Texans head coach Gary Kubiak spoke to the media after practice on Tuesday, the second day of the Texans' organized team activities (OTAs).
Texans head coach Gary Kubiak
(on what kind of surgery DE Mario Williams had this offseason) "One of those that I had (for sleep apnea). One portion; the nose part. He and (Antoine) Caldwell both had that, so I think that's why Mario's a little light."
(on DT Amobi Okoye's weight loss) "He's feeling a little better, getting a little lighter, and we're OK with that. We don't want him to get too light, so we let him come down. He was at 286 (pounds) the other day but he's probably down 15 pounds from what he played at, so we're going to watch him during these OTAs and see how he holds up and moves, but obviously we can't let him get too light."
(on DE Antonio Smith being down 13 pounds) "I think it's just this time of year, too, with what they're doing with (strength & conditioning coach) Cedric (Smith) and how hard they're working in the heat and everything. We'll be fine."
(on if he told the players to lose the weight) "I think those big guys just naturally with their work are going to get down a little. Those guys are probably down a little bit more right now, but I don't see it as an issue for now."
(on how RB Steve Slaton looks right now) "He looks very good. I'll see him out here with a red jersey on, if we were in contact, as I said yesterday, he would not be in contact until he gets totally cleared, but he's had a good off season and worked very hard. Things didn't work out last year so we'll try something different. We'll go back and get his weight back down a little bit and see how he responds."
(on adjustments for QB Matt Schaub with offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp) "The adjustments are really for the coaches, to be honest with you. We're going to do what we do, and teach our offense we haven't changed a great deal. We have some of Greg's personality and Rick's personality over the long haul, but really it's been about Greg and Rick adapting to what we do and getting on the same page with Matt (Schaub). It's been a good off season from that standpoint."
(on the personalities of Dennison and Knapp) "Rick's (personality) obviously, his background in running the football it's what he's coached for years. A different phase for him as far as overseeing the whole thing and working with quarterbacks on a daily basis, so that's different. That's where Greg (Knapp) comes in, and it's why we hired him. He has a background with Matt and Greg has been a coordinator in this league for many years. So between the two of them (Dennison & Knapp) we'll get it right."
(on if Rick Dennison will call plays for him this year) "Yeah, that's what you want. Anybody who's a coordinator for you, you want them to prepare to call plays week-in and week-out. Obviously that's something I'm involved in too. So right now, I've obviously called plays, Knapp has called a lot of plays in this league, and I've worked with Rick calling plays for a long time. Between the three of us we've got to make it work and get it called the right way somehow."
(on what was so appealing about Rick that he had to bring him here) "Me being familiar with how he goes about his work and how he runs a room with coaches and players was very important to me. Him understanding what we do as an easy adjustment. I think he's tremendous with players and a great teacher. It all went hand in hand and was an easy transition from that standpoint. So I know what I'm getting down in the meeting room and I know what I'm getting down on the field. I've known Greg a long time too, I've never worked with Greg, but it was important for me to get someone that Matt was comfortable with from the get go."
(on his early thoughts on WR Jacoby Jones, especially with WR Andre Johnson being out) "It's a great opportunity for him. He's a starter on the field right now, and I think everyone knows that Jacoby has starter ability in a national football league. It's about consistency and he's going to get a chance to do that right now, so we'll see. This business is about opportunity and boy is he getting one right now."
(on if he likes Jacoby's mentality so far these past few days) "Yeah, and I liked it the last part of the season last year, too. I thought he kind of changed on me after our little get together in Jacksonville. I thought he really has gotten better on and off the field, everything and all the abilities there. It's just about consistency with Jacoby."
(on his thoughts on CB Kareem Jackson) "I've been very impressed. You can tell how well he's been coached. Some of the routes he's played and the way he's overlapped with some of the things he has done, he's been very well coached. You get thrown out there in the fire, but he'll earn his keep. I think he's going to be a fine, fine player."
(on his thoughts on Garrett Graham so far) "He reminds me a lot of OD (Owen Daniels) when we got him. You can tell he's been well coached, very smart, and knows what he's doing. Obviously it's a big step forward for him, but he's getting a chance within this next month to basically be a starter. With the number of people we're working with at TE, he'll get a chance. We'll see."
(on how frustrating it was to see some the fumbles on the exchanges today) "It's the first day we've been in a team atmosphere, so I told them, today is on me and Thursday it'll be on them. You're going to run good plays and bad plays but you can't practice sloppy. Obviously it was sloppy offensively when you put the ball on the ground that much."
(on the biggest difference in the players from OTA day 1 to day 2) "It was just different what we did. We went to team periods today, so a little bit more pushing around on each other and that type of thing. You just try to keep the respect level and keep teaching. You can just tell that our defense has had some time together now. I think they are much faster and much more on the same page earlier than they have ever been, so I've been very impressed."
(on if he expects to see LB DeMeco Ryans out on the field tomorrow) "I don't know, and obviously I'm not going to take any chances with DeMeco. So if there's any doubt at all, he'd probably sit the rest of the week. Glenn told me this morning he expects to be out here, but we'll see. We're in no hurry, we don't have a game to play and we need everybody healthy. When those guys can't go, these young guys are getting great reps and it's helping us evaluate them even more. We'll be smart."
(on what he noticed of Xavier Adibi at middle LB) "The thing that's been exciting for me is that he's worked at SAM and worked at WILL, and now he has to come play MIKE because of some of the things we've got going on. If you're a good pro you can do all of that, so it's been fun to watch him step in there yesterday and today and work. Xavier's fixing to get the chance of all chances as a football player in the NFL so we'll see what he does with it."
