The Texans practiced Friday at the Methodist Training Center and after, head coach Gary Kubiak and some players answered questions from the media. The following is a trancscript of their respective interviews.
Head Coach Gary Kubiak
WR Andre JohnsonDE Antonio Smith
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Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on WR Andre Johnson) "Andre will be out. He will not play again this week. He did work out today with the training staff, worked very, very hard, so we're back on the track that we want to be on. But obviously, he's not ready to go yet, so once again we got to have guys step up and this team's got to continue to rally together and take up for his absence. He's very close. I know ya'll are tired of hearing that, but he is very close, but he will not go this week."
(on if WR Andre Johnson had a setback) "No, I wouldn't say that at all. I just think that was as hard as we've pushed him and there's obviously levels you have to reach to get back on the field and when he got pushed Monday, the response was, 'No, not yet.' So, we backed off him, but today he was excellent. The spirits are back up and he's in a great mood, felt good about what happened today. We'll get there."
(on if he's optimistic WR Andre Johnson will play next week against Tampa Bay) "I'm worried about Cleveland."
(on if there are any other health injuries) "No, we're good to go. We're good. Danieal Manning is coming along very well. It's amazing to see what he's doing in the training room right now, so we're good, had a good practice."
(on the momentum the defense is building right now) "It's very exciting. We've played out of sight the past couple weeks. It's just been excellent and got a lot of confidence. As I said the last few days, the nice thing I think we got a lot of confidence we can win in a lot of areas as a football team right now and that's what we're searching for. This is Week 1 of the second half, so we just need to see if we can take what we do to a new level and that's everybody, so we'll keep pushing."
(on how important it is to keep playing well on defense despite playing a team that has struggled on offense) "It is important. But I tell ya'll all the time, every week in this League, you don't know how a game's going to go. Hey, we got a big game coming up here. They're a very dangerous football team coming in here and whatever we got to do to win, we got to go do it. We're excited to go play again and we've had a good week and as healthy as we can be minus Andre (Johnson). Ready to go get after it."
(on if FB James Casey is all the way back from his injury) "No, he's not all the way back, but he's okay to go play. As long as we keep coming out of each game that we come out of that he has no setbacks, he should be pretty darn close to 100 percent here pretty quick."
(on if FS Danieal Manning is on schedule or ahead of schedule with his injury recovery) "I know he's on schedule. I don't want to put too much pressure on him and say he's ahead. I just know he's doing very good."
WR Andre Johnson
(on why he's wearing a University of Virginia sweatshirt) "Don't ask me that question. I lost to him. I lost a bet to Matt (Schaub)."
(on how it feels to wear a Virginia sweatshirt) "It doesn't feel good. I've been wearing it for two years now. Something needs to change."
(on not playing this week) "We kind of had a little setback from our Monday workout. I have been sore for a couple days. I went out and ran today, so it felt pretty good. Just to have to keep working hard and just stay positive. At the same time, even though, I was sore for a few days, I still think we're heading in the right direction. We just went out Monday, I just went pretty hard. I just went at it as if I was going to go out and play. It just got pretty sore on me, so I had to sit down for a few days."
(on the setback) "It just was more of just soreness. It had got pretty sore, probably a little sorer than it's ever been, so they gave me a couple days rest. Went back out there today, did some running, did some things on the bungee cord, felt pretty good, so we're just going to keep working. Just like everybody else, I wish this process could be a lot faster than what it's been, but like I said, I'm going to just keep working through it and just try and stay positive."
(on if he would have played this week if he didn't have the setback) "I don't know. I still would've had to go out and try to go real hard to make sure I could go out and run full speed. If it wouldn't have happened Monday, then it probably could have happened Wednesday in practice. Like I said, I had to do it. Eventually we were going to find out whether it was Monday or Wednesday, or whenever I ran. It happened on Monday. I sat down for a few days and just did all treatment. I didn't start back running until today. Like I said, today went pretty good and we're just going to keep working and hopefully it'll get better sooner than later."
(on if he still feels like he wouldn't be helping the team if he was only at half-speed) "Yeah, that's the way I feel. If I can't go out and be myself, then there's no reason for me to be out there because it doesn't help the team. This is not about me; it's about my team. That's what it's always been about. If I can't go out and help the team, then I'm not going to be out on the field."
(on if he is targeting next week's game against Tampa Bay for when he will come back) "To be honest, I haven't really targeted any date. At first, I just felt like I'll miss a couple games and I'll be back out there. It just all depends on how your body responds. I thought I would be back playing by now. I'm not, so right now I just really can't set a date. I'm just taking it one day at a time. Like I said, I know fans and everybody else wishes I could be out there playing, but I want to be out there just as bad as everybody wants me out there. I'm just taking it one day at a time. I'm just working hard at it."
(on if he still feels the tugging in his leg) "That's what I felt on Monday when I went at it pretty hard. I think that's what made me sore as I was where I had to sit out a few days. I think that once I go back at it again, I think I'll probably go hard at it again on Monday and just see how it feels. That's part of the process. I talked to Dr. Cooper yesterday. I'm still positive. Like I said, I'm just going to keep working through it."
DE Antonio Smith
(on going up against RB Chris Ogbonnaya) "I'm happy for him. I'm happy for anybody that… I'm an underdog fan, so if he makes his claim for the Browns, I'm more happy for him. That's just how it is sometimes in this League, but I can hit him. He's my boy, but we got to hit him. I think he'd understand though. Don't you think?"
(on if he's going to cut RB Chris Ogbonnaya any slack) "No, no slack at all. He might get a little bit extra, just because he is my boy."
(on RB Chris Ogbonnaya) "If I'm watching him, he's doing pretty good just in the few games he's been in. I think he's leading their team in yards per carry. I've always liked him. When I saw him running in preseason, I was like, 'He's finally getting his chance.' You know, numbers and things happened here and he gets put on the practice squad, but I really hope that he does great there."
