(on the Texans after playing 12 games this season) "The game yesterday closed out the third quarter of our season. Our goal from the beginning of training camp was to attempt to improve and play our best football in the months of November and December. Most of the good teams that I've been around--that has been the case. If you have a plan and you stick with the plan, you hopefully get better. You see the results of that in the latter part of your schedule."
(on the rest of the Texans' season starting with Jacksonville) "We know that we face a big challenge starting in the fourth quarter of the season going to Jacksonville this week and playing a much improved Jacksonville team."
(on the Texans improving after facing adversity) "Over the last four weeks, and really over the course of the season, we've certainly faced our share of adversity in terms of some close losses and a lot of injuries that we've had to overcome. I believe that because of that, our team has matured a lot. I think we are starting to see the results of that."
(on dealing with adversity and improving) "To become a successful team is a process and you have to learn how to handle the highs and the lows. This is an up-and-down business. One week, you feel great coming off the field. The next week, you're struggling. If you handle it the right way, you come out a tougher, more resilient team. I think we are seeing that in our team right now. We're a tougher, more resilient team than we were at the beginning of the year."
(on the character of the Texans players) "One thing I do know about the group of men we've got is that I think we have a group of unselfish players. I think you can see that in their play. They have a commitment to improving. That's extremely important this time of the year because this is the time of the year that you see teams go one or two ways. We talk all the time about wanting to be an ascending team and not a descending team. It's a long season. Normally, what happens to you during the course of the season is not nearly important as how you respond to it. I think that was the case yesterday."
(on the Texans' performance on special teams yesterday) "It was one of the few times this year that we hadn't had any penalties on special teams. I thought there were two or three good things that we did. We averaged 15 yards per punt return on three punt returns. I thought our hands team went in and did a good job. Marcus Coleman secured the ball there at the end of the game. I thought Jason Simmons did a good job of going hurry-up on the punt and catching them with 12 men on the field. It really negated a long punt return for them. That was a heads-up play on his part."
(on the Falcons' special teams) "On the other side, (Allen) Rossum came in as the second-leading punt returner in the league. He averaged 16 yards per punt return on three punt returns. On our punt game, we had a touchback and based on our net punt (average), it wasn't what we hoped it would be. We knew that was going to be a big challenge going in because that was their strength."
(on the importance of good special teams) "We continue to do some good things on special teams. With where we are as a team right now, that's going to be extremely important for us heading into the month of December."
(on the Texans' offensive performance) "Offensively, I thought we did a good job of doing what it took to win the football game. We ran the ball 31 times and averaged 4.4 yard per run. We did a good job on first down. We felt going into the game that we were going to have to manage the down-and-distance situations and try to keep them to our advantage. Then, we were going to have to win the critical situations in the game and we did that. We won the short yardage. We won the goal line and we won the red zone situations with our offense."
(on the Texans' ability to convert third downs) "From a negative standpoint, we had too many negative plays in the first half in terms of sacks and penalties. It really influenced our third downs in the first half. I think we were 0-6 (on third downs) Part of the reason for that was five of the six (third downs) were third-and-six or more. We were in more long-yardage situations. We turned that around in the second half. We converted five of seven (third downs) and there was only one third-and-six or more."
(on the Texans' offense in the second half) "We ran the ball better. We kept the down-and-distance situations more to our advantage in the second half. In the first half, we had the ball on the ground twice, but we came up with it. We ended up having three holding penalties and the sacks in the first half. We threw an interception in the second half and they took the ball over on the 33-yard line and kicked a field goal."
(on the Texans' offense doing what it took to win) "When you look at the number of runs and passes that were called in the first half versus the second half, I thought we came back in the second half and we did what it took to win the football game."
(on the Texans' defensive performance) "Defensively, we only gave up 13 points. We'll take that every week. I've looked over the last three games now, and we've given up three touchdowns defensively. So we've made progress in that area. They only had one big play against us--a 28-yard pass. Because of that, they didn't average a lot per play, which is an area that we've really placed a lot of emphasis on. They averaged 4.4 (yards) per pass and I think 2.9 (yards) per run."
(on areas that need to be improved) "We started poorly on third downs. Early in the game, we were doing a good job on first and second down. Then they would convert their third downs. That was frustrating. I think they converted six out of their first 10 (third downs). Then, we responded and they only converted one of their last five (third downs). We lost in the short-yardage and goal-line situations."
(on the roster moves that the Texans have made) "Tony Banks and Ramon Walker will join Stacey Mack and Gary Walker on injured reserve. We went into the game Sunday with only 51 players on our roster. So we've had four moves that we're in the process of making right now. We are going to bring up three players from our practice squad. Travis Carroll we'll bring up at the linebacker position. We're going to bring up Jason Davis as a defensive linemen. Mike Quinn will be brought up as a quarterback. We're in the process of bringing in Curry Burns, who was with us through training camp at the safety position. If everything goes well, those four guys will be on our 53-man roster."
(on RB Domanick Davis' status) "We have five guys that will not practice on Wednesday. Domanick Davis will not practice. He has a quad bruise and a slight ankle sprain. We'll have to evaluate him as we go along. I would say he would probably be listed as questionable starting out the week. We'll see how it goes during the week."
(on CB Aaron Glenn's status) "Aaron Glenn will start out the same way he has the last couple weeks. He will not practice on Wednesday. I don't think he is any different than what he has been the last couple weeks. He always does have some soreness from playing with the groin (injury)."
(on DT Steve Martin's status) "Steve (Martin) sprained his knee in the game. We will hold him out of practice on Wednesday. He did go back in (the game Sunday) and we'll have to see how he responds."
(on why LB Jamie Sharper won't practice on Wednesday) "Jamie (Sharper) had back spasms prior to the game as a matter of fact. They were working on him during our pre-game warm-up. He came out and fought his way through and played the whole game."
(on FS Matt Stevens' status) "Matt Stevens will probably be out this week. He sprained his MCL. We're just going to have to take a look at this and see how long it goes along."
(on QB David Carr's injured shoulder) "We're planning on having David work and see where he is and probably increase his work load as we go on during the week."
(on players that will practice on a limited basis this Wednesday) "Charlie Clemons, Jerry DeLoach, Steve Foley, Jay Foreman, Steve McKinney, Billy Miller, Antwan Peek, Chester Pitts, Corey Sears and Zach Wiegert will all be listed as limited for practice on Wednesday."
