After the Texans' 30-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, members of both teams spoke to the media.
Houston Texans head coach Gary Kubiak
(on the team's performance in front of a national television audience) "It was good. Our defense was excellent throughout the game. I know our prevent at the end was a little suspect, but our defense played extremely well and gave us tremendous opportunities. I think had we been playing really sharp on the offensive side of the ball, we could have really put some points on the board. But the team effort, everybody was ready to play. We're flying around. It wasn't easy. (We) kind of struggled to put them away, but found a way to do it."
(on the difference on the defense) "There was a big deal made last week if we were blitzing more and those types of things. I don't know that we're blitzing much more than we have in the past, maybe a little bit, but we're just more aggressive right now. I think the defense is comfortable with (CB) Dunta (Robinson) returning to his old spot. They've got confidence in the (LB Xavier) Adibi playing, of (LB Kevin) Bentley playing. (DE) Mario (Williams) is playing very well. Getting (DT) Amobi (Okoye) back, I just think they've kind of gelled a little bit here in the last couple of weeks. The same guys have been on the field every week, and they're just playing better together. We are being a little bit more aggressive with our calls, and we're handling the calls and not giving up big plays. They've been the strength of the team these last few weeks. They've really led the way."
(on how proud he is of the team playing hard despite a 5-7 record) "I've told you guys, this is a special group. What they've been through, going back to the early first months of the season, not only how tough the schedule was and that situation, but also going through the Mother Nature issue, it was very difficult. I've been in some situations with other teams, and some teams never come out of that, but these guys keep working and that's why they're going to get there some day because it's never been an issue with them how hard they go about their business, how hard they work. My hat's off to them. We started slow, played well, struggled a couple weeks. Now, we bounced back for a couple weeks. I'm just looking forward to the last month of the season."
(on any injuries tonight) "I think we're OK. (DE) Anthony Weaver got a little hamstring (injury), but he did play through it. (LB) Chaun Thompson, same thing. I'll let you guys know more about that tomorrow. It's a short week, short turnaround for us going to Green Bay, but it looks like we're OK."
(on the giveaway/takeaway margin tonight) "If we win turnover battles, we win games. I showed our players a stat the other night that we've won 13 turnover battles in my two-and-a-half years here, and we're 11-2 in those games. The last eight turnover battles we've won, we've won every one of those games, so that makes it nine. That's a big part of football. If you win the turnover battle, you're getting great field position, good things are happening for your team. It's always been a key for us, and we've obviously done a better job here in the last few weeks."
(on RB Steve Slaton) "He's really growing up. I was teasing with the team a while ago; it's funny that you ask. At halftime, I didn't run the ball enough in the first half, to be honest with you. We got a little out of whack play-call wise, and the kid came up to me at halftime, here's a rookie, grabs me by the shirt to say, 'I'm OK. Give me the ball.' He reminds me of (RB Clinton) Portis, personality-wise, that I coached for years. He's got a great personality. Nothing is too big for him. To watch him get stronger at the end of the game was very impressive."
(on leaving points on the field tonight) "No doubt, we really did. That's two weeks in a row that we've done that. We've had some ball movement but haven't scored the points, didn't have the first-and-goal down there. We had what we wanted, we just couldn't find a way to get it in. Our defense held on for us, and that was the key."
Houston Texans TE Owen Daniels
(on his frustration regarding the Texans struggling to get into the end zone) "We were. Our defense was doing a great job for us getting turnovers. We missed a field goal, I think we had three opportunities and only got three points out of it, so we need to do a lot better there in those situations. But obviously, it was good enough to get a win. "
(on his feeling as a whole on the win) "It was good to do it in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football. So yeah, we've got to be happy with it."
Houston Texans G Chester Pitts
(on his take on the game) "You know what, we got an opportunity to be on the big stage and we seized the moment. We came out and played fast. We came out the game playing hard and playing fast. We sputtered a little bit in the middle of the game but closed it out at the end, and that's what it's all about."
(on what he thought of DE Mario Williams) "He played pretty dog-gone well. I mean, three sacks, six tackles, four TFLs (tackles for loss)… I mean, that's a good day. He played very well. If I was going against a person and they did that against me, I'd be looking for the nearest bridge to jump off of. So, yeah, it was a great thing for him, and rough on the offensive lineman that was supposed to be blocking him."
(on what this does for the team going forward) "You know what? The best thing about it is the guys were happy at the end of the game. But no one was just excited and bouncing of the walls because we knew if we played the way we're supposed to play, do what we were supposed to do, we'd-a hung 45 or 50 on them. It's another step towards being to where we want to be. But we know that if we want to beat the elite, beat the best of the best, then we have to play cleaner throughout the game."
Houston Texans CB Jacques Reeves
(on the status of defense coming back together) "Oh, yeah. We have the pieces here. We've just got to bring it together. The last few weeks, we've been focusing on being more disciplined, making more plays and playing more intense football than we've been doing."
(on CB Dunta Robinson being back into the defense) "He's the sparkplug for this defense. He's also our leader on this defense at the same time. He just brings a different energy. As soon as he was on the starting lineup, he was the different energy on our defense."
(on whether he felt the Jaguars tried to test him defensively) "That's what I want. I like being tested. It lets me know who I am, lets me know what I need to work on."
(on if he thought about the fact that everybody around the country saw his interception in the first quarter) "Not at the time. At the time, I was thinking end zone. I was thinking six. I was trying to get there. Like I said, this is not my first go-round on Monday night. I know everybody's watching; I got 100 text messages before the game. And like I said, it was really exciting for us."
(on how many text messages he has had since the game) "Oh, I haven't even turned my phone on yet."
(on how much confidence this game gives him) "I gave up a couple plays, too, man, so that's my focus, to go work on what I messed up when I gave those plays up, get back to the drawing board in a couple of days, try to work on my technique and get better."
Houston Texans CB Dunta Robinson
(on this Monday Night game made an impact onto the team) "We've always thought that we had good players and we always thought that we never have gotten the recognition we deserve. This is the only game on tonight. It's a chance for us to go out and show the world what we have here in Houston. We have guys that can make plays on both sides of the football. We were like kids in the candy store. The stage was big, and we went out there and got the job done. We just want to show the world that we can play football."
(on the emotions of the team after halftime) "It was crazy. I've never seen anything like it. Guys were so ready to go back out and go back. We had four minutes left and (head coach Gary) Kubiak was like, 'Guys, calm down; we're going to go back out on the field,' because everybody was so amped up and ready to go back and play. We've never been in this situation. We've never seen this atmosphere and it was a great atmosphere. We feel like we belong here."
(on the criticism of the team before the game) "You hate to see your side of the ball get criticized. You hate to see any coach or any team or any of your teammates get criticized. That's part of this game. Guys are going to get criticized all the way around from players to the coaches. We understand that comes with the territory. Everyday we come to work, and we go out there and try to win on Sundays…or Mondays."
Houston Texans QB Sage Rosenfels
(on the lack of offensive strength this game) "Our defense played great. (RB) Steve Slaton played great. There's nothing better than handing it off to him or throwing a screen to him for big gains. We did enough to win. We stopped ourselves a few times. We got in field goal range, then we had that offensive penalty and got out of field goal range. We had so many third-and-15s, and nobody gets a first down on third-and-15. It just doesn't happen very often. That's where you have to play smart and check the ball down or hit a shallow cross and hopefully get close enough for a field goal. So yeah, we didn't play great offensively, but we did enough to win, and that's all that matters."
(on what the win does for the team) "It was big. Especially on Monday night, that was a new experience for a lot of guys. We were pretty amped up for it. We've had a tough year this year, but to get a win in front of the entire country is big for a lot of guys and for our franchise. I think that the crowd was unbelievable tonight. They definitely were a part of the victory as far as the way our defense played and how many false starts I think that they had on their offense -- that definitely goes right to the crowd."
(on the feeling that there's a lot more season to play) "We always felt that, and we're going to play all 16 games. That's what we're paid to do. You know, playoffs or no playoffs, we're going to keep playing, keep fighting. The guys have a lot to play for. We've got a lot of great character guys on this team and we're going to play it until the end."
Houston Texans LB DeMeco Ryans
(on what has been different with the defense) "I think we've been more aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, and that's allowing us to make a lot of plays. We're starting to get turnovers, the ball is starting to bounce our way, and we're playing more together than we've played all year."
(on it not being a pretty win, but a win being a win) "Yeah, we didn't want to give up those points at the end there. We really wanted to shut these guys out. We know we could have shut them out. So, it's good to get a win in the NFL, but we were kind of disappointed in ourselves because we know we're better than that and we know we could have played a lot better and not let them get on the board."
(on playing on Monday Night Football) "It was great. It was awesome; everything I expected. It was lights on, Monday night. It was big-time football, and our team stepped up tonight and we came to play."
(on what DE Mario Williams did tonight and what that means to the defense) "(DE) Mario (Williams) played very well for us. When Mario steps up like that, we play well as a defense. When our front line guys are making plays and getting sacks, causing fumbles, that allows us in the back end - that makes our job a lot easier. It's great for Mario. I'm excited for Mario that he got to produce the way he did tonight on a big stage."
Houston Texans RB Steve Slaton
(on his emotions after the game) "Very, very positive. We wanted to come into the end of the season strong, and I think we are doing it with these past two wins."
(on talking to head coach Gary Kubiak at halftime) "Ah, I've been wanting to run the ball at this stage and leave no regrets."
(on why he pulled head coach Gary Kubiak aside at halftime) "After we finished our game plan, what we were going to run in the second half, I was just in there and told him I was ready to run the ball and told him if he needed someone to count on, it was me."
(on the inside screen play that set the Texans up for a score) "Everybody was to the left, and I ran to the right away from everybody and got caught down at the one."
(on having family and friends at the game) "Yeah, my mom and dad. This was my dad's first trip down here with my agent. I am really happy I put on a good performance for them."
(on using the media critique on him being a situational, drifting back as a motivating factor) "Yes, it is driving me here today to be a 10-drive guy. And I thought that any situation they put me in, I can play, and I just wanted to prove to everybody that I could do that."
(on being stopped on one-yard line a couple of times) "Yes, it was very frustrating. It gives the defense a little bit of momentum when they stop you, but we still had a lot of game left and we finished it later on in the red zone."
Houston Texans DE Mario Williams
(on if what ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said to him motivated him) "Yeah, you know, he said I didn't have a first step. It's just one of those things where I don't know what he's going to say now. It's just, go out and play ball. I'm always motivated from the haters, so I appreciate it."
(on if he gets tired of hearing doubters) "No, whatever. It's going to be something whether you're getting off the ball or you're not getting of the ball; you're going to have something that you're not good at. So that comes along with it."
(on what the difference has been in the defense the last two weeks) "Tackling. You know, we kind of got a little sloppy out there for one part of the game, but the biggest thing is us tackling. We're always in a position to make plays, we just have to tackle. I mean, that's coming through for us."
(on what was going through his head when he dropped back in coverage and saw Jaguars QB David Garrard rolling out) "Fresh meat. I saw everything. I was like 10-15 yards deep and I saw him from inside the pocket, then I saw him try and get out. As soon as I saw him get out, I was like, 'I'm coming up.'"
(on tackling in open space) "Yeah, that was out in space, and I dropped a lot (into coverage) in this game, more than what I usually do. But it was good battles for everybody, and it worked out. It was one of those things that, you know, you just have to make sure you keep your feet under you and make the play."
(on if there was something he saw coming into the game that he was able to take advantage of) "Well, the scene was set. You know, it's a Monday night game and there's a lot of intensity. People were saying that we weren't ready for a big stage, a lot of the analysts or whatever. It's just, come on now. Anything can happen. As long as we go out and play the ball that we're supposed to, we'll be alright."
(on owner Bob McNair saying that it's games like this that show the country who the Texans are) "It's big. I mean, we don't have games like that. I know a lot of people from the East Coast that are like, 'Who did ya'll play? When did ya'll play?' Stuff like that. They don't even know about what's going on over here, good or bad. So for us to finally get a showcase, it's big for us."
(on what it means to have his teammates talking nonstop about him in the locker room after the game) "It feels great. That's all that matters to me, is my teammates and my coaches and this organization. And for them to say that, that's huge coming from them. Whether it's good or bad, what they say really matters. It's kind of like having a family celebration. It's just huge, and to hear that from my teammates is big for me."
(on if this was the best game of his career) "I don't know. It's behind me now, believe it or not. It's over now. It's, what, 11:00? It's time for the next game."
(on playing well in primetime) "It's just one of those things that we just like to go out there and we just play hard, and like you were saying, it's time for us to stop all the tough talk or whatever and go out and play. All the talk has to stop and we've just got to go out and play ball and don't worry about what anyone else is saying."
Houston Texans T Eric Winston
(on his first Monday Night Football game) "Oh, it's awesome. You grow up watching Monday Night Football as a kid, and it's something you can't really describe. The fans are awesome. The whole red-out and everyone showing up and everyone was screaming and yelling, it really added a lot to the atmosphere."
(on how impressive RB Steve Slaton was tonight) "(RB) Steve's (Slaton) been doing it all year, he really has. It says a lot for a rookie, too. Usually, they hit those walls coming in about this time. The college season is ending up and they are wondering why they don't have more time off. But Steve, he's battling a few little nicks here and there. He's doing a great job. I really thought that he was going to contribute a lot down the stretch, but he's been there all year. It's been a good sight to see."
(on it not being pretty but a win still being a win) "Yeah. Man, it was ugly. I mean, no doubt about it, we didn't look too good there for a while. We were really spitting and sputtering, and it's hard to put your finger on what we were doing right, what we were doing wrong, and we just weren't getting it done. But we're playing as a team, and that's really what we've been doing the last two weeks is really playing as a team. The defense gives up a score, we're (the offense) going to at least answer it. If we're spitting and sputtering, the defense is going to find a way to give us a shorter field. I thought we did that real well. The field position battle tonight must have been pretty lopsided because it felt like they were backed up a lot and we were getting the ball at the 40 and the 50 with the turnovers and with our returns. So that was really the game, and we just kind of find a way to win and then finally, towards the end there, we put it away."
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio
(opening statement) "We came out here and battled. We just came up short once again. The guys are working hard and trying hard and giving good energy and effort. That's just not good enough. The execution is not crisp. We struggled to score points when the game was on the line, and we had several opportunities I thought overall. Defensively, other than the first drive and the last drive, I thought we played pretty good. I thought we gave ourselves a chance. We forced some field goal attempts and knocked them out of field goal range and got them off the field on third down. They were very good coming into this game. They've been close to 45 percent on the year on third down. We were able to get off the field and hold them down and get ourselves a chance. We just weren't able to generate any points. We moved the ball, we possessed the ball and we had time of possession. We were able to run it tonight pretty well and ultimately it just wasn't enough. It comes down to scoring points and execution and we weren't able to get it done today. The question was asked just a minute ago, 'So, where do you go from here?' We go back to Jacksonville and go back to work. We recognize that it's been a disappointing year and a disappointing night tonight. That does not ever detract from the amount of work and energy and effort that needs to go into playing well. The only way you have a chance to get better is to continue to work and do things the right way. So we'll continue to push for that. But, disappointed this evening."
(on the injury front) (CB) "Rashean (Mathis) had an MCL sprain and was not able to return the second half. I'm sure they'll take a look at it and make sure that he'll be ok going forward. I don't know right now and I wouldn't try and guess a time frame."
(on the onside kick) "We thought we had something there and we just didn't execute it well. Did it a lot better throughout the week getting ready for it. I thought we had an opportunity there, just didn't take advantage of it. Defensively, we go down and hold and we end up settling for a field goal offensively and go with the onside and then we hold them to a field goal and I'm not sure that was real impactful in the game. We took that opportunity and it didn't work out, but the defense held up."
(on the fourth down play when QB David Garrard tripped) "We got stepped on a couple times tonight. Not sure why that happened. I thought David got tripped up a couple different times during the evening ,and that obviously doesn't help in your execution."
(on practicing the opening drive) Didn't look like it based on the way it went out. Not very strong to open the game."
(on the regression of QB David Garrard from last season) "I think quarterbacks are going to get more than his share of blame and more than his share of praise when it goes well. I think that he's part of this football team and we have not functioned at a high level. I do believe that David is at his best when we're running the ball well and is able to use play-action. He's a guy that can move the chains and do stuff with his feet and his arm. That's when we're operating at our best. And we just haven't really been in rhythm this year where we've been able to do that for any length of time. That's been the biggest thing; we just haven't found that rhythm with him. It's a combination of things. Tonight, we're driving down, having an opportunity early in the game and we have a third down play, third and short, wide open and the ball is placed on time and it's dropped. And we missed the field goal to boot. Those are just deflators. Those are things that deflate your football team. Those are plays you have to make to be able generate any kind of momentum and get into a rhythm and feel good about what you're doing. You have to make those simple plays. Some of those routine plays we've just not been executing. I think as a result you don't end up feeling like you're getting in rhythm and don't end up getting in rhythm, and the momentum ends up being more of a downward spiral than a snowball rolling the way you'd like it to."
(on being anxious in the game) "Maybe a little anxious. Early in the game in that first series, sloppy tackling, they were able to go down and score. And then after that I thought the defense settled in and played real well. Then we missed it at the end. We just jumped under a block trying to go make a play, jumped underneath a block and gave up a gash. We don't like to see that."
(on being able to sleep at night) "That I put my head down at night and rest? Absolutely. That's the way I always will go about my business. Take care of my job; make sure I do my job to the best of my ability I think as a man if you know that you've given all that you have to give and you're working diligently and doing the right things I think you can do that. That doesn't mean that I haven't had sleepless nights after ballgames. Certainly I have, but I think it's important to be able to do that. That's the challenge for everybody, make sure you're doing all that you can do for the good of the team, for the cause. I've done that my entire time being here with this organization and will continue to do that.
(on what he'll do for the last four weeks of the season) "We're professional athletes, coaches, players. It's exciting to be a part of this league. I feel a great sense of pride when I put a Jacksonville Jaguar shirt on and go to work. I think it's an honor to play in this league, I do, and I think it's a privilege. And I think that our guys have to sometimes, like this evening, you get an opportunity to go out there and play hard and there's a great atmosphere here and you're on national TV and that's exciting. So, it's football. You get a chance to compete. So, I think we want to continue to tap into that for the love of the game. The guys that love to play the game it will show. I don't think there is any question that (RB) Fred Taylor loves the game. I don't think there is any question that (RB) Maurice (Jones)-Drew loves the game. I think there are certain guys where it's real easy to see how much they love playing, competing. And, we want to rally around those guys and keep working hard at executing together. If we execute a little bit better, we'll have a little bit more fun, and that's the challenge for us right now."
Jacksonville Jaguars T Khalif Barnes
(on the game in general) "We didn't make enough plays tonight. Not taking nothing away from Houston, they came and made the plays that they needed to win the game. We were in the red zone and couldn't put it in. We had some penalties. I had two of them that were stupid, that kind of put us in long yarder situations. We just did a lot of stuff to dig ourselves out of a hole."
(on the future of the season) "I never understand that question people ask. We are professional athletes. We compete. We have four games left; we get ready for the next one. What else would we do? I never understood that question. We are competitors by nature, that's what we love doing. The next thing is to go get ready for Chicago. You can't pack it up and not focus on your next game."
Jacksonville Jaguars QB David Garrard
(on the game) "I'm sure I'm just going to echo a lot of the things that he (head coach Del Rio) said. It's very disappointing. We had a lot of high hopes, high expectations for this season and we haven't fulfilled them whatsoever. It was very disappointing tonight. We really felt like we had a good game plan coming into this game and we just didn't execute well enough at all on offense to be able to put points up on the board that we needed. Defense did a great job of keeping the game close for us the whole day, and I really felt like we were going to be able put some points on the board today."
(on if the Texans did anything different) "I think they came out and played great, but I definitely think we did a lot of things tonight that pretty much beat ourselves. You can't have as many turnovers as we had, and you can't have as many penalties as we had. We really felt like we were going to be able to move the ball well on them and we did move the ball on them, but we didn't capitalize when we got in the red zone and that's frustrating."
(on if it's tough to get up for this game with the season going the way it is) "Absolutely not. It's never hard for me to get up for any games. I'm very blessed to be able to be in this position to be a starting quarterback to be able to play this game. Every time I have a chance to go out there, I'm always going to be fired up. I know everybody tonight was fired up for this game. We just beat ourselves too many times in this game. You can't have that many turnovers and think you're going to come out with a win. It's just pretty much impossible. I thought the guys kept playing hard to the end, but we need to do more earlier in the game."
(on tripping on the fourth-down play) "I just kept getting stepped on. I know my center is doing all that he can do to protect for me. But, you know, it happens sometimes. You don't want it to happen on fourth-and-goal like that, trying to make the play and put points on the board. When you get stepped on as quarterback on that push off foot, it's tough. It doesn't look very coordinated at all; makes you look very clumsy, I guess. But, there is nothing really you can do when you're foot is cemented into the ground."
(on if his center tripped him) "I believe so."
(on the pressure of Peter King picking them to win the Super Bowl) "I don't think we had a hard time dealing with that. I just think that after he said that he was going to pick us to win the Super Bowl - I just think that with all the adversity that we had early in the season and we didn't come out with a win and we didn't get a win in the second game. So, I think that started to kind of tighten guys up a little bit. I just think guys have been playing hard all year. We've been beating ourselves too many times. We really haven't had those lucky breaks for us. You have to get them sometimes and unfortunately we haven't been getting them, especially here lately."
(on if there has been a certain thing that has happened this year to make them 4-8) "It really isn't that thing. I think it's been so many chances where we were so close on so many things, but only we know that, and only we can see film and say 'If we had this block here on this run, we could have been sprung, you know. If I put the ball here, if the receiver makes the catch here.' We were getting all those last year. We were making all those last year. We were even getting the plays that you consider a little bit of a lucky play. And this year we haven't been getting those breaks. It's been tough on us. We've still got quite a few football games left and we need to make sure that we don't just pack our bags and wait for the offseason. That would be horrible for this team to do that and I don't think they will. I'm going to make sure that, as one of the leaders in this locker room, that guys are following my lead. If I see something that doesn't look right and doesn't sound right, I'm going to make sure that I address it however I can."
Jacksonville Jaguars LB Clint Ingram
(on giving up a touchdown on the opening drive and playing from behind) "We've just got to do a better job. We've just got to do a better job of executing our assignments. I really have to get in the film and see exactly what went wrong for me to say. It would be good if we could if we could watch the film before we could do the interviews and then kind of let you know went wrong and what wasn't so good. But I know everybody played hard. I don't know if everybody was fundamentally sound, if we were as sharp as we need to be because when you're out there you're kind of focusing on your job and trying to do your job. So, I really don't know where we went wrong at. I know a few runs, passes. It's the National Football League. So, we've just got to put this behind us. We can't go back and get this game and move on to next week."
(on if RB Steve Slaton is a tough guy to get a hold of) "Well, it looked like he (RB Steve Slaton) was tonight. He's a good running back, but I don't know. I would have to look at the tape."
(on if it was more of the defense's fault and not about RB Steve Slaton) "I'd have to see exactly where they busted and what was the call to kind of know exactly if he (RB Steve Slaton) broke a lot of tackles or if somebody was supposed to be there and they weren't. But, he's a good running back though."
Jacksonville Jaguars WR Matt Jones
(on struggling to find flow on offense) "Yeah, we just kept doing little stuff –getting a false start penalty and then all of a sudden, it's first-and-15, or getting a sack or dropping a pass or letting a linebacker come through on a run and just putting ourselves in bad situations. We've got to be more efficient on first downs. We controlled the ball a little bit as far as the time of possession, it wasn't that bad. But we've got to be able to move the ball and get some points."
(on there not being any fire or if the team didn't get any mojo going) "I don't know. For me, I loved it. I loved playing on Monday night, and I thought it was awesome. I was out there trying my best and I didn't see any lack of effort on anybody else's part. I just (think it's) lack of execution. And when you're not executing, it might look like that, but I think everybody's out there trying and still working hard."
(on not taking advantage of the Texans' defense) "Yeah, it's not a good deal. You're not going to win a lot of games when you play like that. You've got to give it to them, though. They were able to score some points, and we weren't. That's enough said. You really can't say a whole lot about it."
Jacksonville Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew
(on the team struggling) "We have to find a way to get out of this little sand trap that we are in. It seems like the more we try to get out, the worse it gets. We are going to try to find a way to pull out a victory. In this game, the only way you have fun is winning. We have to try to find a way to get this thing going, keep our heads up and find a way to get a victory."
(on what he saw tonight and looking forward to the next game) "We did some things, but they did a great job of holding us. We ended some drives when we shouldn't have and didn't get the points that we needed when we needed them. When I say points, I mean touchdowns, not field goals. We have to find a way to do that. We have to come back out this week, work hard and get ready for a tough Chicago team."
(on if playing tough games and coming up short is hard) "It's not hard at all. If you don't want to be (here), don't come. If these guys don't want to work hard and have fun, then don't come; it's that simple. I'm going to continue working and think everyone is going to continue working also. I am going to do whatever I can to get better as a person and try to figure out what we have to do to get better."
(on the effort from the team) "Effort only goes so far. We have to win. The effort is good, but we are not winning. I'd rather win with effort than without it."
Jacksonville Jaguars C Brad Meester
(on the remaining games being tough and where the team goes from here) "One of the great things about this team, having been here for a while, is this team never gives up. Week in and week out, (we) give it everything we've got out there, and that's what we're going to continue to do starting again this week in practice. You've got to continue to work hard in practice like we've been doing and working to correct our mistakes, ook at the film, fixing the mistakes in practice. That's how it translates to games."
Jacksonville Jaguars RB Fred Taylor
(on the struggles of the Jaguars' offense tonight) "Yeah, we struggled. We did struggle."
(on having no sync, rhythm or flow during the game) "That's what we've got to be better at. We'll go back and look at it and see what we can do to correct it and get ready for the Bears. It's just tough sledding tonight. Always give the opponents credit. The Texans played pretty good tonight."
(on their "unimaginable" season given the expectations) "Of course, expectations are to be successful, win the division and make the playoffs. Right now, because it's not that, it's tough. You said 'unimaginable.' You never think negative at the start of the season. We definitely didn't imagine it being this way."
(on RB Steve Slaton) "Initially, I knew nothing about him. Coach (Mike) Tice was telling me his story. He wanted to go to Maryland and they didn't offer him. He ended up going to West Virginia and all of that stuff. He's a blazer. I didn't know he was that fast, but he turned the corner on us a couple of times. I saw what he did in Indy a couple of weeks ago. I think it was a 71-yarder or something. I thought he was just cruising, but tonight he had some afterburners. He's a good guy, a lot of upside."
(on the Texans being fueled by DE Mario Williams) "I hope they check with Nintendo or the Super Mario makers. That's a joke. He's a good player. That's the reason they took him first. You can contain him for a while. He's a top pick. Naturally, of course, he's getting better. You can only contain him for a while, but he's going to make some plays."
(on his thoughts about becoming the Jaguars' all-time leader for touchdowns) "Thankful."
(on six giving up a touchdown on the opening drive in six games and how much that sets the offense back playing from behind at first) "You never really want that to happen, definitely if you're a defensive guy. Offensive guys, we don't want it to happen because it gives the offensive coordinator a different approach in his script or the plays that he's thinking of calling. So it's tough, but yet, we still have so much football. So you kind of just try to shrug it off and keep going. You really don't want it to happen, but you've got to play football. It's part of the game."
(on where the team goes from here) "It's our resume still, all of us. All of us – nobody is excluded. We've just got to continue to work our craft, work the process throughout the week. We can try to finish 8-8 or we can say 'Screw it all' and be 4-12. That doesn't do anything for me. I'm sure it doesn't do anything for any of these guys, definitely not the front office. They don't want to cut any more big signing bonuses to get a top pick. So we've got to try to finish this thing at 500. That's the best that we can do."
