Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew was complimentary of the Texans' linebackers during an interview with Houston media on Wednesday.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio and running back Maurice Jones-Drew spoke to the Houston media via conference call on Wednesday.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio(on his two starting rookie offensive tackles) "Well, they're two young guys that have a lot of talent and are competing hard and getting better every day."
(on OT Eben Britton) "He's a young man out of the University of Arizona, has played left and right tackle. He's playing right tackle for us right now. Competitive guy, loves the game. He had a tough battle in camp with the returning starter and ended up winning the job, and so we think he's got a bright future."
(on the challenge that Britton and OT Eugene Monroe face against DE Mario Williams) "Yeah, he's a good player, so we understand that. We're getting ready to roll."
(on if he can elaborate on how Williams is a good player) "I'm sure you guys do that all the time (laughs). He's a good football player. Big and strong and plays hard. He's a good player."
(on as a former USC linebacker himself, what he thinks of LB Brian Cushing) "I mean, that whole group at Southern Cal did a great job with Pete Carroll and they've all come into the league and they've all gotten off to a good start, I think all three of the guys that came out. And Brian's certainly a good football player, and I'm happy to see him doing well as a former Trojan."
(on what he thinks when he sees the Texans giving up 215 rushing yards a game) "Well, I think that it's a long season and teams will work on the things they need to work on to be better going forward. I think we have our own issues to work on, and I'm sure that the two of us will be working to address the things that haven't gone the way we'd like and we'll keep battling."
(on QB Matt Schaub coming off of the best game of his career) "He's playing very well, playing very well. He did a nice job bringing them back on the road against a very good defense, so it was a heck of a game last week."
(on if Cardinals QB Kurt Warner setting the record against them was on Warner or their defense) "Well, any time you're involved in a game, it's a combination."
(on RB Maurice Jones-Drew) "Well, he's a very good football player. We like to give him more opportunities, more touches. He's done a nice job when he's been given the opportunity, and we need to create more of those opportunities."
(on how Jones-Drew has handled being the lone running back this season) "He's not alone in the room. He still has some buddies in there, and we feel good about our group. And I think obviously with Fred's (Taylor) absence, he's our first guy up and things, but we have other players that we'll continue to count on as we go through the season."
{QUOTE}(on how he would explain Jones-Drew averaging more than five yards per carry against the Texans) "Well, he's just a good football player. I really wouldn't try and explain it. I think there's some times when you look at numbers and they end up being favorable for a guy, but I don't put too much stock in that. We're just getting our football team ready to play their football team, and we'll look forward to the challenge."
(on how the shakeup at wide receiver has affected their offense) "Well, we'll find out Sunday. We haven't played yet since the previous game before Troy (Williamson) got hurt and Nate (Hughes) was put down to the practice squad. So we'll get that opportunity this weekend."
(on if he expects former Rice WR Jarett Dillard to make his debut this weekend) "Yes."
(on what he thinks about Dillard) "Well, he did a great job down there at Rice. He was a very productive college player. I believe he set a record for the amount of touchdown passes that he caught, had a highly productive college career. He's a good young man, he's a hard working young man, he's intelligent, he's got good hands. We're glad to have him and we're going to give him a good look this week."
Jacksonville Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew
(on Coach Gary Kubiak saying that he must be licking his chops right now) "No, not really. We are trying to find ways to get our offense back on track. Before you can really start looking at another team, granted they have some great players, but we have to correct what we need to do internally. While we've been watching tape on them, we've also been trying to correct our mistakes we made last week too. We know we have some holes that they're probably licking their chops too, so we have to correct ourselves before we can go out there and really start understanding how we're going to attack them."
(on keys to his success against the Texans) "They are a divisional opponent. We see them a bunch, know their personnel and understand where they're trying to attack and we try and counter that. At the same time, my offensive line is doing a great job of just opening holes and we're just trying to win games. What it comes down to is our will and they've been doing a great job. We haven't beat them that much since I've been here, so we're trying to turn this thing around."
(on if he notices anything different about the Texans' defense this year) "They're playing faster and real physical. They have the new linebacker that adds another physical player in (Brian) Cushing. DeMeco (Ryans) is playing at a high level as he always does. (Zac) Diles is doing a great job in open-field tackling. We saw him, a couple times, tackle (Titans RB) Chris Johnson in open field and you know, he's doing some great things. With those guys being able to fly around like they are, obviously their defensive line has to be playing great. They're making mismatches for people on the back end."
(on if he can imagine having a big game like Chris Johnson did last week) "I've had that before. Everything is clicking as an offense and that's how you're able to do those type of things. I did that my rookie year against the Colts. Everything was just clicking. Those games come and they go. You have to be prepared for them. We have a tough task. It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game. It always is, especially when they bring out the battle red and have Houston all cranked up and ready to roll. It's always a tough game, but we just have to understand where we're going to fit and be able to communicate with the crowd noise and execute our plays."
(on the Jaguars' two starting rookie tackles) "It's been a great challenge for them and I think they are rising to it. They're getting better each week and that's what we need them to do. We feel, as the coaching staff and the personnel people felt, them starting right away was going to help us win this year. If that's what they feel like we have to do to win, let's roll. So that's what we've been doing."
(on being the main guy now) "It's just a little different. Guys have been asking me questions, talking to me about things they feel about, like they used to do with Fred and a couple other guys. That's probably the only big change. Football-wise, it still hasn't changed because I have 10 other guys around me that are playing great, fast football and people can't focus on me. They have to focus on everybody."
(on how he describes his style of running) "I'm a situational runner. Granted, any given play can go for a touchdown, but I'm able to be a slasher if a slasher is needed. Or if you need a power run, I'm able to do that. It also comes back to the way our running schemes are. The running scheme here fit me perfectly to where I can pick a hole to where I want to go to and just cut it. It's just not where you have to run here, here and here. I have the whole field to work with so I'm able to use my offensive line blocks, receiver blocks, (QB) David (Garrard) blocks as you guys saw last week. We're just able to make plays. They make holes all over the place so they allow me to where I can pick one and go."
(on what he thinks about the Texans' defense that has given up so many yards rushing) "When I first heard it, we were looking and it's hard to explain. What they did last week and the weeks before, we know they're going to play us differently. We have to go back and understand this and you watch tape to see what the personnel is doing—how they tackle, how they pass rush, how they cover you and things like that. But we know how they're going to play us. They're going to be really sound in the defensive front and its going to be a hard-fought game for us. Even though what they did before us, we're still going to have to go out there and be able to execute our plays because we know they're going to be in the right spots when the ball is snapped."
