The Texans practiced Thursday morning at the Methodist Training Center and after, head coach Gary Kubiak and quarterback Matt Schaub answered questions from the media. The following is a transcript of their respective interviews.
Head Coach Gary KubiakQB Matt Schaub
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Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on today's practice) "It was good, very spirited. Obviously we went early for Thanksgiving, get everybody home to their family. We put our pads on. We needed to do that. We've been out of our pads for a couple weeks. Real good practice."
(on if there's anything new injury-wise) "No, just Lawrence (Vickers) did not work again today. Timmy Bulman was a limited participant in practice as was Mister Alexander, but other than that, we're okay."
(on what it says about QB Matt Schaub that he's already at practice working with his teammates) "Yeah, I knew that. Ya'll know him. He's going help us. He's going to help me. I want him there with me on game day because he knows these guys as good as anybody and he needs to stay very much involved. I think there's a way he can help this team, so we'll give him a chance to do that. I know it's just tough to see him standing back there."
(on if QB Matt Schaub will travel to Jacksonville) "Yeah, he'll go to Jacksonville. Then he'll have the surgery next week, so I don't know what availability he'll have going into the following week, but as soon as we get him up on his feet, he'll be with us."
(on what day QB Matt Schaub will have his surgery) "I don't know. I want to say it's like Wednesday or Thursday, but I don't know for sure."
(on if QB Matt Schaub will have surgery in Houston) "No, it's going to be in Charlotte, I think."
(on if the same doctor will perform surgery on QB Matt Schaub) "I don't know. I know he's going to get it fixed next week."
(on what kinds of things QB Matt Schaub helps with) "Well, if you notice during practice, he takes the guys that aren't going in the rep and he's goes through the read with them. He goes through everything, so it frees up (quarterbacks coach) Greg (Knapp) to really stay focused on Matt Leinart and stay with him. Hell, he knows this better than anybody, so to have the willingness to want to be out here and help just tells you what he's all about. He's not feeling sorry for himself, so to speak, and he says, 'What can I do to help? I want to continue to help the football team' and that's what we'll give him a chance to do."
(on if QB Matt Leinart is becoming more comfortable in practice) "Yeah, I really liked the way he practiced today. I just think he's going to get better every day out here. I think we got to be smart in what we're asking him to do. Obviously, the team's got to play well around him. It's not just about what he has to do. It's about what the whole team has to do. He's in to what's going on. This is a hell of an opportunity for him and I know we're going to get everything he has."
(on WR Andre Johnson) "He's fine. He's ready to go. I'll probably put a play count on him, but he's ready to go."
(on if WR Andre Johnson will be in the game if the game is on the line) "I would imagine he plans on being in there. Andre tells me what his play count is."
(on if he will rest WR Andre Johnson more than usual in this weekend's game) "Yeah, we'll have to be smart. He won't go out there and play 60, 70 plays this weekend. We'll pay attention to what's going on."
(on if WR Andre Johnson looks like himself again) "Yeah, he looks really good. He looked good today."
(on what he's thankful for) "A little bit of everything; opportunity this football team's got, this city's got with this football team. Hopefully we can keep it going."
QB Matt Schaub
(on never giving up hope that he could still play this season) "No, definitely not. You want to get as many opinions as you can, see what as many doctors say and just figure out if there's any way to protect things and be able to go out and function and play. Once I talked to everyone, there really wasn't an option out there other than to get it fixed for the long term, to be able to get back and play later on and next year."
(on if he could have still played with shots to ease the pain) "There's really no way to cut side to side and move laterally on this type of injury, so it would have been something that really would have limited what we could do."
(on if he ever thought Buccaneers DT Albert Haynesworth purposely injured him) "No, when you look at it, no. It's a quarterback sneak. There's piles, people on the ground and falling over them, so it was very hard. None of that."
(on if his injury could reoccur) "No, it's pretty positive as far as after the surgery, getting the rehab done and being able to come back and play and be fine."
(on what day the surgery will be) "Having it next Wednesday."
(on if the surgery will be in Charlotte) "Yeah, I'm going to go back there and have it done there."
(on if the surgery will be done by the same doctor he visited with this week) "Yeah."
(on how long he will have to stay off his foot after the surgery) "For a while, actually. It was like six to eight weeks of non-weight bearing and stuff. It's a long process. It's something that it's not a quick turnaround as far as rehabilitation, so it's going to be an offseason getting ready and getting right for training camp."
(on what his doctor's name is) "His name's Bob Anderson."
(on if he will be in the coaches' booth for the Atlanta game) "I don't know. We'll see."
(on if he will be on the sidelines this weekend) "I'm going to be there. I'm going to be there and helping out as much as I can with Matt (Leinart) and the guys and everyone, just being there as the leader of the team."
(on if he can do any kind of cardio work) "Arm bike."
(on how important it is for him to be there on game day and in practice) "I think it's very important. It's part of my job. It's part of what I do. It's part of how I view the game and view my position to be there for the guys, whether I'm able to play or not. It's important for me to be out there, important for me to be there on game day, to not just help the other quarterbacks, to help out guys on the offense, just to be there in some capacity. I find it to be very important."
(on what kind of questions QB Matt Leinart asks him) "You know, it's nothing in particular. We've spent two years, almost two full years together. He knows we've talked enough and just sharing things, but you know, he's asked as far as preparation and getting ready for the game within this offense getting ready to be the starter, how to view the game plan from my perspective and how certain plays in certain situations, how to attack them. He's been around enough football. He's played enough too, it's not too big for him. He's going to go out there, be even-keeled, run the huddle, run the offense and he's going to be in good shape."
(on if QB Matt Leinart has any nerves right now) "I think anybody, even guys that play 10, 11 years and are a starter every year, you're going to get some nerves. It's natural, but once you get that first snap out of the way, you go play ball and he's going to be fine. There's no nerves in his behalf. He just wants to go out and play and cut it loose."
(on refusing to come out of the game at halftime when he got hurt) "Yeah, I knew. It was something when it first happened, I knew something was wrong, but it was one of those things, maybe it was just a little tweak and just move it around like twisting an ankle and I'll be fine."
(on if his injury felt like just a twisted ankle at first) "It felt a little worse than that, but coming out of the gates at halftime, once it never just fully went away, I knew there was something wrong in there and I couldn't really move very well. But it was just something, as long as I could stay in there and perform, I wasn't even going to come out."
(on if he made the injury worse by playing in the second half) "No, talking to the doctors, there wasn't anything I could do worse to it, other than something new. No, I wasn't going to do anything worse to it."
(on if this injury is more frustrating than previous ones because of the team's success this season) "Yeah, the physical side of it and actually getting hurt is part of the game and I can handle that. Mentally and all that, I can deal with that. I'll be back. I'll get back. But after all the hard work I've put in and this team's put in, this organization, to get to this point, with six weeks to go, we're 7-3 and what's in front of us, that's the frustrating part, to not see it through with my team. That's why it's so important for me to be here, help everyone out and be there to support Matt (Leinart) and what he's going to do and take over and do that to the best of my abilities. That's the frustrating part, to get to this point and not be able to finish it."
(on how he keeps the mentality of not feeling sorry for himself) "It's just how I've been. Like I said, the physical side of it, I can deal with the rehab, I can deal with the surgery. Not being able to see things through on the field, you know what, that's part of the game. Guys face it every day. There's plenty of people out there in this business and not in this business that have it way worse than I do or anything like that, so I'm not going to have that mentality that 'Why me?' or that type of outlook. I'm going to try to do the best I can to help our team reach that next step."
