Texans head coach Gary Kubiak spoke with the media following Thursday's OTA* *workout at the Texans' practice facility.
(on the return game with Jerome Mathis out) "There's a door open for somebody on this football team to step up and make this football team. It's an excellent opportunity. We're going to give some people a chance. Today the new guy back there was Chris (
It's an unfortunate situation, but we have to find a new Jerome Mathis to go back there and play. That's what we have to do as a team. We can't stop and feel sorry for ourselves. Somebody else has to do the job."
"It's going to be by committee. Somebody's going to step up. They have to do what Joe (Marciano) wants them to do and when they do, hey, it's a great opportunity."
(on Mario Williams possibly playing inside in nickel situations) "One of the luxuries we have up front right now is that we have some very smart players. We've got (Anthony) Weaver and we have Mario (Williams) inside and those guys aren't stagnant so that will create some problems inside for teams offensively and that's a coach's dream when you have pieces like that you can move around."
(on the practice) "I thought it was our best tempo since I've been here. We're learning how to practice. Our guys are just getting after each other. We're practicing very, very fast and that's what we have to have. We're trying to develop a standard over this next month and we're getting there."
(on Denver Broncos assistant general manager Rick Smith) "I don't think the first time around Rick saw quite everybody Bob wanted him to sit down with. There's a few people that weren't here so he's going to catch up on that today. There's many, many questions that have occurred over the past week or two that Bob would like to have answered and this is an excellent opportunity to do that, this second time around with Rick and they'll get a chance to meet his wife also. I know him, but it's important that Bob and the other people in the organization get to know him as well I know him."
(on defensive tackle Travis Johnson) "He has a strained calf, a very, very bad strained calf that's probably going to keep him out the next two weeks. There's no reason for him to come back. It's unfortunate, but we were lucky in a lot of ways, it's not that bad."
(on extra reps for other RB's with Davis and Morency out) "
is knocking with those kids. Some guys are out and usually when that happens, it can be a struggle for a young man or they can just take off with it and what you're seeing right now is some young many taking advantage of some opportunities. It was once a little scary at one time putting our backfield together, but now once they are all healthy, it's going to be a strength in our team. I think they're all going to do a good job for us and it's going to be a (heck) of a battle."
(on whether or not they will look to add another running back before training
camp)"I think we're always searching. You know that we've worked out some guys. We've
talked to some other people about other players around the league, but the bottom
line is you see those young guys stepping forward. It's pretty exciting for us
as coaches. We'll keep looking, but these young men have certainly taken advantage
of their opportunity."
