Head coach Gary Kubiak and the Texans are 5-3 and getting ready for a Week 9 road showdown with the Colts
The day after his team's 31-10 road victory over the Bills, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak met with the media at his weekly press conference.
Daniels is done: Kubiak started his Monday press conference with an update on the injury status of tight ends Owen Daniels, who is out for the season, and James Casey, who will miss at least one game. For more, click **here**.
More on Moats: Seven times, Steve Slaton has coughed up the football in 2009. Five times, the opposing team has recovered. When Slaton fumbled yesterday in the first quarter, he went to the bench. Backup Ryan Moats came into the game the next series and promptly picked up six yards. It was the first of 23 carries that would produce a career-best 126 yards on the day, and he was one of the driving forces in the Texans' win.
Despite the production yesterday by Moats and Slaton's ball security issues, Kubiak still hasn't decided on a starter for Sunday's game against the Colts.
"I'm in no hurry to make that decision," Kubiak said. "But obviously, we're going to need all three of them. We'll go to practice. We'll work them all. We'll make a decision when we get to Indianapolis."
Kubiak said that Slaton, who had a team-record 1,282 yards last season, is still an integral part of the team's future success.
"I talked to him in front of the team," Kubiak said. "I told him in front of the team to keep his chin up, that we need him. But let's face it: it's got to get fixed, and the only guy that can fix it is Steve. We're all trying to help him to do what he can do, but it's got to get fixed."
Slaton's abilities as a receiver should go a long way toward him continuing to see the field.
"Steve's obviously a dual threat," Kubiak said. "He can go outside like a receiver and run routes. The play that he fumbled on yesterday, he ran a great route."
O-line improvement: The Texans rushed 40 times for 186 yards against the Bills, easily the best output of 2009. Moats was electric, and his offensive line deserves some of the credit for his big day.
{QUOTE}"We were as good as we've been all year yesterday," Kubiak said of the line's performance. "I think the group is starting to come together."
In particular, Kubiak was enthused about the maturation he has seen from his guards.
"Kasey (Studdard) played his best game for us yesterday, and that was his fourth or fifth start," Kubiak said. "Chris White played very well for us yesterday. That's his second start as a pro. I think just them growing up together, hopefully they continue to get better."
Kubiak also pointed out that left tackle Duane Brown and right tackle Eric Winston "have been consistent all year long." But still Kubiak isn't satisfied overall with the offensive line.
"We're behind where we were last year," Kubiak said. "Obviously, it was a big step in the right direction for us yesterday, but we'll have to continue to improve."
Praise for the "D": The Texans clamped down on the Bills after the halftime break, allowing Buffalo just 83 second-half yards and zero points. Defensive lineman Antonio Smith was active, finishing with a sack, three quarterback hurries, a tackle for loss and two total tackles on the afternoon.
"He's one of our players of the game on defense," Kubiak said. "He's playing very well. He's much more active in what we're doing. The interception that Jacques (Reeves) got, (Smith) had a lot to do with that with his pressure on the quarterback.
"Antonio seems to be getting better every week for our football team, so that's very encouraging. We all played very good up front yesterday, and he was the leader of the pack."
Speaking of Reeves, the veteran corner continues to make plays for the Texans. He picked off his first pass of the season on Sunday and deflected another pair of passes, one of which was a fade pass to Terrell Owens in the end zone. After missing the first month of the season, Reeves has gotten his sea legs under him.
"He took a step forward," Kubiak said. "I thought his legs were a little tired. You go back a couple of weeks to when he was just getting off that broken leg, he's obviously starting to find some confidence. Yesterday was a big boost for him."
