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Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien**
(on the week of practice) "I think it's been good. These guys have worked hard. We had to go inside today because of the weather, but I thought they were sharp today, focused. We got a good bunch of guys. They practice hard, and they'll go out there and they'll play hard."
(on the new extra point distance and if they use a mathematic formula or feeling to decide what to do) "Well I think there's a little bit of both and we've put a lot of thought into that. I think that, first of all, I answer it this way, if they had changed the two point to the one yard line, that would have been a huge change. The fact that they moved the extra point try back to the 15 and kept the two point try at the two is not as big of a change, it's a still a change though. To me, where it comes into play is if you chose to kick the extra point and the defense jumps offside. Now you can take it at the 1 and choose to go for two if you want to do that because it would be half the distance to the goal line. I think that's part of the study that we did. I think a little bit of the study is statistical analysis that we'll see as the year goes on and then some of it is feel, what do you need in the game, where are you at in the game. As far as going for two, I would tell you that we really don't think too much about that until the fourth quarter unless it's something that we think is just kind of an oddity during the game that we feel like we'd have to do that. But we do put a lot of thought into it, so that's just some thoughts on it."
(on seeing the new extra point setup in the preseason) "Well, we tried it. We went for two a few times. We tried to put some of our two point plays out there and see how they would look. Obviously I wouldn't say that those would be the ones we would run in the regular season. We're a game plan offense, so that was part of it. But I think overall Randy (Bullock) has kicked well and he's kicked well from obviously the 15 yard line. We feel good about our kicking game and we'll see how it goes, we'll have to see how it goes on Sunday."
(on QB Brian Hoyer only being focused on football and family during the season, and if he likes Hoyer's single-minded focus) "Yeah I would say it's hard to - I'm going to speak for myself on that. I have a similar feeling about that. It's very difficult in the season to really do anything other than make sure that you're putting everything you can into these games. Unlike other sports, we only play 16 games in regular season, so it's one game per week. It takes a lot of time to prepare for a game, whether you're a player or a coach, and it can be a tough business especially for a coach I would say with the family. I think it's a balance that you have to try to come to at some point in time. I think our players are very focused on the football team and what their job is, I believe that, I see that on the field, and I'm sure they find a balance with their family but that's really the only two things you can probably concentrate on during the season."
(on QB Brian Hoyer's football IQ) "He's got a good football IQ and I would say the same thing about Ryan Mallett. I think they both have good football IQs. I think that they're good learners, they've been taught well. They've studied under Tom Brady which I think definitely helped them as to how to prepare as a player for the game. We believe in the system we run and how we teach football in our system. I think Brian is definitely a student of the game and I think he's always trying to get better and learn and I'd say the same thing about Mallett."
(on how T Duane Brown is doing with the hand injury) "It looks good, I don't think that's going to be the easiest thing in the world. It is what it is, but he's a tough guy, really have a lot of respect for Duane. He's out there all the time, can't wait to play, has something wrong with his hand but 'I'm playing, Coach,' one of those guys. Really one of the leaders of our team and he'll be out there on Sunday."
(on if he's ever had to deal with headset issues in his career) "I would say that a headset issue happens every game. It happened in Dallas. It happens here, it happens wherever I've been. I think what happens is, and I'm certainly not a technical person, but I think on game day because of all the TV wires and everything that go in, internet, everything is there on game day that I think sometimes the wires get crossed with the headsets. That's been my experience. It went out in Dallas. We have a system if that happens, we react right away. I thought our coaches actually did a really good job in the Dallas game of reacting to headsets go out, boom this is how we're going to communicate the play in. Happens just about every game I've coached in the National Football League."
(on if having both coordinators on the sideline has anything to do with faulty headsets) "No, not really. My main reason for having the play callers on the sideline is because I really feel like you get a really good feel for the game on the sideline both from your players, from an emotional standpoint, from an eyeball to eyeball, being able to talk to your players about what they're seeing. As long as you have good guys in the sky, good eyes in the sky, you're going to be alright. That's really the main reason for having those guys on the sideline."
(on using CB Kevin Johnson against the Chiefs) "Kevin is going to play. Kevin will play. He's going to play a lot of football. We feel good about our corner position, and he's had a good preseason. So he's going to get ready to play his first NFL game no matter who's out there. I think (Albert) Wilson has got a really good skill set, they've got a bunch of guys who have speed and quickness, Jamaal Charles, (Jeremy) Maclin, (Jason) Avant, De'Anthony Thomas. I mean you go right down the list, this is a very good football team, and our guys know that it's going to be a challenge."
(on what tight ends have to learn about blocking in the NFL) "Well there's a lot of different looks that they have to get used to. You're going from playing a 4-3 team to a 3-4 team, different types of players. One of the things that's very difficult on a rookie tight end is that you have to really understand the type of guy you're going against when you're blocking a guy. The difference between going against Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney, like that's a big difference. They have different skill sets, they're built differently, and I think when guys come out of college it's such a personnel oriented league in that regard that they have to understand, 'ok I'm going to have to block this way and this guy this way.' It's a little bit different. That's the biggest adjustment."
(on what he's seen from Chiefs TE Travis Kelce) "Yeah he's a good player. He's very athletic, they move him around. Coach (Andy) Reid does a great job with tight ends and Kelce's no different than the guys that he's had. He's a guy that can be out wide, he can be attached, he can be in the bunch, he can be in a lot of different places and we're going to have to know where he's at all times."
