Each Thursday throughout the 2007 season (except for Week 15), we will conduct interviews with players and stream them live on Texans TV. This week, we feature running back Adimchinobi Echemandu, who rushed for 62 yards in his season debut against the San Diego Chargers.
The best part about this series of live interviews is that fans can submit their own questions for the player by **clicking here**. Please include your name and where you're from.
Click on the window to the right to view the archived version of the Adimchinobi Echemandu interview. Below is a transcript of the interview.
1) Karl Meyer (Hutto, TX): It was refreshing to see a Texans running back hit the holes with speed and power like you did against the Chargers. We're excited to have you playing. Can you fill us in on how your leg is feeling?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: It's a day-to-day process. It's gradually getting better every day and hopefully it will be ready by game time against Oakland.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): And it's your hamstring that's tweaked?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Yes.
2) Karl Meyer (Hutto, TX): Can you tell us how many yards you plan on getting against that Oakland team that foolishly cut you?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: We have a good run scheme in there this week. And, hopefully, if I get the opportunity to play, I can run for a lot of yards.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): It's not a grudge match for you, right? You respect that Oakland team.
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Oh yeah. I was there for two years, and that was a new organization starting up with head coach Lane Kiffin – just the politics of the game and a numbers thing. They had to release me, so there's no grudges there.
3) Jason Duplechin (Houston, TX): You may have breathed newfound life into the rushing attack when you ran against the Chargers. Did you ever think that getting the rushing attack back on track would start with you?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: No. Ron Dayne and Ahman Green have been doing it for years now, so they've got horses back here. I'm just happy to get the opportunity to rotate in with those guys.
4) Brandon Porter (from Houston, TX): Going into the Chargers game, did you anticipate getting that many carries?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: No. I didn't know Ahman Green was going to be down until the day of the game, actually that morning. So me and Ron Dayne were just going to be rotating in, but I didn't know it was going to be that many carries.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): Just to brag about you for the fans. You had 10 carries for 62 yards and a 20-yard break-away run in the first quarter, which is your career high now.
Adimchinobi Echemandu: It was a nice play. A hole opened up. I was able to hit that thing with speed. It felt good until I felt the hamstring grabbed me a little bit, but it was nice to get the opportunity to run the ball.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): Was that when the hamstring tweaked?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: I think it was. I know it was somewhere within that line of three plays, but on the third or fourth play it just started grabbing a lot. So I had to come out.
5) Jack (Charlotte, NC): If Ahman's knee continues to bother him, do you think you will be a starter?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: It's up to coach Kubiak. I just want to play and help this team win, so in any facet if it means being the second back, the third back, the third-down back. Whatever they need me to do, I'll do it.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): You said when you were on the practice squad you felt like you were in an audition period for the active roster. Do you feel like you are in an audition period now for the starting role?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Anytime you hit that field the camera is always on you. They're always going to be watching, because as soon as you get in there – the way this NFL works is they're ready to replace you. So if you're not doing your job, then that's just going to happen. So you've got to take the approach where you've got to make plays and you've got to be consistent in what you do.
6) Linda (Sugarland, TX): It seems like there are lots of players on the team from Nigeria. Are you guys all friends?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Of course. Being from the same country and having the same cultural background, you're already going to have that common thread and that common bond with everybody. So, yeah, we're pretty much all friends.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): And just for the fans, they're four players on the team from Nigeria, correct?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Yeah, and they welcomed me with open arms when they saw my name on the roster, so it's a fun thing.
7) Fred (Los Angeles, CA): The Raiders let LenDale White rush for over 130 yards last week. How are you looking to exploit their defense on Sunday?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: The Oakland defense has been a strong defense for the last two years or since I've been there. We have to be able to move the ball and not turn it over. And I think over the course of the game we'll find some opportunities to score, so that should be the whole game plan. But that's not a soft defense at all. They've been in the tops in defense for the last two years, so we're going to have a task in front of us. But I think we're going to get the job done.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): They did let LenDale run for over 130 yards, but it was a close game.
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Yeah. On one of those runs, I think the running back broke at the end of the game for maybe a 30 or 40-yard run towards the end of the game. It was a pretty tight game all the way through, but we're going to have to establish a run game in order to win this ball game because they have a very staunch secondary. We're going to have to run upfront.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): Are you going to try to balance the attack between the running game and the passing game?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: Well, I don't want to give the whole game plan away in case they're watching, but we're going to have to do both. And the key to the game's going to be winning the turnover margin.
8) Fred (Los Angeles, CA): Many people say that this is a pivotal game for the Texans going into the bye week. You guys are either 4-5 or 3-6. Does the team feel that pressure?
Adimchinobi Echemandu: I think anytime you strap on a pad you're going to feel pressure. You've got to win. And I think this team has to go into the bye week on a positive note. The whole month of October was, I don't want to say bad, but we were sliding back and forth a little bit. It's time to move onto a positive note and go into the bye week and get fresh and rest and hit the rest of the games and finish out on top.
Texans Live archive
- Ahman Green (**Oct. 25, 2007**)
- Owen Daniels (**Oct. 18, 2007**)
- Dunta Robinson (**Oct. 11, 2007**)
- DeMeco Ryans (**Oct. 4, 2007**)
- André Davis (**Sept. 27, 2007**)
- Amobi Okoye (**Sept. 20, 2007**)
- Mario Williams (**Sept. 13, 2007**)
- Jacoby Jones (**Sept. 6, 2007**)
