Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen on the Texans 2024 offense
"Added a lot of talent offensively, too. Adding Joe Mixon over there and all those guys and Tank Dell and Nico Collins and tight end (Dalton) Schultz. I mean, they've got a lot of dudes. So, they're explosive, but obviously we've got to get ready to roll this week. It'll be a big week for us."
Steichen on Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud
"C.J. Stroud is a hell of a football player. We've got to get pressure on him, for sure. The best quarterbacks around the league have just a great feel, and the way he progresses through his reads and gets the ball out quick, it's pretty impressive. The way he moves in the pocket – I mean, he looks to stay in, move around, boom, and make these big-time throws down the field or the checkdowns. So like I said, it'll be a heck of a challenge. He's a really good player. They've got a lot of guys, a lot of skill guys on offense, but I know our guys will be ready."
Indianapolis Defensive Coordinator Gus Bradley on Stroud
"We saw him kind of catch fire a little bit, and we thought, holy cow, he's got a chance now to be pretty good. He caught our attention, especially how he was towards the end of the game and then watching them, all the games that we've watched him now, even more in the offseason. A lot of respect for him. Can make all the throws, I mean, field side outs, comebacks, inside, outside. He's got great command of their offense. Plays with really good poise. It felt like there were a couple times he had pressure right in his face and made big-time completions. So, a lot of respect. He's done really well in his early stage of his career."
Colts Quarterback Anthony Richardson on Stroud
"I always tell him he's a dog and he's a go-getter. So, it's always good to see him. But we're both trying to achieve one thing, and that's win."
Colts Linebacker Zaire Franklin on Stroud
"With a year of experience, obviously with a playoff run – is going to come with confidence, is going to come with a different level of swagger. Obviously, they have a talented young quarterback who has an extremely bright future in this league, and we've got to do our best to contain that."
Bradley on the Texans pass-catching weapons
"They've got so many skilled players that they each can have over 100 yards receiving. So, I think really good awareness, how they try to attack you, what they're trying to get accomplished. But we anticipate them trying to get a lot of guys a lot of touches, and we've just got to be ready. I think the other thing they do a great job of is they line them up all over the field. So, you can't really just tie into where one guy is going to be, plus with all of them on the field at the same time we don't have a lot of film. Like I said, there are going to be some things that we're going to have to adjust on the run once we see maybe just kind of how they utilize these guys and where they position them."
Bradley on Texans WR Stefon Diggs and RB Joe Mixon
"They've got a lot of speed, a lot of good athletes, especially at the wideout spot. I mean, their tight ends are very good. And now the backfield, they've got a couple guys there that can really run the ball. They're true pros. I'm guessing it won't take them long to pick up on it. They've had a lot of experience playing football. So, I mean, we anticipate seeing them off and running pretty quick right away just because of their experience and being able to do a lot of different things at Cincinnati and at Buffalo."
Steichen on the Texans 2024 defense
"Obviously, they added Danielle Hunter, really good rusher on the edge. Linebacker from Tennessee (Azeez Al-Shaair), added him. (Jalen) Pitre is playing really good ball. So, they're going to be a good, tough challenge obviously."
*Offensive Coordinator Jim Bob Cooter on the Texans defense *"They fly around. They play super fast, super aggressively. I think the hallmark of a good team in this league is getting better as the year goes on and you would definitely say that about their defense last year. Those guys are tough to play against. Like I said, they play super fast. They're physical. They're getting off the ball. They're running around making plays. They're sort of harassing the ball-carriers and I think that's what they want to be. I would say I saw a defense that continued to get better as the year went on, which that's a hallmark of a good team for me. That's what we want to do here. We want to get better, month one to month two, etc. So, it's a very high-quality defense and then they went out and added some really good players in the offseason. Obviously, they're trying to get better and better, and the challenge is going to be real."
Richardson on the Texans Defense
"You've just got to respect them in general. They have a great squad. They went and picked up some great guys, but we can't let that take away the fact that we've been preparing as well. We've been working on our stuff. So, it's going to be a good game."
