The Texans' brass spoke to the media Tuesday about making their first round of roster cuts.
Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on his expectations for T Ephraim Salaam in recovering from his injury) "Our expectation for Ephraim is that in Pittsburgh, he's ready to go and he's our swing tackle, and that's been our expectation all along. He basically told us when he had it done, 'Y'all can count on me that week.' Now, we'll find out. He'll start working those extra days we have after this Tampa game, and we'll see where he's at. If he's not ready to do it, then at least (Rashad) Butler and (Brandon) Frye have had a ton of work, but our plan is that he's ready to go."
(on if the Thursday game plays a role in final roster cuts) "It plays a huge role. You go back and look through the years, it's amazing how many kids have made a team on the last game just by how they play, how many guys have gotten put on the practice squad because of how they play. There's been players who lose jobs because of how they play in that game. So, the thing we want to do is get them on the field, be able to look at plays at the end of this game and be able to evaluate those kids without having to make those decisions strictly off practice. The players are smart. They know where the bubbles are and where the problems are and where we're trying to make decisions, and they understand. And if they think they're in a very tough situation making this team, if anything, they're trying to prove they can play in the league."
(on if the early cuts still make sense with a smaller roster size) "Well, that's not my place to make those decisions, but you've had those kids all the way through up to this point and now you're two days away from playing your last game and you have to let a couple of guys go. So for me, as a coach, it's disappointing. You wish you could just have them all, that you had one cut at the end, but I don't make those rules."
General manager Rick Smith
{QUOTE}(on T Scott Jackson) "First of all, as a procedural matter, we waived him and he will revert to injured reserve. The issue was that he had struggled all training camp basically with an injury to his foot, and we tried to treat it and just last week realized that it was a little worse off than we thought, so we put him in a boot and realized that he won't progress quick enough. So, we put him on injured reserve."
(on if Thursday's game will go a long way in determining the final roster cuts) "Well, it will. Like he's (head coach Gary Kubiak) talked to you about the fact that we've got a lot of young guys that are fighting for positions on this team and like we've talked about the entire training camp, what you try to do is you try to put as much competition together and let the decisions play themselves out on the field. So, I'm excited to watch some of these young kids have an opportunity on Thursday, and hopefully we'll be able to get together the next couple of days after that to put together a good 53 that'll give us a chance to be successful this year."
(on if placing CB Dunta Robinson on the reserve/PUP list was a hard decision) "You know, it was a hard decision, I think, because I know how hard he's working to get back and there is a chance that he may be healthy enough to actually compete prior to that six weeks of mandatory time where he can't play. But I think that the smart thing for us to do and for him is to do it this way and to give him that extra time to make sure that when he in fact comes back on the field that he's ready to go."
(on when he plans to make the final round of roster cuts) "Well, our game plan right now is to probably cut the majority of the guys on Friday. But if there are some decisions that we feel like we want to take as much time as we can, then obviously we'll reserve the right to do that and as long as we're down on Saturday, we'll of course be there, but the majority of cuts will happen Friday."
(on how long CB Dunta Robinson is out for as a result of being on the PUP list) "He's out for the first six weeks of the season. That starts the first week."
(on if he talks to veterans who could be cut about their status with the team beforehand) "These guys know. They're in constant contact with their coaches. They're being evaluated every day. As you know, we tape everything and film everything, so there is constant feedback and so guys know what their positions are on this team and know when they're in competitive environments and competitive situations to make the club. I don't believe in just bringing camp bodies in, so I would like to think that every guy in that locker room feels like they have a legitimate opportunity to make our club. And so I hope that we have a bunch of guys feeling like that and feeling like they have to go out and perform on Thursday, just like they do every time that they have to step on the field."
