In his Monday press conference, coach Gary Kubiak said his focus is getting the Texans in better positions to win football games.
Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on why RB Steve Slaton was not used as much as he has been) "Well, he obviously didn't get all the reps that he has been getting as a starter for us. He was really worn down, to be honest with you. He struggled last week in practice - just sharpness, speed, those types of things. He didn't miss any time or anything, but we just felt like we were going to do everything we could to split those reps up even more so - if anything, a little less for (RB) Steve (Slaton) than (RB) Ahman (Green) or the other young man in (RB Ryan) Moats. So, I would hope that him not playing as many reps this week gets him back to full speed, but the kid needed a break. He's played a lot of football in a short period of time. I expect him to bounce right back. So, that was the purpose behind that."
(on the players coming to his defense after he said that he blames himself for the loss) "What I'm worried today is on our football. In our meetings today strictly on the football we played yesterday, the things we did poorly, the things we're going to have to do a lot better to have a chance to be successful against Indianapolis. That's my focus today."
(on the players defending him) "I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about how we play. My job is to get them in better positions to play better and do a better job on the football field and as I said, we didn't do that yesterday. That starts with me but our concern will strictly be on our football."
(on if he will do anything differently in preparation for Indianapolis) "I think we've done some different things here over the course of the past few weeks from a practice standpoint - some of the things we're doing offensively and defensively. But it obviously hasn't gotten things a whole lot better, but we're always searching. Whether that means we give some other kids a chance to play or not, time will tell this week. We did have some young players play some good football in the game. But those are things we look at every day, regardless of winning, losing. Whatever is going on, you're always looking at how you do things and what you can do better the following week."
(on if limiting RB Steve Slaton changed the way he called the game) "No, not at all. They are very good against the run. We knew that. But we were hoping to have some good manageable third downs in the game; we did the first few series. We didn't make them. Then we did start throwing the ball and we were pretty successful. We moved the ball pretty good. I think we had 200 yards in the first half and they are very good defensive football team. But we had nothing to show for it. We left 14 points on the field. We had a touchdown called back and then a missed opportunity in the red zone. So, you can't miss opportunities against this team. We came out in the second half and we felt good about what we were doing. We were going to try to be balanced. We turned the ball over again. We got down 19-6 and then we made a big play throwing the ball to get back in the game. Then we turned around and before we touched it again, we were down 14. So, I think the game dictated that we started throwing it a bunch in the fourth quarter, obviously. But up until that point, I felt good about the way we were moving the ball. We just left too many plays on the field."
(on the key to the team bouncing back after such a tough loss) "Well, that's part of the NFL. We've had a couple of them here in the last few weeks; one in Minnesota and then yesterday. Naturally, very disappointed in the way we played that game at home. That's part of the league and every game is a tough game. If you're not as good as you can be, it's going to be very difficult to win. And when you get sloppy, you're probably going to get your tail beat bad. And we did yesterday. So, we just have to regroup. We looked at the film. Try to figure out how a way we can improve some of these mistakes we're making. Very crucial times for a football team and take responsibility for it and correct it."
{QUOTE}(on if there is anything he can do to help clean the mistakes up) "Well, offensively we could go out there and sit on our hands, so to speak, and not try to attack the defense. We'd probably come out of the game and say we played cleaner, but we're not going to do that. We're going to attack the defense that we're playing and give our football team a chance to be successful. Defensively, we need to attack offenses and be aggressive in what we're doing. We did give up some big plays, especially in the first half. But we're never going to learn to do those things if we stop doing them. We're going to have to keep being aggressive as a football team and find a way to battle through the way we handle some crucial situations."
(on DT Frank Okam and LB Xavier Adibi's play) "(DT) Frank's (Okam) got a long way to go. It was the first time he has played in a while. He did a few good things early in the game but was not consistent enough for us to win. He's got to get a lot better. (LB Xavier) Adibi showed up on special teams, did some good things. He played a little bit on the defensive side of the ball, especially when (LB) Morlon (Greenwood) went down. But I think he's a player that could be a big factor here as we move forward. I think he has a chance to be a good player. If we can maintain his weight and keep him healthy, I think he's got a chance to make some big strides."
(on if any of the injured players will be back) "As far as (DT) Amobi (Okoye), I think he's still day-to-day. High ankles sprains are hard to project. So, we'll see where he's at. We'll probably try to get him out and do something with him tomorrow and we'll have a better idea of that on Wednesday. (WR) André Davis will have the pins removed from his finger I think tomorrow, but that does not mean that he'll be cut lose to play. Then our biggest injury coming out of the game was (LB) Morlon (Greenwood). Morlon's got a pretty good ankle but the x-rays were negative. So, we'll wait and see."
(on if LB Morlon Greenwood can't play if LB Xavier Adibi will play) "Yes, naturally we move up and then (LB) Kevis (Coley) could become a factor in there. Hopefully, (LB Chaun) Thompson is back this week at full strength."
(on what he saw on RB Steve Slaton's touchdown that got called back) "They called (TE) Owen (Daniels) for holding down the field. I told him he played very aggressive; he did a heck of a job. But they make that call so you have to live with it. The nice thing, we came right back made the next play - made a big play, went right back to the five yard-line. So, we overcame some mistakes on the offensive side of the ball to get ourselves back into position but then ultimately couldn't overcome the ones at the end."
(on if there is anything he can do about the amount of interceptions thrown this year) "You're not helpless. You have to experiment everyday. I've experimented with (QB) Matt (Schaub) and how I've practiced Matt and how I went about preparing him to play. We were making some improvement there. I'll have to experiment with (QB) Sage (Rosenfels) and some of the ways I handle his practice and some of the looks we give him to see if I can help him improve from that standpoint also. So, that's something I have to look at every week. I think they're all different guys."
(on if LT Duane Brown is playing better) "He's (LT Duane Brown) playing better. He played against a really good player in (Ravens DE Terrell) Suggs. He caught him probably a little over half the time, with what they were doing defensively. But Duane's becoming a better player. I think the things we did with (LT) Ephraim (Salaam) has helped him, but he's obviously upped his level of play and he's facing darn good football players. He gets a good taste this week. He gets (Colt's DE Dwight) Freeney again and he gets him in Indy. So, before the years out he'll see them all."
(on WR Jacoby Jones fielding a punt on the five yard-line) "It makes no sense. We work on that every day. He's (WR Jacoby Jones) supposed to stand on the 10 yard-line. If he takes one step back, he should not field the ball. But we have to take responsibility for that for why he's doing it. So, we have to put him through a ton of reps and try to get it done away with. He had one that he did it on and another he was trying to go track. So, it just can't happen. You can't put your team in that situation."
(on if he is worried about the run defense) "We stopped the run yesterday in the first half. I was really please how we played the run in the first half. Then coming out in the third quarter we did not play it well at all. We were doing the same things. They were running the same plays and we were running the same defenses. So, you just have to give them credit. They did it harder and better than we did. As far as Indianapolis, you start with (QB) Peyton Manning but, you know, if you start to totally commit to the pass, they are very capable of running the football on you. They are very unselfish. Peyton will beat you throwing it 18 times if he has to. So, there's a fine line right there but they have the ability to do it."
(on how much the last game against Indy will help them this week) "They don't change as a team. They are the same team. They are going to line up; they're simple on defense and very good. Then the minute you walk into their stadium, they get even better because of the noise and all the things you have to deal with. So, scheme-wise, they don't do a lot of things to cause you a bunch of mental headaches, so to speak. They give you a lot of problems physically and the way the play the game and how disciplined they are. Then they have their safety back, getting (S Bob) Sanders back has been huge for their defense. Here over the course of the last two years, he was not in there the last time we played them. Then, you see what they did down in Pittsburgh yesterday. It looks like they are back to full strength and doing things the way they've done them in the past. So, our task will be twice as tough going there, in my opinion."
(on if when turning around a franchise, you have to have patience but also a sense of urgency) "I think you have to have a sense of urgency all the time. In this business you have to be — there's only one thing that matters and that's finding a way to win. You're right, we've had a heck of a challenge from the start and we've had some very good things happen and some very positive things. And now we're going through a very, very difficult time. But it doesn't change our direction and how we're doing it, how we should be doing it, the sense of urgency to get it done. Nothing has changed from that standpoint. We're just struggling right now and we have to find a way to get out of it."
(on if he is worried about job security) "No, that would be very selfish of me to worry about myself. I have a lot of people to worry about. I have a lot of coaches, a lot of players and a lot of people in this organization busting their tail and I would be very selfish to worry about myself."
(on if he is worried about QB Sage Rosenfels' confidence with throwing so many interceptions) "Yeah, I worry about that because, actually when things aren't going good for you and you get some balls tipped and picked and those types of things, naturally you lose some confidence. That's my job and (offensive coordinator) Kyle's (Shanahan) job to continue to coach him and try to build him up, try to put him in the perfect situations; even though that's almost impossible. But if you're made of the right stuff as a coach, you take that responsibility and you do everything you can to make him successful. He's playing hard; he's trying hard. He's had a couple of bad breaks yesterday and a couple of decisions he has to correct. But that's not a lack of effort and we'll keep working with him to get him because he's done some very good things for us in the past."
(on if you ever lose confidence being a head coach) "Well, I think we're all struggling right now. To say that you lose confidence, I don't know about that because, and I can only speak for myself, but I've been doing this long enough to — I've had plenty of disappointing days. There have been some great days too. You learn to battle through them and the one thing about this league is you could be as down as you could possibly be on one Monday and you can be as up as you could possibly be the next. So, you know that's only seven days away and you keep working and try to keep things in perspective and try to play better."
(on if has to go back and reevaluate the way he's calling plays) "Yeah, naturally I would say that you'd like to see us run the football more. From that standpoint, I agree with you. But at the same time we're going to do what we think we have to do to win. We've played two football teams the past two weeks that are excellent against the run, not that they totally took it away from us. I'm not going to say that, but they were good against the run. We knew we'd have to make some plays in the passing game to beat them and we got caught in a couple of situations in my mind where we had to be aggressive if we felt we were going to win. I don't want to lose that, but I would agree that we need to run the ball better and probably more as a football team and from a protection standpoint with our quarterback and play better defense. Those things go hand in hand."
