much it.
(on if he should have thrown the ball away on the last play of the game)
I mean, of course. But while you're playing, you can sit back and sit in your seats and say that I need to throw the ball away, but I tried to take a shot. We didn't have any timeouts and they guarded the sideline very well, so my instincts took over and I tried to get the ball, and time ran out.
(on managing the Titans pass rush and taking several hits in today's game)
It comes with the game. You just kind of move on from it, try to learn from it. Try to get better from situations and see what we can do up front and keep trying to get better.
(on his performance in today's contest)
It was straight. We lost, so that's pretty much it. That's all I can really say about that.
(on dropping to 0-2 and losing to a Titans team that was playing without its starting quarterback)
I mean, we want to win every game. So, I guess it's hard to win in this league. We've just got to keep pushing forward. It's a long year. We just got to try to turn things around next week.
(on developing a rapport with wide receiver Will Fuller V)
You know, we just try to be on the same page. Play fast, play at full speed. Make sure we're doing the plays that we worked on all week, and what (Coach O'Brien) is calling, and just try to be on the same page and find an opening. I just try to connect and that's what we've been doing, but we have to improve. That's it.
(on keeping the team together after starting 0-2)
Just move on. You can't dwell on it. You get some wins, you take some losses, but you grow from it. It's part of the game. If you dwell on these last two losses, then your season is going to go in the tank. You just got to continue to move on. Yeah, the record says 0-2, but this upcoming week we are 0-0 trying to be 1-0.
(on whether or not he thinks the Texans should be better than 0-2)
We're fine. I mean, if you're one of the guys or one of the people, one of the fans hitting the panic button, then that's on you. Don't hop on the train later on in the season. No point in panicking. I'm not going to panic, especially from what I came from – my childhood. So, you know, it comes with it. I've took losses before. Take it under the chin and try to get better from it.
(on the Texans penalties)
We just got to focus. That's the main thing. Just focus on that play and focus on what you have to do, and we'll be just fine.
(on whether or not he had enough time to throw versus the Titans)
I guess so. I mean, I felt fine. I don't worry about the pressure. I just try to get the ball to the open guy and if I get hit, I get hit. If not, it's enough time to get the ball off for sure.
TEXANS WIDE RECEIVER DeANDRE HOPKINS
(on the team's ability to overcome an 0-2 start to the season)
We have a lot of great leaders in here. I don't think that is going to get us down.
(on if he thought they were going to win the game once they took the lead in the fourth quarter)
I always thought we were going to win the game. Even during that last minute I felt like we still could have won the game.
(on what the Titans defensive plan was for the Texans receivers)
(The Titans) were keeping a safety eyeing me in the corner. They're a good defense and we made mistakes.
(on how surprised he is that the Texans have started 0-2)
It's football. I don't know the last team that went undefeated. That's football.
(on how frustrated he is to be in this situation early in the year)
Not very frustrated because we have a lot of football to play. We have to correct the mistakes we made and move forward.
TEXANS TIGHT END RYAN GRIFFIN
(on losing a close game at the end after coming back to take the lead)
It's a divisional game, and this where you stack up wins so you have a chance to go to the playoffs later this season. This is a big one, but they are all big ones. We're going to have to come out at home against the Giants and do work.
(on the penalties on offense)
Yeah, myself included. I had the holding penalty. We have to do better. We have to execute better. It starts on Wednesday. We get the film corrected tomorrow, and come out Wednesday and prepare for the Giants.
(on the mood of the team following the loss)
Frustrated for sure, because we know we are better than this.
TEXANS CORNERBACK JOHNATHAN JOSEPH
(on the slow start today and falling behind 14-0 early)
We definitely can't do that. It is hard to play from behind in this league, especially when you put yourself behind the eight ball. Us as a defense, we can't make some of the mistakes that we made. We missed some tackles here and there. It was an OK performance, but we have to be more dominant if we want to come away in a tough battle game like this and get the win.
(on the team having to be better in order to achieve their goals)
Absolutely. Right now probably the flood gates are open, everybody has an opinion right now. We just have to take it one game at a time. You get one win and all of a sudden everything starts to head in the other direction. For us, we just have to focus on us as a team and not the outside noise, and just take it one game at a time, and move on to New York after the corrections.
_
(on the big plays made in today's contest)_
That sums most games up. The team that makes the most big plays, and doesn't turn the ball over is normally the team that comes away with the game. I think that in this game right here there were (big plays) early, and some after halftime offensively and defensively. For us, we just have to limit as many big plays as we can to continue to give ourselves a chance.
(on losing to the Titans despite Tennessee missing key players offensively)
They just did a good job of the things that they did. They kind of ran the ball, and tried to control the game and things like that, and let their defense play it out for them. I think overall we did a good job of getting some third down stops. We didn't get the turnovers like we wanted to, at least give our offense the ball back in certain situations.
TEXANS WIDE RECEIVER WILL FULLER V
(on the offense getting going despite the slow start)
We waited way too long to get started, but once we got going we started getting the tempo going up, and we started playing better.
(on his performance in today's game)
It always feels good to get back out there with the guys. I feel like I haven't played a football game in a long time. It just felt good to get back out here. Unfortunately we didn't win, but we are going to work on it at practice so we can win next week.
