Head Coach Gary Kubiak
Opening Statement
"I've been doing this a long time, and I don't know if I've ever been more proud of a team. It was obviously a very, very difficult night for offensive football, and we were going to have to find ways to win, just battling and playing great defense and do our jobs Special Teams wise. I'm just very proud of our team. I tell you this all of the time, but in this league, you have to be able to win in all kinds of ways. We were able to muster it up and win the way we had to tonight."
On being able to find a way
"That's the bottom line. You know you're going to play a tough team; I mean, they're a hell of a defensive football team, and we knew we were going to have some struggles there. We turned the ball over there; we helped them, but it was such a difficult night to just hang on to the ball. And we just kept battling defensively when we had field position problems in the third quarter. As for special teams, that kick at the end, there is none bigger than that, getting that thing through. I'm just proud we were able to go win the way we knew we had to win tonight."
On the play of the defense
"They were exceptional. Two great defenses going at it on the field, and ours was absolutely exceptional, especially in the third quarter. I think they had the ball around the fifty three times because we were pinned the whole quarter, and our defense bailed us out every time. They're playing great. Wade (Phillips) is doing a hell of a job, and we have so much confidence in him, and you've got to play to that strength, and they did a hell of a job tonight."
On the near turnover to start the game
"We certainly dodged a big bullet there. You talk all week on how you have to protect the ball and on the first kickoff, you possibly get one knocked out. So, we dodged a bullet there. As for the other turnovers, Keshawn (Martin) just fell down. Matt (Schaub) was throwing him a slant route, and he came out of his break and fell down. There's nothing you can do about that. It hurts. The other one, Matt had Andre (Johnson) wide open; the ball just flew on him. After that, we settled down. It was ugly in the second half. We did not move the ball well at all, but we mustered up the field goal and hung on to the ball, and that was the difference."
On getting the win in the elements
"I think it's very big for this team. We went to Denver early in the season, and we were in a thirty-one, twenty-something game, and you always have to be able to win games like that. And tonight, you sit here and battle and win a game like we did tonight. So, I think it's important that your team believes it can win a lot of ways. We had a huge special teams play that could have been the difference in the game, but a penalty brought it back. But, I think you gain confidence when you know you're able to do things three ways, and you're not just built one way."
On Arian Foster
"He was exceptional. You know, I don't know what his numbers ended up, but there were some battling yards. He kept battling. He came to me there with about eight minutes left in the game, and he said, 'Just give it to me.' They had nine or ten guys in the box, and he said to just keep giving it to him. I know it wasn't pretty, but he's a special player. The catch he made on the touchdown in the weather is just absolutely exceptional."
On that touchdown pass from Schaub to Foster
"It looked like (Schaub) was going to have to throw it away. The play was designed for Arian in the flat and the corner stayed and waited for him. They had it defended, and Matt extends the play by moving and Arian gives him a chance because Arian kept working. So, it was just a great play on their part."
On the play of Danieal Manning
"Yeah, boy, he almost closed it there late with a pick to close it. You know, he was coming back home. He played a lot of great football here, and I know it was important to him. He had a great week of practice, but he's been playing well for us. Tonight, he played extremely well, but, boy, has he's been extremely consistent for us and plays well all of the time."
On the takeaways by the defense
"Like I said, it was very difficult to throw the ball. We knocked a couple out in the run game. I don't know how many of them were picks, but it was just difficult, and we battled. On the short-yardage play, they make a big play, then we knock the ball out and get it back. We won that battle 4-2. So, we were a plus there, and that was important coming in."
On the weather
"It was tough all day. It was very unpredictable which way the wind was blowing. The wetness stayed there all night long, so it made it very difficult. You want to be aggressive, but you don't want to do something to hurt the game too and take it out of your defense's hands. We just tried to play to them because they were playing so well, and we were able to get out of here with a win."
ARIAN FOSTER, RB
On what went right for the Texans
"There were multiple things that happened all night to help us win. Taking care of the ball in the run game, our defense playing very well and getting turnovers, there were a lot of things that happened."
On being so successful against the Bear defense
"We kind of go as our offense line goes. We say that all the time. They played good tonight. This is a huge win. They're one of the best teams in the NFL and we feel like we are too. We came out with the win. It's an important game for us, but it only counts as one, so we just have to keep on moving."
JJ WATT, DE
On the importance of the victory
"This is a huge win for us, on the road, in a tough environment, tough weather conditions, grind it out, kind of pound-it-out game shows that we can win in any environment, any situation. Our team prevailed, and obviously a lot of perseverance."
On his emotions following the win
"Excited, proud. The way we fought, it was so impressive; offense, defense, special teams, everybody brought their best foot forward. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't clean, but we came out with a win and that's all that matters."
On the weather conditions
"It was tough. That field was pretty beat up out there. It's tough to get your footing. It's tough to keep your footing, make cuts, things like that. No excuses, you've got to win that game and we did that today."
DANIEL MANNING, SS
On his interception
"We were in a zone coverage on that backside. Early in the game I was showing down. I was trying to get him to run the ball and he checked and motioned the guy out to the back stay inside. He pumped fake to the left over Brandon [Marshall] and I ran back to [Matt] Forte, ran back to the seam to make a play."
On playing at Soldier Field again
"Just pulling into the stadium I saw where we used to park. I'm seeing the guys pulling in, I was like this is crazy. I'm on the other end. Actually I've never been in this locker room. It is what it is. Hats off to this team, the guys prepared well. They stayed with me, not making it too personal. I didn't want to be over zealous with all the hoopla about me leaving or not being able to get a contract because I wanted to stay here. We played well. We executed. Those guys came out matching turnover for turnover. They had big plays and we had our big plays. It just came down to the team that was going to continue to hold up."
MATT SCHAUB, QB
On where this game ranks for him
"You know, it's huge. This is a big one, given where the two teams were at in our seasons, both at 7 – 1 going in, the weather we were dealt today. On the road. It was a huge win for us. It just shows our team can win in many different ways. Our special teams played outstanding against a good return guy, our defense played huge, coming up with big turnovers in the first-half, really shutting them down. And we just made enough plays on offense."
On Arian Fosters play
"You know, it was great. That's a stout, tough defense to go against. And given the conditions they knew we were going to try and run the football. He was still able to churn out yards and get the tough yards. He had a couple of break-outs on the touchdown drive in the first-half, which was really good for us. He just played big."
On the Foster touchdown play
"Yeah it was awesome. He just got outside the linebacker, and I didn't have my guys inside so I just came back to him and tried to give it to where he could get it or nobody could get it and we'd go to third down. He just made an outstanding play on it."
"He was my first option. He was covered initially. He kept working to get outside that linebacker. I looked back inside, no one was there. I came back to him with guys coming at me. I think Urlacher was coming and someone else; I just tried to put it outside where it was him or nobody, and if he didn't catch it we go to third-down and try to get it in from there. But he made an outstanding play."
On the weather's impact on holding onto the ball
"Yeah, it was pretty tough. Given the wind, the rain, the middle of the field was pretty muddy, it just left a little bit of a glaze of mud on the ball, which kind of made it tough to grip. It kept you from wanting to take a chance down the football field. You just take things underneath and allow your guys to make someone miss, which is hard to do the way they tackle.
On only getting 10 points off four first-half turnover
"Yeah, we want to convert, obviously for more points against anybody. But they're a good group, have to give credit to them. They stepped up when they turned it over, much like our defense did when [they] turned it over. You know we kind of traded turnovers there in the first-half, we have to try to protect it a little bit better. Our defense did a great job forcing those four; a couple of them when they were in scoring range, they could kick field goals. To eliminate points for them was huge."
On Danieal Manning addressing the team prior to the game
"I knew what type of game it was going to be for him. I've been there before, too. My first year here, going back to Atlanta. So, it's special when you go back and play against the guys you were in the locker room with before. I knew it was a big game for him. He came out and played exceptional."
MATT SCHAUB, QB
On where this game ranks for him
"You know, it's huge. This is a big one, given where the two teams were at in our seasons, both at 7 – 1 going in, the weather we were dealt today. On the road. It was a huge win for us. It just shows our team can win in many different ways. Our special teams played outstanding against a good return guy, our defense played huge, coming up with big turnovers in the first-half, really shutting them down. And we just made enough plays on offense."
On Arian Fosters play
"You know, it was great. That's a stout, tough defense to go against. And given the conditions they knew we were going to try and run the football. He was still able to churn out yards and get the tough yards. He had a couple of break-outs on the touchdown drive in the first-half, which was really good for us. He just played big."
On the Foster touchdown play
"Yeah it was awesome. He just got outside the linebacker, and I didn't have my guys inside so I just came back to him and tried to give it to where he could get it or nobody could get it and we'd go to third down. He just made an outstanding play on it."
"He was my first option. He was covered initially. He kept working to get outside that linebacker. I looked back inside, no one was there. I came back to him with guys coming at me. I think Urlacher was coming and someone else; I just tried to put it outside where it was him or nobody, and if he didn't catch it we go to third-down and try to get it in from there. But he made an outstanding play."
On the weather's impact on holding onto the ball
"Yeah, it was pretty tough. Given the wind, the rain, the middle of the field was pretty muddy, it just left a little bit of a glaze of mud on the ball, which kind of made it tough to grip. It kept you from wanting to take a chance down the football field. You just take things underneath and allow your guys to make someone miss, which is hard to do the way they tackle.
On only getting 10 points off four first-half turnover
"Yeah, we want to convert, obviously for more points against anybody. But they're a good group, have to give credit to them. They stepped up when they turned it over, much like our defense did when [they] turned it over. You know we kind of traded turnovers there in the first-half, we have to try to protect it a little bit better. Our defense did a great job forcing those four; a couple of them when they were in scoring range, they could kick field goals. To eliminate points for them was huge."
On Danieal Manning addressing the team prior to the game
"I knew what type of game it was going to be for him. I've been there before, too. My first year here, going back to Atlanta. So, it's special when you go back and play against the guys you were in the locker room with before. I knew it was a big game for him. He came out and played exceptional."
JASON CAMPBELL, QB
On how he found out he was going to play in the second half
"At halftime when we came in, Jay told me, "Hey, get ready. I'm not sure right now of the status of my injury. Just get ready to go out and play the second half". From that standpoint on, the coaches came out and said "you're in, let's roll."
On if he could tell that Cutler had a concussion
"No, not right off the bat. You know, Jay's a tough guy. He is a tough guy. I think he tried to keep fighting and fighting through it. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to keep going. You just try to make the right decision and do the right thing at this point in the season."
On whether he was able to get into a rhythm
"You know, it's tough when you are sitting on the sidelines. It's not like we were playing against the 31st ranked defense or anything. The Texans were a tremendous football team. They were doing some good things and taking away the deep balls. We tried to dump some off to keep us on schedule. Coming in off the bench, the one thing I wanted to do was try to get into a rhythm. At the same time, I wanted to keep our team in a good position to score, but not give their defense anything. I was trying to read my keys and do what I do best as far as what I do during the week. I'm standing back and watching. You don't get any reps during the week, so you have to get a lot of mental reps. I was trying to do some of the things I learned during the week and apply them."
On what he saw on the deep pass to Brandon Marshall
"Everyone knows that Brandon can get up and get the ball. I just want to give him a chance on that. I tried to hold the safety with my eyes as long as I could, and let him beat the corner. I wanted to give him a ball that he could go up and get."
On whether the offensive turnovers at the beginning of the game were on his mind
"It was a wet game. The ball was wet. You try to do the best you can to control the ball. At that time, the defense was playing really well. I just felt that I could continue to get into a rhythm and move the ball well, and not give their defense anything. We still had a chance to win that football game. But you have to give credit where credit was due. Their defense held up and held tight, and they did a good job of keeping us from whipping the ball down the field."
On whether he was trying to get the ball down the field
"Yeah, yeah – the whole time, I was trying to get the ball down the field. They were taking that way. One time I wanted to go to Brandon, and there was a collision. So I had tried to dump the ball off right there. At the same, we tried to stretch the field as much as possible. You can't just force anything. From that standpoint, we're still in the game."
On his conversations with Cutler on the sideline
"We just talked about trying to stay on schedule. We should try to protect the football, and methodically move the ball down the field on this team. The Texans are a stingy defense. [We also discussed] some of the coverages they gave us in the game, some of the coverages they did to Brandon, and the way they were rolling to one side. We just tried to communicate as much as possible about what we were seeing. In a game like this, it's all about patience. Sometimes you want to be hungry, but at the same time, you need to be patient and work through it."
On the health of Cutler at halftime
"That's something that our team and our doctors will definitely evaluate moving forward. At halftime, he looked at me and told me to be ready. He wasn't sure of his status, and they were thinking about what was the best decision moving forward."
On whether the offense has confidence in him
"Yeah, definitely. It was just tough that tonight was my first reps since the season started. If I have to play, of course, during the week I will get those practice reps and get the guys used to you. And they will get used to me as a quarterback, until Jay is ready. That's something that we have all week to get ready for. We don't have to work that out during the middle of the game."
LANCE BRIGGS, LB
On the outcome of the game
"We still had opportunities, turnovers or not, to get them off the field or keep them from getting three points. We didn't do that. We didn't do enough."
On the mood after hearing Jay Cutler would miss the second half
"We didn't do our part. You know [there's] a sense of urgency. It's all about that score. It's all about trying to put more points up on that board than they have. When you know someone is down, the next man has to step in."
On containing Arian Foster in the second half
"(He's) a very good back. (He's) a very talented back. He understands that system very well. We knew they were going to stretch us. He was going to cut back and find lanes to run in. It's their system. For us, guys didn't cut in the back side. (We) didn't get stops on the back side. We were able to overcome that in the second half. They hit us a couple of times in the first half, and that hurt us."
TIM JENNINGS, DB
On the absence of Jay Cutler in the second half
"I didn't know exactly what happened. That's something we can't worry about. We just know we've got confidence in our backup quarterback, and the next man is up. Hopefully everything is good with Jay."
On the playing conditions contributing to the outcome
"I'm sure it did a little bit, but we can't control that. We got to control what we do. We knew the surface. I think everybody had the right shoe they needed to have on. We can't control the surface (or) the condition the weather we play in. We're just going to have to play in the weather and go play football."
On Texans' running back Arian Foster
"He's a good running back. He's tough to contain, as you can see. He got a couple of plays and a couple of nice runs. We just got to do a better job on defense. We're going to go back to the film. We knew what they like to do. We've just got to do a better job stopping them."
BRIAN URLACHER, LB
On the outcome of the game
"They had four takeaways. We only had two. We stayed in the game right to the end, but we just didn't make the play to get over the hump there at the end."
On not winning the takeaway battle affecting the game
"Yeah. I mean not enough big plays. We played solid most of the time. We got better in the second half. They made more big plays than we did."
On the pressure without Jay Cutler
"That's why we got Jason (Campbell). We're better off now than we were last year at this time. If something were to happen to him, hopefully he will be back soon. Jason did a good job. (It's) a tough situation throwing the ball in those conditions. It can't be easy. I thought he came in and did a good job for us."
Brandon Marshall, WR
On losing Jay Cutler after halftime
"I haven't seen him (Jay Cutler). You know, it's tough when you lose your starting QB. There's no excuses. Jason Campbell is more than capable. I think he came in and did an amazing job. It falls on us in that moment to make the plays. I think we let Jason down and the team down, you know, so we'll get back to the tape and try to prepare for San Francisco and be better next week."
On slow start for the Bears offense
"This is the type of ballgame you expect with the elements and against the Texans. This is a team that's a contender. We were expecting this type of ballgame. The offense started off pretty good, we had a few fumbles and myself, I didn't make that play in the end zone, I let the team down. I take full responsibility for sputtering a little bit the first half. I thought we moved the ball really well and had an opportunity of really putting our team in position to be successful on offense. We let the team down with some fumbles early and a dropped ball by myself in the end zone and that won't happen again."
How would you describe Jay at halftime?
"I didn't see Jay."
How did he look in the last six plays before the half?
"I didn't notice anything. I know he wanted to finish the half. I'm not sure, he seemed normal to me."
He (Jay) took a big hit from their linebacker and then came back on the next play
"I didn't see it, I was down the field. Jay is a tough guy, if he was hurting, he wouldn't tell us. When he was in the huddle, everything seemed normal."
Everyone knows what happened last year when Jay went down. Would you feel differently this year with Jason?
"I wasn't here last year. I was with the Miami Dolphins last year so I wouldn't know about the things that happened last year or what happened in the locker room. One thing I can say is that Jason Campbell is more than capable. I think he came in and did an amazing job and had control of the offense. Really, got us into some good situations, made some great checks. Again, I think the guys around him need to step up, myself included. We let him down and the team, that won't happen again."
On the match-up with Joseph
"He is one of the best corners in the league. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the game, but he did a great job. It was one of those fights you expect to have in this type of game. They let us play a little bit today. He's a good corner and playing for a great defense and hopefully we get a chance to see him down the road. I'm looking forward to the match up again."
On the benefit of having more time with Jason Campbell
"I understand what Jason Campbell is. I understand how he leads. I understand his balls. I have already had a bunch of time with him. I don't think I need extra time or we need extra time. Like I said, he's more than capable and I'm so glad we have him in situations like this. He made some amazing throws and we let him down down the stretch. I think next week will be a better showing for the offense."
On the long completion from Jason Campbell?
"Again, not only did he make amazing throws, that was a check. He called that. He saw something he liked and got us in the right position. He knew we needed a play and he wanted to put it up and see if I could make a play for him. I was happy to do it on that one. Just bad thing we didn't get enough of him tonight."
Does it sting more with Jay and the loss?
"Health first, you know, but when we get a chance to get Jay back, we will. In the meantime we have Jason Campbell. You never want to lose anybody, especially your starting QB. He's our leader, he's the heart and soul of our offense. We want him to have a quick, speedy recovery but in the meantime Jason Campbell is more than capable. There was no heads down when Jay was down, there was no complaining. You know, we have a starting QB as a back up. We are fortunate to have him and there will no drop off in our offense."
Lovie Smith
"When you play a good football team, like the Texans, you have to get off to a fast start. You just can't make some of the mistakes we made early on. If I'm ever standing here when we're minus two on the turnover ratio, it's not a good day for us. That was the case today. In the first half, we couldn't get anything going the way we wanted to. We couldn't run the ball the way we wanted to.
"We had opportunities. Our turnovers really hurt us, but we dropped balls too. We didn't play well enough that first half. In the second half, we did some things better, gave ourselves a chance. You get in a hole like that, it was a different type of night.
"We couldn't stop the run. You just can't let them run the ball, at times, the way they did in that first half. Second half, I thought we played better gap control. We tackled better in the second half, which gave us an opportunity.
"You can't miss a field goal like that also. Again, we got beat by a good football team tonight. You've got to give the Texans a lot of credit for that.
"Injury-wise, Shea McClellin and Jay Cutler both went down with concussions. Shea early in the game and Jay had symptoms at the half. Of course we couldn't play any of the guys after that. Disappointed right now with the loss."
On if Jay Cutler will be available next week
"We're hopeful, but you can't go that far. We just know he had symptoms, which started clearing up after the half. When a guy doesn't finish the game, you've just got to go with that right now.
On if Cutler suffered the concussion on the Dobbins hit
"He took a lot of hits, more than he needed to take. No symptoms until the half. He took some shots. We just know, at the half, that's when he did have symptoms.
On what the symptoms were
"Whatever the symptoms are for a concussion. I'm going to let the doctors handle that. I just know he couldn't go back in the football game. I try not to be Dr. Smith very often."
On how the offense changes without Jay Cutler in there
"This type of game, the weather dictated a little bit what type of football game it would be. We needed to be able to run the football. When we had opportunities with the pass, we needed to hit them. A night like tonight, you can't turn the ball over. You have to have great ball security and when you get your opportunities, take advantage of them. Those turnovers really hurt us tonight."
On his confidence in Jason Campbell
"It was a seven point game tonight with Jason leading us the second half. The backup doesn't normally get a lot of reps during the week. If he has to go, we feel very confident. That's why we brought Jason here. I'm hopeful, but we're not ruling Jay out by any means."
On if Jay Cutler wanted to stay in
"Of course he wanted to play. Guys always want to play, but the decision was made for him. Guys always want to play but he understood he couldn't."
On if the weather nullified some of the good field position
"I can't say that. You have to give them [the Texas] the credit. We did have great field position at times and weren't able to do anything with it. You can trace that back not to being able to run the ball. I think a lot of it started with that. We did a decent job pass protecting, but it wasn't that type of night."
On Matt Forte
"I thought he did a few good things out there tonight. I'm going to say the Texans had a lot to do with that. Everybody was on that same field. Rushing-wise, you look at both teams rushed for the same amount of yards. Matt had his moments. Tonight we just didn't have enough of those."
On what he can take away from this game
"It's a loss. You have to go from there. We were beaten by a good football team. We're 7-2. It's one game. We're going to get back, I mean it's San Fran, as soon as we can. We have an extra day to get ready for them. I'm sure they're a little disappointed in their game today. There are few teams like us that are disappointed. There's a lot of football left to go."
On if Jay Cutler should slide
"He should slide when he should slide. That's about it. We don't want him taking any extra shots. That's a part of it."
On the illegal forward pass
"It's [the body] supposed to be completely past [the line]. Of course, I didn't think he was completely past the line. They looked at it. It was a good challenge. That was a big play in the game. If it had gone our way, who knows? There were a lot of calls that could have gone either way tonight. In the end, the best team won tonight."
