Texans head coach Gary Kubiak met with the media after Friday's practice, and the following is a transcript of his interview.
Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on the team's health) "The guy that didn't practice today was (S Quintin) Demps, so other than that we're back at full speed."
(on RB Ben Tate) "He looks good. I think he's ready to go. I'll go back and look at the practice film, but I would expect him to resume his spot on Sunday night. He's had a good week."
(on RB Ben Tate's status) "It is. We need to get him going. He needs to get going. He had a good game three weeks ago or something, at Jacksonville. It needs to be there every week for the football team and he's the guy that's had to battle through some nicks here and there throughout his time with us here in Houston. We need him to stay healthy, stay productive, and help this team on a weekly basis. Hopefully we're back to work doing that this week."
(on what ILB Tim Dobbins brings to the starting lineup) "He's a veteran player. He's been in (Defensive Coordinator) Wade's (Phillips) system. He's been with Wade before. He understands exactly what we're doing. He's a physical player. He had played a lot of football for us in what we call some big packages when we take a DB off the field and short-yardage packages, those type of things, so physicality. He's a journeyman player that's played some good football in his career. Now he's getting a chance to start, so I know it's a good opportunity for him. We got to help him, too. The football team's got to help him."
(on how the team can help ILB Tim Dobbins) "I just think it goes back, I've been redundant all week, but when you lose players, everybody's got to pick it up and play a little bit better. I think Dob (ILB Tim Dobbins) will be just fine. The question is going to be did the other 10 guys play a little bit better, take on a little bit more responsibility? That's where we got to approach it. We know our challenge, but it's a team challenge. It's not Dob's challenge. It's our team's challenge."
(on if he has any thoughts about the league fining Jets G Matt Slauson ) "I don't. Heck, we got the world champs coming in here in two days. We've moved on."
(on how his team has embraced the spotlight) "We're getting some opportunities to play and our schedule is very different. Last year, we were strictly a Sunday football team then, I think at noon most of the time. So we've kind of bounced all around here early in the season to an afternoon game on the road, a Monday night game, now a Sunday night game. I think that's part of growing up. I think you have to be able to handle all situations and play everywhere and obviously a great football team coming in here this weekend. I think we're learning to handle things better because we stay focused on ourselves and don't get too tied up with who we play but let's make sure we're ready to play."
(on RT Derek Newton and LT Duane Brown going against Packers LB Clay Matthews ) "He's going to play both sides. We have no control over; Dom (Capers) moves him all over the place and puts him in position to be successful. We can't dictate any of that. Both of those guys are going to have to hold their own. We as a team are going to have to help them out. As I told you yesterday, the best way we can help them is running the football the way we're capable of running it. That'll be a big key to what we do."
(on RB Arian Foster's workload) "I don't have those numbers in front of me. I don't worry about that. I think those things work themselves out. I think if (RB) Arian (Foster) doesn't miss a month of football last year, he probably carries it 400 times last year. We are the number one possession team in football so somebody back there dotting our I's is going to carry the ball. I don't get too consumed with that. If I felt like Arian was wearing down or something, I'd be the first one to take him out of there or whatever. Heck, I got him arguing that he wants more so that's a good problem for a football team to have."
(on ILB Brian Cushing's Twitter statement and the reactions) "Obviously, when you're a player that's had happen what's happened to Cush (ILB Brian Cushing), it's just extremely difficult from a mental standpoint of what you're facing and losing. You're losing a year of your career in a lot of ways, and you never know how long you're going to play. I know this. I think that's a statement that Cush is behind his teammates. That's going to be very important. I told him from the start after the other night. 'Cush, you've got to be around here. You've got to be a part of what's going on. They're looking at you and we need your help.' He's very willing to do that. He's been in here working every day. I just think he's letting his teammates know he's got confidence in them and to keep plugging."
