Following are excerpts from coach Gary Kubiak and players following the tenth day of the Texans' 2006 training camp.
**Head Coach Gary Kubiak
**(on QB David Carr) "David's has to practice, you can't come out here and practice like that. Guys have to help but he is the ring leader every day, every day every practice. I expect a lot out of him and he knows that. He will know that every day."
(on CB Dunta Robinson) "He did a little bit before we left on Saturday, and I think he is going to be fine. It looks like he held up through practice, its good to have him back."
(on RB Domanick Davis) "It's not a surprise to us that he is quite not ready. We keep telling you all tomorrow, tomorrow but we really don't know right now. We're going to get the swelling out of his knee and put him back to work. That could be Wednesday; that could be Thursday; that could be next Monday; I really don't know, but it's day-to-day. (CB) Philip (Buchanon) I was surprised couldn't work today. We brought him over yesterday, and put him through some stuff; we checked his hamstring; he was definitely not full strength. (head athletic trainer) Kevin (Bastin) feels like he's day-to-day."
(on practicing better) "We have to practice better as a team; it's always about our team. I was hard on David today because our offense goes as our quarterback goes. When he practices well, we practice well, that's just the way this team is. We struggled this morning, but it's training camp, we just have to come back this afternoon and do better."
(on G Chester Pitts having the day off) "He didn't have the day off; he worked the first our, then we pulled him. He has a little swelling in his knee, he tried to push through it for us and (Asst. Head Coach Mike) Sherman was cautious with him and pulled him out."
(on T Eric Winston) "He's doing OK, he's a rookie. He looks really good, and then the next day he struggles; it's part of a rookie's pattern right now. He's getting an opportunity to get a lot of rest. We'll see how he takes advantage of it."
(on coaching the Houston Texans) "We're working, it doesn't have anything to do with us not working; it has to do with us executing. That's on us as coaches too. We've got them on overload right now, and that's part of the process, and now we have to figure out what they do best and go play. It looked like we were on overload this morning."
(on the safeties) "They've been very consistent in training camp; they have not missed one day of work. They're leaders, even though (FS) C.C. (Brown) is very young, and (SS) Glen (Earl) is fairly young himself. They're a big part of our defense; I like the way they work. They're two consistent kids; that's how they go about their business. I'm excited to see how they play."
(on DE Antwan Peek) "Well, he had struggled physically. He's missing time physically. It's been a struggle for him. But when he has been out there and he's healthy, a lot of good things are happening for him. We have to keep pushing Antwan, and get his body to settle down weight wise and the size he's going to play at, and keep him out there on a consistent basis. He can go get the passer, we know that, we have to get him consistent on all the other bases."
**QB David Carr
**(on new plays for offense) "That's just camp when you put new stuff in, and we have actually been pretty crisp. I am kind of surprised that we put stuff in an hour before practice and we go out and run it like we have been running it our whole life. This is the first day we really had some trouble with some of the packages we were running, some four and five wide receiver sets. We will get it cleaned up."
(on G Fred Weary) "Fred (G Fred Weary) has always worked out really hard in the weight room. He has always been a guy who is not going to slack off in practice. This offense fits him pretty good because he can be physical and he moves really well and flexible. Its perfect timing for him and a lot of other guys."
(on Head Coach* *Gary Kubiak not holding back) "I welcome it; I mean what am I going to do yell at myself? I have tried that in the past and it doesn't work. He knows how he wants the offense ran. If we are not doing it the right way than he needs to tell us because I would rather have him tell us right now than to find out on Saturday without him telling us."
(on having a sloppy practice) "That's funny because he is an offensive minded coach, so the defense is over there all fired up and Coach* *Kubiak is 'like that was a terrible practice, sloppy'. The defensive guys are over there like we made some good plays. But he is talking about us (offense) most of the time because if the football is not being caught and run with than our offense doesn't look too good, so the whole team doesn't look good. But we will clean it up."
**CB Dunta Robinson
**(on leadership) "I'm being vocal, a little bit, but I'm trying to let my play do all the talking. I'm not saying a lot of words just trying to go out here and make plays and let guys follow my lead by example."
(on being a veteran) "It's huge for me. In order for us to win I have to have a good year. It's what the coaches have told me and that's what I understand. It's a big year for me but it's no pressure on me. I just have to go out there and make plays."
(on being back on the practice field after an earlier ankle injury) "It feels real good to be back. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feel before practice because I had a little pain but the more I ran around the more I forgot about it. It felt good to be back."
** Post Afternoon Comments
Head Coach Gary Kubiak:
**(on giving QB David Carr a boost) "I didn't see any lack of confidence in David. I saw a battle when I got here. Sometimes it's almost just the opposite, sometimes it's easy to sit around and say 'this is why this hasn't happened, or this is why we haven't been successful,' but the hard thing to do is say 'you know what, I have to get better; I have to play better; I have to work harder; I have to work harder for my team.' That's what I've asked him to do, and he's done that. I think it's a step our whole team has to take, not just David, but he's a quarterback, so that focus tends to go there. As I've told you all before, he's done everything I've asked him to do. I know I'm on him a lot, and after him a lot, but it's for a reason because I want him to be successful, and I'm here with him to do that."
(on Carr response to the new coaching staff) "He's taking the coaching well. Like this morning, we struggled at the end of practice, and I go back in and watch practice. We practiced pretty well until the end when we got sloppy. I put a lot of that on the quarterbacks, no just David. I put it on (QB) Sage (Rosenfels) too. I went out here this afternoon and reviewed some of those mistakes, and we didn't make them again. That's what this game is about. He takes to coaching; he listens, and that's all we can ask."
(on CB Phillip Buchanon not practicing today) "I was a little surprised because we thought we'd have him out here today doing something. We thought we had made progress with the hamstring. We worked him out last night. We brought him out here, ran him, and he was not able to open up. You know with those hamstrings, you have to be careful. We're going to everything we can to get Phillip well as quick as possible. He's in a big time battle to start on this team, and we have some guys doing a great job. I told you how well (CB) Lewis (Sanders) is playing and with his opportunity. I know it's important to Phillip to start in this league and play, and we have to get him healthy and out here to get it done."
(on RB Domanick Davis) "To be honest, our plan for Domanick was to play him quite a bit in this game (Kansas City Pre-season game) and the Denver game, and to keep him off the turf when we go to St. Louis. It looks like that plan is going to change. I don't think it's time to panic. It seems like we've been at it a long time as I said this morning, but we've only been at it ten, 11, 12 days and I'm not sure exactly what it is, but we still have plenty of time to get it done. The key is that Domanick has to respond. We have to get his knee back to the first day he stepped on the field and to get the swelling out, and we haven't been able to do that up to this point. (head athletic trainer) Kevin (Bastin) thinks we're making progress. Like I said, it could be Wednesday; it could be Thursday; it could be next Monday, but I don't want to put anything on him. I just say we keep doing what we're doing, and when you're ready to go, we'll go."
(on ample talent to back up Domanick Davis) "Oh yeah, we have to have. We're putting this team together to go play Philadelphia. Right now we're looking forward to Philadelphia, if Domanick isn't ready to go, the guy that dots the I for us as a football team is going to be one of those five guys out there working everyday. Who's it going to be? I don't know. In the pre-season we'll find out; whoever steps to the plate and does it. Like I said, I don't care where they came from or how they got here. If they're the best guy playing football, they're going to be the one playing for us."
(on how long the starters will play on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs) "We've talked about it as a staff; we'll talk more about it probably on Thursday. I think we have a little different situation here. I think you'll see some starters playing longer than normal than some teams. We have to get some guys some work. I can probably answer that question a little better on Thursday."
(on DT Robaire Smith) "Well I think you have to rotate, you have to rotate guys on the defensive
line to have a good group in this league; you have to have fresh guys. I think
Robaire has had a fine camp; he missed a little time there for those couple of
days, but for the most part, he's been out here. I think it's about conditioning
with Robaire. When he gets his conditioning level to where he can go all day,
I think the sky is the limit for him as a player. I'm expecting him to play extremely
well for us."
