Coach Gary Kubiak held a second practice on Thursday so that players could have Friday free to get ready for the storm.
Due to the importance of allowing the Houston area to focus on its recovery from the expected arrival of Hurricane Ike, the Texans have moved Sunday's home opener against the Baltimore Ravens to Monday night at 7:30 p.m at Reliant Stadium.
The team also held an evening practice on Thursday so that the players could have the day off Friday to help their families prepare for the storm. Head coach Gary Kubiak talked about how the storm preparations were affecting the team.
Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on the game being switched to Monday night) "Well, you knew there was definitely a possibility. I think right now, the most important thing is just the concern for our city and everybody in the city with the storm coming, that everybody's going to be OK. We were able to get our work done today and then I can get these coaches and these players where they should be the next two days, and that's with their families. And hopefully everything'll be alright."
(on if the game being pushed back could change the status of any players) "It could change on a couple of guys that are nicked, that's about it. But we'll just proceed. Now, we know what the plan is and when we should play, so now the players know and we're ready to play. We could play tomorrow if we had to. We know we'll just have to sit here and just see how this thing goes and then get ready Sunday evening, get ready to go Monday."
(on if the players are off until Sunday) "Yes, they'll be off until Sunday morning. I want them to be there with their families tomorrow to prepare for this thing. And then we'll see what happens Saturday and hopefully everything's OK and we're back at it Sunday morning and we'll have a little practice before we get going."
(on what the running back rotation will be on Monday) "Right now, I'd still like to see – I'll wait 'til Sunday – what Ahman (Green) does, how far he comes. But other than that, if we're playing today, you've got (Steve) Slaton, (Chris) Taylor and Darius (Walker), so all three of those guys will go and the majority of the rotation will be definitely Slaton and Taylor."
