INDIANAPOLIS -- As disappointed as they were with Sunday's loss to the Colts, Texans players did their best in the postgame locker room not to be discouraged.
"I'm not concerned," running back Arian Foster said. "It's obviously an issue, but it's over. It's zero-zero, so you have to approach it like that, and that's what we are going to do."
The regular season is now in the rearview mirror according to Foster and company, and a playoff game this Saturday afternoon at Reliant Stadium versus the Bengals awaits. With one less day of preparation than normal, the Texans won't -- and can't afford to -- dwell on what happened in Week 17.
"Obviously, the regular season is over with and done, so it really doesn't matter for anything now," cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. "We'd like to have home-field advantage, but at least we have a chance to continue playing."
The Texans find themselves in the same situation of a year ago: Ending the 16-game season with a trio of December losses and a Wild Card home game against Cincinnati. A year ago, the team was quarterbacked by third-string rookie T.J. Yates. The man under center now is Matt Schaub, and despite the disappointment of the Indianapolis game, he touted the mental strength of his teammates.
"I'm not concerned about what our team is going to be, because I know the type of guys that we have and the mentality of them," Schaub said. "We just need to go back to the drawing board and get things right."
That was an echo of what Texans coach Gary Kubiak said to the media just 20 minutes before Schaub's stint at the postgame podium at Lucas Oil Stadium. Defensive end J.J. Watt also emphasized that he and his teammates still have their eyes on much bigger things.
"We didn't win the game and now we need to go find a way to win the Super Bowl, and we are going to do that," Watt said.
The Texans are now the third seed in the AFC, and a win against Cincinnati would send them back to New England for a Divisional Round game against the Patriots. But before that can happen, defensive end Antonio Smith said the Texans have to correct mistakes and not lick any proverbial wounds.
"Gotta do what you gotta do," Smith siad. "If not, you die. You're not in the playoffs. Year is over. You go home and you sit and you watch. There is no tomorrow. Now, the truth hits. You've got to get it done. It can't be hard. Whatever we need to do to get it going, we need to get it going."
Twitter.com/DoughertyDrew
