Kubiak noted that several injured players are steadily recovering and may return soon.
Texans head coach Gary Kubiak, quarterback Matt Schaub and team captains Andre Johnson and DeMeco Ryans spoke to the media on Monday as the Texans move on from their tough loss to Atlanta and prepare to take on the Miami Dolphins at Reliant Stadium on Oct. 7.
Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on injuries and QB Matt Schaub) I don't have a list here in front of me, but as far as coming out of the game, Matt's got a thigh bruise but he should be fine. Other than that, we came out OK other than the normal bumps and bruises. And then of course, we'll talk about the guys that have been out. Andre (Johnson)'s still day-to-day and I think Ahman (Green)'s the same, Jerome (Mathis)'s the same, so nothing's really changed with those guys. I know that Andre's doing a lot better. I think they looked at it and then they see the healing process taking place, so it's all good news from that standpoint. When he steps back on the field, I think, is still day-to-day."
(on if he's figured out what's wrong with WR Jerome Mathis) "No, he's just got lower leg issues. He's been very sore in his lower leg and but everything that we've checked out has been OK. So no reason not to think that he won't be back out there this week, but, you know, we've been through this before so we'll wait and see. I just know that (head athletic trainer) Kevin (Bastin) and them are working extremely hard with him and hopefully he's back this week out there contributing."
(on if RB Ahman Green is close to being healthy) "Yeah, I think he's close. Will he be out there Wednesday? I don't know. I know he's doing better. I spoke to him earlier today; we'll just continue to treat him and we'll know more when we step on the football field Wednesday if he comes out there and practices."
(on WR Jacoby Jones) "Jacoby is better. We're hoping, we've got our fingers crossed that he may play this week. We're not going to know. He had a procedure done today, I don't know exactly what it is, where they inject the shoulder, from a healing standpoint. And he is making progress. We've got our fingers crossed that he will be a part of everything we're doing this week, but probably won't know until we put him on the practice field."
(on if he's made any roster moves today) "No moves today, no. no we haven't."
(on WR Andre Johnson's recovery) "He's doing good. Like I said, the pictures that they've taken here lately show that the healing is taking palce. All indications are good. But now it's a matter of getting him back to work. So when Kevin (Bastin)'s ready to do that and how we go about that will be determined here very shortly, but he's very close to getting ready to start doing something again. Whether that means jumping on the field this week, I don't know."
(on a timeframe for DE N.D. Kalu to return) "N.D.'s really fine; it's just a matter of having to play with that big cast. His hand is fine. Actually, I planned on playing N.D. this week. I was suiting him all the way until yesterday at about, well I don't know what time we turn in our stuff, about 11:30. He was suiting, we showed up for the game yesterday and Mike Flanagan was having some headaches, some migraines. Got very, very concerned about him before the game. The doctors did a good job with him, so we in a quick pinch decided to suit (G Kasey) Studdard instead of N.D. But N.D.'s fine, it's just a matter of him having to play with the big cast right now."
(on if there will be a change in personnel at cornerback) "Well, we continue to evaluate what we're doing. We definitely, we had a quarterback play really good against us and we made some mistakes back there and gave some free plays, free first downs, four of them I think to be exact, with some penalties. We've got a young player we think a lot of in (CB) Fred (Bennett), but Fred has, in all honesty, in the last few weeks, hasn't been healthy with his hamstring and hasn't been working. He did get back to work some Thursday, very good on Friday last week. Fred's got to learn to practice like a pro and prepare like a pro and he's on his way to doing that, but if we can get him healthy, we'd definitely like to get him some playing time. Where that's at, whether it's nickel, how we do that, we'll see. But it's a matter of him stepping to the plate and showing he's ready to play, also."
(on how he tells his team to move on from this game) "Well, I mean, you don't have any choice. In this league, every week's such a challenge, so we're very disappointed in our effort yesterday as a football team. We did everything we could to lose a game. And you only get so many chances and then you go down there and throw one away, it's very disappointing. You come in today, you look each other in the eye, talk about the problems you've got and mistakes you're making and you let everybody know that if you don't fix them, it's going to happen again. So (we) had good meetings today. We've got to get right back to work Wednesday, we've got a lot of players that we've got to push to get healthy here over the course of the next few days, and hopefully some of those faces come back and help us out."
(on WR André Davis playing well amidst all the injuries) "Well, it was very good, because what's happened is you find players through problems. And through our situation, him getting a chance to play, well, he's shown you, he's going to be able to really help us. He played extremely well two weeks ago; yesterday, he was excellent - all three of those guys were. He's going to help our football team win. He's earned the right now to play and he will play well, but you could see it in practice. So I think in the long haul, we're going to be better as a group of receivers than we were when we started."
(on if there was a clock discrepancy toward the end of the game) "You know, we turn in our stuff here this afternoon. We're still reviewing it. But what I thought took place, and I could be wrong, you know, but the way I saw it was when they allowed them to call the timeout, the player was running off the field, which I understand that, they allow guys to call a timeout from the bench, we ran the play. And when we ran the play, the clock started. How many seconds came off, I don't know. Somebody told me nine, somebody told me 10. I'm looking at it all here. But I talked to the official next to me, I said, 'Y'all know y'all ran the clock during that play.' He was aware of it, he said, 'I'm going to go tell them,' and so I assumed it was getting corrected. But after we came to the line of scrimmage with our next play, they did not go back and fix the clock and after you run a play, there's nothing you can do. So we just felt like there should've been those eight or nine seconds, however many run off that that time should've still been on the clock, and we'll turn it into the league and they'll make their assessment of the situation. But there's nothing you can do once you run a play."
(on the problems CB DeMarcus Faggins is having) "It's not a lack of effort, he plays extremely hard. He plays his technique well. A lot of teams go away from (CB) Dunta (Robinson) because of our football team, when you look at us, Dunta is playing extremely well, so he gets a lot of work on the other side and he has done some very good things. We have to cut down on the penalties and those type of things. It's just natural that you're going to get a lot of balls your way. That's a compliment to Dunta and the way he's playing on the other side."
(on CB DeMarcus Faggins needing to play better) "Yes, he's playing hard. He has done some good things. We have to all play better."
(on getting help at running back because RB Samkon Gado didn't play) "He didn't play, really, because (RB) Ronnie (Dayne) was fine and we got into our hurry-up package and our nickel package and we've been playing (FB) Jameel (Cook) in those situations anyway. We just like what he does in pass protection and he catches the ball well. It was really a matter of just how the game went. It had nothing to do with why didn't we play (RB) Samkon (Gado). That wasn't the case. It was just the way the flow of the game went."
(on if RB Ahman Green can't go, going with RB Ron Dayne and RB Samkon Gado again) "Yes, I'm comfortable. We'll go back to work with them. They, I shouldn't say they because (RB) Samkon (Gado) didn't play, but (RB) Ronnie (Dayne) can play better than he played and we can help him out better up front, giving him some more room to run. Those are our guys and we just have to get better in what we are doing."
(on if he is concerned about not converting third-and-ones) "I'm very concerned. We punted twice yesterday and we punted because we couldn't make a third-and-one. If not, we're staying on the field, that's keeping our defense off the field. That's very concerning. There's no reason for us not to make the first one. I think (RB) Ronnie (Dayne) should make that first down. The next one, we don't do a very good job up front of knocking them off the ball. In this league, when it's third-and-one, it doesn't matter if everybody knows where you're running, you better be able to get one and stay on the field. That's just a mindset, an attitude, and us doing things better, so we have to get that corrected."
(on if they threw on third-and-one because he lost confidence in the running game) "Well, we threw on fourth-and-one after we got stuffed on the third-and-one and then we threw the ball and the third-and-goal down there. I hate to say that I sit here and lose confidence. What happens is, during the course of the game when you're calling a game, it's in the back of your mind that you've been stuffed a couple of times running it, so you try and come back and do something different. We have to run the ball in those situations. If I called a pass because I was unconfident in us making that yard, then I'm wrong. I can't do that. I have to send a message to our team that we're going to line up and run the football. Will we throw it in short yardage? Yes, we're going to do that. We're going to be aggressive, but we're not going run away from that situation. If we have a third-and-short this week, we have to line up and run the ball."
(on how CB Jamar Fletcher played) "He played good. He played in nickel. He was consistent. He's been a consistent player for us. He plays on special teams also. Really as a group, without individually talking about those guys, we have to play better on the back end. Anytime you play a quarterback and he has the type of day that (QB) Joey Harrington had against us, then none of us played well enough. The kid was 23-of-29 and played extremely well. When somebody plays that well against you, then our backend didn't play good enough. Our defense didn't play good enough."
(on not being able to cause turnovers) "It's something you emphasis for sure, but it's obvious, we talked about that as a team today, when our defense gets turnovers, we have a much better chance of winning. We have none in the last two weeks and we continue to turn the ball over on offense. Winning the turnover battle is something that we have to have to be successful and it's obvious that we haven't been able to do that the last two weeks."
(on if he would consider going into this game with three receivers) "Yes, I believe in those kids. I'll tell you what, the way they played, they accounted for, I think it was 12 catches for 203 and two touchdowns, and one was called back. It's like I told the players today, a lot of times when you have issues or problems on your team, guys focus on what the problem is instead of worrying about their own job. I told them the wide receiver issue is fine. Those guys played their tale off. Everybody else has to worry about their job. Those three kids played extremely well. (WR) David (Anderson) even played on special teams, so he did a good job for us."
(on play-calling and clock management) "Yes, I go through that all the time. Plays that don't work, I wish I would have called something different. That's part of football. You understand that."
(on players accepting responsibility for the loss) "Yes, that's part of the game. You want players that are able to step up and say we didn't get this done or we made a mistake there. The key is that the whole football team has to correct mistakes. You don't win and lose because of one player or two players. You win and lose as a football team. As I told you yesterday, you can look at the whole game, all three phases, special teams penalties hurting ourselves, defensively not getting after the quarterback the way we wanted to in the game, and then offensively turning the ball over. Everybody is involved in that. When you win, you win as a team. When you get beat, you get beat as a team."
(on settling for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns) "Yes, to be honest with you, you're right. Your ego says, 'Bull corn, I want to go for a touchdown.' But we have to keep it within a one score game and hopefully we're kicking an onside kick right there with a 23-26 game if we score or if we don't, then we still have it within a touchdown. Then we missed a field goal, so it was just icing on the cake and that's the way the day went."
(on if he would have gone for it on the last series if it was fourth-and-one) "I don't know. It didn't happen. I think we have to make the smart decision there and probably take the points and onside kick it and see if we can the football back because either way, if you don't get the football back, you have no chance to win."
WR Andre Johnson
(on how his knee is recovering) "It's getting better, week by week. They drained it Saturday before they left to go to Atlanta. I've been lifting a little bit on it, trying to get the strength back. The doctor looked at it earlier this afternoon and he said he thinks that my PCL is completely healed, so now I can go forward and push the envelope a little bit more with my rehab."
(on if he's been walking) "Yeah, I've been walking. I haven't did no running yet. (I've been) riding a bike and I've been doing some leg presses and leg extensions in the weight room, so just trying to get my strength back and things like that. So now, I'm assuming tomorrow or either Wednesday, we'll pick the pace up a little bit and see what happens."
(on his MCL) "The MCL is not a problem. That's fine. The PCL was pretty much the thing that they were worried about. When he looked at it today, he said he thinks it's completely pushed on and stuff like that, and I really didn't have no pain or nothing."
(on if the draining was swelling) "It was just some fluid that I had from when I would bend my knee, it would make it feel real tight. So they drained some fluid off of it. I have a little bit more that's still there, but they say we'll see how it feels and if the fluid bothers me, keeping my knee tight, they'll probably just drain that little bit of fluid off and like I said, my rehab will pick up more this week than what it's been before."
(on what needs to happen before he gets back) "Well, first of all, I have to gain my strength back in my leg. I can't be out there just limping around. So that's the first thing, just getting my strength back and being able to get the full extension in my knee that I had before I injured it. Once I get that and I feel well, I'll be able to go out on the field and practice."
(on if he's bugging his doctors for a timeframe or just going with the flow) "You know, I want to get back out as fast as possible. I can't stand sitting around watching the football games. So I'm trying to get out there as fast as I can, but at the same time, you want to be smart about it. You don't want to get out there and then set yourself back where I have to miss games again, so I really don't ask for a time frame; I'm just taking it one day at a time."
(on if he originally knew his recovery would take this long) "To be honest, I didn't think it would be this long. Sometimes when you have injuries, you'll be a little sore, ice it up and they'll put a little bit of stem or something on it and get treatment and, 'Hey, you can go back out there and play.' But when I came on the sideline after I did it and I tried to bend my knee, I knew it was something pretty serious. I didn't know how long it would be, but I knew it was something more than what I thought it was."
(on if this was the first time he'd drained his knee) "It was the first time I drained it. I had it drained Saturday."
(on if trying to move his knee caused the swelling) "Well, I don't know what caused the fluid, but when I started bending my knee, when I would bend it, by me having fluid on my knee, I couldn't bend it as far. My knee would feel real tight like it had some pressure or something on it. By draining the fluid, it helped and it helped the healing process."
(on what it was like watching WR André Davis) "I told him before he left that he'd have a hundred yard game. Right before I walked out the locker room, I told all the receivers good luck. He was getting dressed and I tapped him on the shoulder, I was like, 'You know, you'll have a hundred yard game." And he was like, 'Hey…' You know, we talked about it, and it happened. But as a group, I think they played well. They went out and made a lot of plays and I'm just hoping my process can hurry up so I can get out there and help."
(on what gave him the feeling to tell WR André Davis that) "Because I mean, all the guys work hard. As for André, the first week he wasn't on the active roster and I don't think he was the second week either, and his first game was the Colts game. And he has a lot of talent; he can make a lot of plays for us. And I knew he would be playing the position I would be playing. Just looking at the game plan and things like that and just watching film with him, the plays that were in, you knew that he would have some big plays in the game, so that's what made me tell him that."
LB DeMeco Ryans
(on what stood out when watching the film today) "It was a matter of us getting off the field on third down. We didn't do a good job of that. We have to see how we can get better this week because we definitely have to do a better job of getting off the field and we also have to do a better job of creating turnovers."
(on if the pressure should have been cranked up earlier) "You can go either way with that if you want to do, but the thing is, you still have to make plays, no matter what the call is. It doesn't matter the call, it's just us players out there on the field that have to step up and make plays."
(on what needs to be tightened up in the secondary) "We have to tighten up as a defense. It's not just one aspect of our defense; we're all in it together. It's not just the back end, it's all of us, linebackers, defensive line, and defensive backs all need to tighten up our game."
(on if it felt good to get in there for your first sack) "Yes, it did feel good. Hopefully there are many more to come."
(on if there was any specific difference in creating turnovers this week) "We weren't close and I think it's just a matter of being focused. I don't think we were as focused as we were the first two weeks coming out of the gates. Now, we really have to make a real conscience effort of trying to get the ball out early on, not just when it's late in the game and we're trying to get the ball back to our offense. We need to try to do that from the beginning of the game."
(on what he read on his sack) "Nobody blocked me."
(on why nobody blocked him) "I don't know. I think we confused them. We overloaded one side and just confused their offensive line. They didn't know who pick up."
QB Matt Schaub
(on the play-calling and clock management) "I think it comes down to executing. Coach calls the plays, he's been doing for a long time, and it's our job to go out and execute. When we don't do that, it's on us as players."
(on the particular breakdown in red zone opportunities) "I think it was execution. That's what it boils down to. It's lining up against their defense and beating the guy across from you."
(on what they have to do to move on from this) "Just correct the mistakes, look at what we did wrong with the turnovers and the red zone, and understand what we're trying to get done in the certain calls that we're making and execute them."
(on how key it is to improve the running game) "I think as a whole, we just need to improve as a team. Offensively, we like to run the ball and obviously we want to score touchdowns rather then settling for field goals. That's something we have to get together as an offensive unit to correct."
(on wanting the ball in your hands on a fourth-and-one instead of kicking a field goal) "Of course. In that situation, it would be better to get seven rather than three because then you only need a field goal the next time you get it, but right there we just wanted to get points."
(on how has the team been set back in the two losses) "I don't think we've been set back at all. We battled back in both those games that we lost and had a chance to win at the end and we just weren't able to finish and follow through. Our team showed a great deal of resiliency."
(on what WR André Davis was able to do the last two weeks) "Yes, we knew he was going to play well and (WR) Kevin (Walter) played extremely well. We knew those guys were going to step up and make plays and we gave them an opportunity and they produced just like we thought they would."
