HEAD COACH GARY KUBIAK
T DUANE BROWN
TE OWEN DANIELS
OLB BROOKS REED
WR ANDRE JOHNSON
QB MATT SCHAUB
DE ANTONIO SMITH
WR KEVIN WALTER
DE J.J. WATT
* *
HEAD COACH GARY KUBIAK(Transcribed by Tiffani Walker)
(on the game) "First off, congratulations to Green Bay. They came in here and got after us pretty good in all three phases. It's a tough league. There are no excuses here. We got beat across the board. They got after us early. We got down early. Not a football team you want to get down to, I can tell you that from that standpoint. Then we struggled picking up some of their stuff. Like I said, they did a hell of a job. They deserve a lot of credit. We played poorly as a football team. So I'm disappointed in myself. We're all disappointed. We got our tails kicked."
(on the costly penalties) "We basically gave them 14 points by a couple of special teams penalties. Lined up offside and jumped on somebody's back on a field goal. The first possession of the second half of the second half, we are in a 21-10 ballgame, we gave them three possessions. We gave them the ball back jumping on somebody's back on a field goal, and then a personal foul after we had them stopped again. So, that's discipline. Discipline starts with me. It's my job to put people out there that can handle it and do the right things. Obviously I didn't get that done tonight. So it's my fault."
(on QB Aaron Rodgers) "To me he's doing what he's been doing his whole career. This guy can throw it around, light it up. He made some tremendous throws and they made some great plays for him. He did a hell of a job of getting away from some of our pressure. We got there free quite a few times and he really made some people miss and slung some people off and still made some big plays down the field. And yet they ran the ball somewhat effectively, to me, that helped them a little bit. He's a great player. I knew that coming in. but he put on a show tonight. He did a hell of a job."
TACKLE DUANE BROWN(Transcribed by Bracken Flynn)
(on the offense's trouble tonight) "Nothing really different. We could not really run the ball, so we had to pass it. We could not really make plays. That was it."
(on what the offensive line needs to do better) "I think we need to just continue working on the running game. That is something we really take pride in, and when you are forced to be one-dimensional against a team like this you are setting yourself up (for failure). That's what happened tonight."
(on the playing surface) "I did not have an issue with it. It's grass which is usually the best surface to play on."
(on his matchup with OLB Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers) "He is the real deal. He is a great player. Early on I was trying to feel him out. Once I settled down, I thought I blocked him pretty well. He's a great player"
TIGHT END OWEN DANIELS(Transcribed by Olivia Williams)
(on the first chance to face adversity) "Yeah, I think it was bound to happen. You can't always play with a lead. You'd like to, but that's not how it's always going to be. That's a pipe dream, but we need to do better if we're playing from behind. We need to get our act together and if things don't start out well, it's a long game so we'll look at it all and get it fixed."
(on his first impression against Packers OLB Clay Matthews) "He's a really good player, man. Whatever they say about him is the truth. He's strong, he's fast, and he can make plays. He's one heck of a player."
(on OLB Clay Matthews disrupting Texans Offense) "Our point of the week was to try to keep him and (SS Charles) Woodson off the score sheet as much as possible. I don't think we did a really good job of that. I think it was clear he disrupted us early and often, so you've got to give him credit."
(on sensing that the Packers were desperate to not drop to 2-4 to start the season) "We've gotten that the last couple weeks, but that's not an excuse. We've got to expect people's best. That's what we want. We want to beat people at their best. We've got to give them credit. They played really well tonight."
(on what the most disappointing thing was of all the things that went south tonight) "Oh man, it's hard to say, honestly. I just think it was that we never really got into what we wanted to do. I can only speak offensively. We had to get into kind of a hurry-up two minute mode obviously way earlier than we had really anticipated or wanted to. We didn't do many things well tonight."
WIDE RECEIVER ANDRE JOHNSON(Transcribed by Joshua Moon)
(on him achieving over 10,000 receiving yards for his career in the game tonight) "It's a big accomplishment. It's just unfortunate that we couldn't get the win. By the way things played out tonight, it doesn't feel good."
(on him being a part of a great group of wide receivers in NFL history) "Like I said, it's a great accomplishment. Not many people have done it. I've been very fortunate over my career to do some good things. What happened tonight doesn't make it good."
(on him achieving 10,000 yards in only 128 games) "When you come in this league, the biggest thing is just living your dream. That's just what guys do. They feel like they've made it. They're living their childhood dream. The lifespan of this league is four years. I've been fortunate to be in it for 10 seasons and have been able to do some great things. I've touched a lot of people. Hopefully I can keep doing this."
(on him making it to the Hall of Fame one day) "That's out of my control. I can only control what happens on the field. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. That's up to the voters. I'm going to just keep doing what I do on the field and leave the rest up to them."
(on how shocking the game was tonight) "It was shocking but if you go out and play the way we played, that's what happens. They were explosive offensively. If we don't go out and move the ball, then we leave our defense out on the field and give them a chance to give up points. It's no secret. We know what type of team we are. They are the defending Super Bowl champs from a couple of years ago, so we knew what we were in for. We just didn't go out and play the way we needed to play."
CORNERBACK JOHNATHAN JOSEPH(Transcribed by Bracken Flynn)
(on if he agreed that the team was out-played) "You have no choice. They made the plays today to win the game. We didn't. It happens in football. The team that makes the most plays will probably win at the end of the day. They made more than we did today."
(on how he feels) "I'm fine to go. Obviously I will see how I feel tomorrow when I come back in. I will probably be sore tomorrow. As of right now I am fine."
(on what the Packers were doing offensively to be successful) "It is kind of hard to say. We were playing a lot of man-to-man so you can't really say because most of the time your eyes are on your guy. "
(on certain plays that may have changed the outcome of the game) "There are so many things that happened today that you can't really blame it on one thing."
(on how surprising the loss was tonight) "I'm not surprised at all. It is football. If you don't go out and play your best any Sunday, you are capable of losing. It doesn't matter if it is Green Bay or whoever else in this league."
(on the team's mindset after the loss tonight) "It hasn't changed. It doesn't matter if we lose by 15 or 20 points – it still counts as a loss. We will be right back next week. We have a game to play Sunday."
(on Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers' ability to make plays with his legs) "That is what makes him special as a quarterback. He has a great arm, pinpoint accuracy, and he can avoid the rush and make plays with his legs. If you can do that in this league, you can play for a long time and be highly successful."
SAFETY DANIEAL MANNING(Transcribed by Joshua Moon)
(on QB Aaron Rodgers play today) "He was pretty much on point today. He took the plays that we gave him, some plays he made staying alive. I remember two plays that were big. He scrambled when we had him dead to rights. He scrambled out of the pocket and completed some passes. That's what you get with a guy like that."
(on the penalties) "Like I said, he (QB Aaron Rodgers) was on point today. We cannot help them out any. The play with me, I felt like the whistle was blowing and I felt the guy kept shoving me and had me bent over. I had to get him off of me. I lost it for a second. I was kind of possessed there for a minute."
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER BROOKS REED(Transcribed by Bracken Flynn)
(on the game plan to stop QB Aaron Rodgers) "We had a good game plan coming in. I don't know. It's hard to explain. We have to watch the film. There are some plays where they heaved it up and made great plays. They beat us one-on-one. We couldn't get to him (Rodgers) and bat it down."
(on if the loss last week motivated the Green Bay Packers) "Possibly. They had a rough loss against Indianapolis, and I can imagine they were pretty upset. That is how we play too. We feel that we have something to prove too. We are still unproven and need to go out there and get our respect."
QUARTERBACK MATT SCHAUB(Transcribed by Tiffani Walker)
(on the game) "It's very disappointing. To go out in front of our home crowd on Sunday Night and have it turn out the way it did. We didn't play up to our standard, up to our level of expectations that we have around here across the board, that's everybody. We're going to have to take a hard look at it and put it behind us. The good thing is it only counts as one. We're going to have to re-focus tomorrow, watch the film, be hard on ourselves and go out and correct the mistakes that we made and get ready for Baltimore
(on the preparation for this game) "No, it didn't. Yes we had a short week, but we took care of ourselves physically to get ourselves fresh for the game and still had all our reps and mental reps and everything. The fact that it was a short week didn't affect us."
DEFENSIVE END ANTONIO SMITH(Transcribed by Greg Dillard)
(on how shocking tonight's loss is) "It was shocking. I didn't think this would be the game that it would turn out to be. They played a heck of a game."
(on why the Texans' defense struggled to get to Packers QB Aaron Rodgers) "We didn't struggle to get to him. We were at him a lot more times than the statistics would say, but he just broke free of some tackles. There was at least four times where people had him in the backfield and he just broke free, somebody came free and had the sack and just missed the sack. It's just missed opportunities. That's all it was."
(on the fact that it's still only one loss ) "That's all it is. It's a loss that we'll have to learn from. I think trial by fire is the best way to mold you into the best team that you need to be. I think that this was a test that we had yet to face even though everybody else in the league might have thought that Green Bay was wounded dogs. They still were a team in the NFC. I think that they had some tough breaks here and there, but as you can see that offense is still potent. It was one of our biggest tests yet and the first time we faced a team like that. I think this is something that we're going to go back to the drawing board and learn from our mistakes even though you don't want it to happen. I'm glad it happened now than later on in the season."
(on how he thinks the team will respond to tonight's loss) "Trial by fire, fight fire. This type of loss is going to ignite something and we're going to find out what type of team we are. This moment, it's not a defining moment, but it's a moment you're going to have to respond to and you're going to have these a few more times before you can be a championship team."
(on why there were so many mental mistakes) "I think that sometimes moment gets going here and there and then you get a little excited here and there and sometimes you make mental mistakes. Sometimes when you're emotions getting riled up, especially in games like this, Sunday Night Football, it causes you to be impulsive and sometimes we can make mistakes."
(on the defensive penalties) "You're going to get frustrated when some of the things happen the way they did. Some of the penalties are just; they could be called either way. The pass interference that was big early in the game on Kareem, I don't think that I saw much of a pass interference. The referee that was right there didn't call it. The one who was across the field did. That's' the type of calls you get especially in big games like that against teams like we played, regardless of whatever happens we got to learn how to break through and fight through adversity."
(on people who saw the Texans for the first time tonight on Sunday Night Football) "It's one game. That's all they saw. Everybody is going to make up hypes and different things like that and use that when you have a bad game to determine what type of team you are. I don't think this game defines what type of team we are, saying whatever game they turn on. Like I said, you got to go back to the drawing board and figure out what happened this game and go back and try to stop it."
WIDE RECEIVER KEVIN WALTER(Transcribed by Joshua Moon)
(on if this loss was disappointing ) "It's very disappointing, absolutely. We are not satisfied. It's tough. We didn't execute in all three phases of the game. They did a good job. You have to tip your hat to them. They beat us in all three phases of the game."
(on all the mistakes tonight) "When you shoot yourself in the foot against someone who is hungry to get a win, you can't do that. We have to execute a lot better. Overall it wasn't good at all."
(on if this loss is shocking) "It is. We have such high expectations to come in here, play well, and do all the right things and we didn't do that tonight."
(on how it felt to be losing in a game when that has rarely been the case all season ) "We haven't been behind most of the year and it's frustrating more than anything. We just have to go out there and execute the game plan and we didn't do that. The great thing about it is that we have another chance next week at home against a great football team in Baltimore. Tomorrow we have to smooth out a couple things and move on."
(on not allowing this loss to take away the momentum the team has built up) "Just come back and play the way we have been the last few weeks. That's what we need to do."
DEFENSIVE END J.J. WATT(Transcribed by Bracken Flynn)
(on how difficult the loss is) "It was a bad game. They are a great football team. You need to give them a ton of credit. They came in here and played their game. They played very well. Aaron Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and he showed it. He showed why he won an MVP award he showed why he won a Super Bowl. He deserves a lot of credit."
(on if it was a surprise to give up 42 points) "It is frustrating. That wasn't us, and that is not the way we play. We faced a quarterback who puts the ball on the money every single time. We didn't enough pressure on him. We didn't get enough hits on him. He beat us. He had a great game."
(on the reasons for the large amount of penalties) "I don't know. I couldn't tell you all the reasons behind the penalties. That's not us. That's not characteristic of us. That is not who we are and we will get it corrected."
(on the reasons behind the lack of success for the defense) "I mean (QB) Aaron Rodgers is one of the best. He put the ball where he wanted to tonight. We gave him too much time and he took advantage. You can't give a guy like that too much time. That is on us as the defensive line."
(on the reaction to the loss tonight) "We are 5-1. We are a very good football team. Tonight wasn't our night. We didn't have a good showing. We are going to come back to practice this week, fix our mistakes, get it all corrected, and we will be just fine next week."
POSTGAME QUOTES FROM GREEN BAY PACKERS
HEAD COACH MIKE McCARTHY
WR RANDALL COBB
TE TOM CRABTREE
LB A.J. HAWK
WR JAMES JONES
G T.J. LANG
OLB CLAY MATTHEWS
WR JORDY NELSON
QB AARON RODGERS
*HEAD COACH MIKE McCARTHY *(Transcribed by Amanda Worthy)
(on the game) "Very good victory for our football team tonight. I was very pleased with the way we came out. When came out of the tunnel I thought that the energy was excellent form the first snap to the conclusion of the game. Our goal was obviously to come in here and beat a very good football team, that's very well coached, talented football team in a great environment here in Houston, so we accomplished that. Unfortunately, we have some injuries, some that look to be potentially serious injuries and we'll have to recover from that and move on to St. Louis. But I thought our football team had great energy and productivity in the first quarter, and that was really our message at half time – to continue and finish. I thought we took a step as a team tonight and again, beat a very well-coached football team in the Houston Texans."
(on if playing the undefeated Texans on Sunday night gave his team extra juice) "I don't think it really mattered what the records were between the two teams tonight. We knew when the season started that this was a very good football team when we had the opportunity to view our schedule. We knew the first few weeks we'd be challenged and just different, and the three road games with this one in the middle on Sunday Night Football. I have a lot of respect for Gary Kubiak and his staff and their team and we knew what they'd put forth coming into the game. We really, truly stayed focused on improving ourselves and that will always be our message and our approach. I was pleased with way we played."
(on what role the run game played) "It was a factor in getting looks in the no huddle. I thought (QB) Aaron (Rodgers) was spectacular this evening. We pretty much went exclusive no huddle from the starting point of the game. We wanted to press their defense as much as we can because of how much respect we have for those guys. Aaron kept us in plain looks, and that was a big part of our production in the run game. Run blocking I thought did an excellent job, gave us a very good front. I thought (RB) Alex Green played very, very well for his first opportunity tonight to fully have the football. I thought it was a good start in the right direction for our run game."
(on if ILB Brian Cushing's absence affected their game plan) "Not really. He's an outstanding player. I mean, clearly he's probably the most productive player on a very good defense coming into the game, but schematically, we always do preliminary game plans and then we jump into an exclusive game plan that we start on Mondays. We do have enormous respect for Brian (Cushing)."
(on the defense's performance) "It was very good defense, very good technique, sound scheme by (Defensive Coordinator) Dom Capers. Ultimately, the credit goes to the players, we have good players. They're proven players. I'm excited about our defense with the three turnovers this evening. That was one missing part of our 4-0 first success. Offense did a great job taking care of the football against a very good defense that is as good or better than anybody in the League, a very solid defense. Injuries are part of the game and we were overcome today."
(on QB Aaron Rodgers) "I think that speaks for itself. Aaron was on fire. He did a great job of putting the ball where it needed to be. I thought that probably the biggest play of the game was when he had the opportunity on the first third down of the game, where he came back right after the penalty and took a shot right to (WR) Jordy Nelson. He played through some bumps and bruises there in the second half so clearly one of his better performances as a Packer."
(on if he thought QB Aaron Rodgers was motivated by questions by critics this past week) "That's really a question for Aaron. We spend a lot of time during the week, we have a one-on-one every Thursday and go through the whole plan, and that really wasn't a part of our conversation. I think he does a great job dealing with that responsibility - that when things don't go well, the quarterback takes a lot of the heat, and when things go well he gets a lot of the praise. He's played a lot of quarterback in his career and he's played very well, so he's jumped over a lot bigger hurdles than this week, that's for sure."
(on DE J.J. Watt) "I think J.J. Watt is a dynamic, young player. He has everything you look for in a defensive lineman, and for him to play inside and (DE Antonio) Smith on the other side, I think that's an excellent pair. That was really our focus of their defense. J.J. has big days ahead of him. Everybody is proud that he's from Wisconsin, and we'll root for him starting tomorrow. He's an excellent player."
WIDE RECEIVER RANDALL COBB(Transcribed by Matt May)
(on the motivation for tonight's performance) "We just wanted to make a statement. We know what our team is capable of, last week we didn't finish as well as we wanted to. This week we wanted to bounce back and show everyone who we really are."
(on the Packers having multiple playmakers on offense) "We have a lot of players who can do a lot of things with the ball. With all the dynamic players we have we just try to get the ball in their hands and let them do their thing."
(on QB Aaron Rodgers' six touchdown passes tonight) "He played phenomenal, that's the Aaron we know. We made plays for him down the stretch. He fought through a lot of adversity tonight and led us to a big win."
(on his big kick return after the Texans touchdown) "That was a big return, they drove down the field and scored. We wanted to make sure we got something going the next series, and we got some good blocking in the front and I was able to find a crease on the outside and hit it."
(on if tonight's performance is what we can expect from the Packers the rest of the season) "This is the standard. I think that's why everybody was wondering where we have been. This is the team we know we are capable of being and we just have to continue to do it week in and week out."
TIGHT END TOM CRABTREE(Transcribed by Matt May)
(on Packers opening touchdown drive) "You always want to have a fast start. That's something that was lacking in our first couple of weeks. We definitely got off to a fast start today and kept the momentum going the whole game."
(on if tonight's game was a statement win) "I think anytime you get a win in this city it's big. We're not looking at it as a statement win it's just kind of hopefully a win that can keep our momentum going."
(on if the Packers saw any weaknesses in the Texans secondary on tape) "I wouldn't say that. Every week you try to find weaknesses against whatever defense you're playing and try to game plan accordingly. It's a matter of executing, and this week we seemed to execute better than we have in the past."
(on what this win does for the Packers emotionally after coming off of a tough week) "We won a football game. Tough week is probably your viewpoint, not ours. I thought our team did a very good job staying focused on what it's really about, and that's the preparation phase of it, staying in tune, getting ready to play these guys in this environment and we accomplished that. Our goal now is going to St. Louis, we really need to win two games in a row, that's our focus – stack success for the first time this year."
LINEBACKER A.J. HAWK(Transcribed by T.D. Durham)
(on the win from the defense's perspective) "It'll put us on the right track to turn this thing around. To stop an offense like theirs, you have to stop the run first. Arian Foster is one of the best in the league."
(on the specifics of stopping the Texans' run attack) "I think to stop the run what you need is the front seven have to be very unselfish, and that's what we did tonight – especially with our front four. The defensive linemen stay in their gaps, take up two blockers - it lets everyone flow and run. They have a unique running game with how they like to stretch and stretch. Arian is very patient and finds cutback lanes all the time. We felt like if we could make him bounce and bounce east and west, not let him hit those downhill seems, and I think we did that tonight."
(on this game being a defining moment for the season) "We hope a victory like that is. We don't want a loss to be a defining moment for us. Like I said, coming in we were definitely confident. We've been confident all year, but we just haven't put a full game together. I think tonight we finally did."
GUARD T.J. LANG(Transcribed by Carla Bertoldi)
(on the offensive line's plays) "Well we talked about playing more consistent. You know last week, we played quite well in the first half and the second half and then let up four or five sacks. We wanted to rebound up front and we knew this was going to be a tough group to do that against. A lot of great pass rushers on that defense. We understood it was going to be a challenge but when we showed up we expected to give (QB) Aaron (Rodgers) the time to throw the ball and try to make a lot of big things happen. Like I said, it's fun to play and fun to block that guy when he's on his game like that."
(on the running game by RB Alex Green) "A lot of production in the first half with the run game a lot of big plays there. I think it takes a lot of pressure off (QB) Aaron (Rodgers) too when we are able to run the ball. We make their defense respect our run game so they can't just drop seven guys and sit on our receivers. They have to respect us running the ball. You know, that plays a huge success on offense and we have got to make sure we are staying consistent."
(on tweeting after the game) "I don't know. It feels good to get the win especially against an undefeated team at their home. We took a step forward today. We have got to keep doing everything we can to stay consistent and keep moving forward."
WIDE RECEIVER JAMES JONES(Transcribed by Matt May)
(on the overall offensive performance) "Offensively, I feel like we came out fast like we wanted to do. We put some pressure on them by scoring points early. We were able to throw the ball down the field so that was good. It was a good test for us and luckily we put up some decent points."
(on QB Aaron Rodgers performance) "I think he was in the zone tonight. He was out of the pocket making plays with his legs, sitting in the pocket making great throws. I think we as receivers ran some pretty good routes to compliment his great performance."
(on WR Jordy Nelson's performance) "Jordy was a monster tonight; he caught three touchdowns so he was trying to catch up to me. The Texans came out in press-man and challenged him but he made some great plays. "
LINEBACKER CLAY MATTHEWS(Transcribed by Lance Jaramillo)
(on the defensive performance of Packers) "I think it spoke for itself. I don't know how many points we gave up. We gave up seven on a drive where I had an offsides as well as a pass interference. Take that away and we had a pretty good day. We held them under 50 yards rushing until that last run, we got a couple of key interceptions, got after the quarterback a little bit and that's what we wanted to do coming in."
(on why the defense was able to put pressure on the Texans offense) "I think the gameplan overall to stop the run, teams haven't had success against this team, so we were able to do that along with bring (defensive coordinator) Dom's (Capers) blitzes and guys like myself off the edge seemed to get a lot of the pressure."
(on if this was a statement win) "It's a win and that's what we need. Right now we're a little up and down, so hopefully we can maintain this level of play that we have. It seems at times we play with a kind of unison between defense, offense and special teams. There are things to correct. We're 3-3. That's the reality of it and hopefully we can stack some success now."
(on the league fining players for hits and his statement on Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing's injury) "I definitely think there's a double standard in this league when it comes to fineable offenses that comes for defensive players. A great example is (Green Bay Packers linebacker) Nick Perry got fined $15,000 for a hit on (Indianapolis Colts QB) Andrew Luck, which looked rather legal to me but I don't make the rules and that hit on Cushing was $10,000. Proof is in the pudding. Ultimately as a defender you like to see the league take care of not only the offense but the defense when so much onus is put on certain individuals rather than the entire body of the game. I got a great response from defenders around the league. The NFL has to listen to us. Someone had to say something. That was just the straw that broke the camel's back and hopefully something does change. I'm not complaining or to look for sympathy, but we all like to be protected by the same rules."
WIDE RECEIVER JORDY NELSON(Transcribed by T.D. Durham)
(on getting the first touchdown of the game) "That was big to get back onto the field and get that touchdown to start us off. We wanted to start fast. This game, and I don't know if this still counts, but I think that might be the first time that we scored on our opening possession. It was big and it got us going."
(on the play of QB Aaron Rodgers today) "He's great. He came out and played well. I know he got banged up a little bit, but not too much. It's just good to see – we know what we can do when we're all doing the right thing. We haven't put a complete game together yet this year, and we came really close tonight. It's fun to watch, it's fun to be a part of. Everyone was just doing their part and making plays."
(on if he needed a game like this to get going for himself) "I'm fine. Obviously you'll take it. You want to do what you're supposed to do to help the team win. And when your number gets called, you have to make the play. That's all there is that happened today. It's no different. In our room all we do is preach to make the most of your opportunities, and I think we did that tonight."
(on getting off to a fast start) "Yeah, we need to. Like I said, I don't think we had scored on our opening possession all year. So we wanted to get going. Especially when you're on the road – try to help to take the crowd out of it. We were able to do that and get it into the end zone early and often and get in a nice rhythm."
(on the team firing on all cylinders tonight) "They were, at least close. I don't know, we'll get back in the film room, pick it apart and strive to improve to perfection. It's probably impossible to get to, but that's what we're looking for. At some point in time, I know we had a lull, but we just have to keep working at it, keep moving forward and get ready to go again next week."
(on catching three touchdowns in the game) "All we do is go out and do our jobs, everyone across board. When we do that, we'll form up. We've been far from putting a complete game together throughout this season. We'll look at the film and see how close we came tonight. We just have to continue to improve. It's a long ways away from being where we want to be, so we just have to continue to get better and keep grinding and keep working."
(on the difference with QB Aaron Rodgers tonight) "I think it's just everyone doing their job, him included, all the way across the board. We came in and played well tonight. Once we look at film, it's been something different every time. No matter what it is that's got us in a lull and not performing the way we need to. So I think everyone just stepped up and did their job, him included. When we do that, we can be explosive."
(on the defense taking the pressure off of the offense) "It's great. I mean, that's how you want to become a complete team. Those guys are going out and getting stops, we're putting points on the board. Obviously that's how you get a nice lead and you can kind of make a team one-dimensional and allow us to do what we want to do on offense. Whenever you can do that, we've experienced it, you don't want to be on the bench on offense. As long as we keep scoring and they keep stopping it's going to become that because they're going to be running out of time. It's how you become a complete team, and that's where we're striving to get to."
QUARTERBACK AARON RODGERS(Transcribed by Jesus Acevedo)
(on his performance and the game) "It was a game that I was into early. Coach (McCarthy) gave me some good opportunities to take some shots. I missed (WR) James (Jones) on the first one then we got that offside penalty and went right back to (WR) Jordy (Nelson) on a deep ball and he made a great catch. We got in the end zone and kind of got rolling from there. The line did a great job protecting for the most part, I stepped into one sack and then we had an adjustment from a run that was kind of the other sack. Did a good job protecting, guys made plays; we had multiple big-time catches down the field. Both of James' catches where excellent for touchdowns. (WR) Randall (Cobb) made some great second reaction plays and (TE Tom) Crabtree had a big touchdown.
(on the Texans defense) "They challenged us. They played a lot of one-high safety, a lot of man coverage and put those corners in one-on-one spots with not a lot of safety help. So we wanted to take some shots early and as we got in the flow of the game, we kind of wanted to dictate the stuff we wanted to do on offense – shots down the field, double moves and made the most of a lot of them."
(on Packers offense tonight against the Texans) "It's a very good team. That team is going to be in the playoffs. They've got a great quarterback, great running back, and a very good defense. They're very well coached. This is just a team that has a lot of pride in our locker room. I said it this week, there is not a lot of quit in that locker room. It's almost better when people are doubting us a little bit I think; we kind of band together. People try to pull us apart this week and we stuck together and found our motivation within."
(on this game being a must win) "I never like to use those words but I know what you mean. This was an important game for us. We had a couple not go our way, games we should have won. 2-4 would have been very difficult. We got a tough stretch still to play. Another road game next week before we get to come home and a lot of very good teams on our schedule left, five division games and we can't add up too many losses early in the season especially the way Chicago is playing. We can't get too far behind."
(on hearing the criticism) "Of course I heard it. I mean it wasn't like I paid a lot of attention to it but people, whether it's good stuff or bad stuff, friend of mine they like to tell me what's being said out there. I'm not someone that watches a lot of TV or puts a whole lot of worth into some of those comments, but I feel like I've always played with a chip on my shoulder and it helps when people give me a reason to have that chip on my shoulder."
(on DE J.J. Watt) "He's very good at celebrating. He's a great player. I was actually joking with him in between the TV timeouts. After the first sack I kind of looked back and figured that's what he did, I didn't see it but I just said, 'hey you got your own move why you messing with mine,' I know he does the salute. When you're a quarterback it's interesting to see the kind of dances that go on around you and it's not often you get to dance back to them. I made mine's look kind of silly after my touchdown run doing my discount double check and have it call back on a holding call, but you got to give J.J. (Watt) a lot of respect. He's a big time player in this league and he has a chance to be Defensive Player of the Year for sure and be great in this league for a long time."
(on having fun with the discount double check dance) "It's been great working with State Farm, the commercials have been great and hope we can keep doing them."
(on WR Jordy Nelson) "Jordy's a great player. He's a phenomenal athlete, gives you a lot of confidence as a quarterback when you put the ball in his area that he's going to come up with it. He made some big catches for us. The touchdown really got us going early in the game. It was just him running by the corner and making a good play on the ball."
(on being committed to the run game tonight) "It was important for us to stick with it tonight. They're sub packages four down one linebacker, playing a lot of six DB's (defensive backs) so when they're six DB's are on the field you have to be able to run the ball effectively. They like to play wide techniques with their tackles. They got five really good guys who can get after the passer. They're four are as good as any four in the league. It was important for us even if we weren't super effective with it to make sure we were still making the attempts."
(on Texans defense without ILB Brian Cushing) "Brian is a perennial Pro Bowler and it hurts not having him out there but we've found in Green Bay that the next guy needs to step up. We haven't had (WR) Greg (Jennings) for good part of the season and it's given (WR) James (Jones) opportunities and he's done an incredible job for us and (WR) Randall Cobb and (WR) Jordy (Nelson) is holding steady, so they (Texans) need to have the same sort of thing happen with Brian out somebody will step up. They're a great team and they're well coached. They'll miss Brian but somebody will step up and fill the void."
