Lions head coach Matt Patricia on Texans DE J.J. Watt: "He's outstanding. I mean, you can put him anywhere. I think one of the things for J.J. that's always been impressive for me, is that he can play inside and outside in the pass rush and just be that disruptive. I think from that standpoint, I think as a defensive coordinator, it's fun to have those guys that you can move around and put in those different matchups. Sometimes you'll like to put them in a particular matchup inside based on the personnel that you're going against, or whether it's a quarterback that you're seeing something that you want to kind of pressure – but certainly a guy as versatile as him, as good as he's been for as long as he's been consistently with that sort of ability, it's amazing to watch."
Lions QB Matthew Stafford on Watt: "As disruptive of a player on the front as this League has seen in a long time. He's really physical in the run game. Slippery. Does a great job not only getting after the quarterback but batting footballs down and just has a great feel for the game. I've got a ton of respect for him."
Tackle Taylor Decker on Watt: "He's very physically gifted and talented. 6-5, 295. Imposing. Has short space quickness. Then on top of that, the guy's that are really talented who play real hard tend to be disruptive, and that's what you see out of him. If he can't get home on a rush, which we all know he has great pass rush ability, he's going to try and affect the play by getting his hands up. He's disruptive. He'll move inside. He'll move outside. We're expecting to see him mostly on our right, but who knows?"
Patricia on what the Texans run defense did differently vs. Patriots: "Really good job getting off the ball, getting the extension, hand placement. I thought they did a great job at the tight end side. Really had a couple different looks over there that J.J. Watt was just as disruptive as ever in the run game. They have some really fast guys on the field. I think that (Zach) Cunningham, they did a great job of freeing him up and allowing him to play fast and vertical into the run fits. I know that that's something in that defense that will always get better each week, and it looks like last week they found a really good mark for him and I'm sure that they'll be ready to go this week in the same sort of focus."
Patricia on Texans QB Deshaun Watson: "He's really unbelievable. I've played him for a number of years and really, during his rookie (year), he broke onto the scene in one of the games against us and just had a phenomenal game. I would say the thing about this guy that is amazing is how competitive he is all the way through the game. It doesn't matter the situation, this guy always has that mentality that he's going to make a play to win, and a lot of times, he does. You see games where defenses have had him wrapped up in the backfield and it's a sack and the game is over, and he gets out, he gets his eyes downfield, he makes an amazing throw and threads the needle. So, he is one of the tops in the League at playing quarterback and being able to get out of pressure and extend plays, run the ball. I think their offense has really shifted a little bit and really kind of designed now to fit a lot of things that he does. There's a lot of gun runs, a lot of RPOs, distraction plays and formations and motions and shifts. His arm strength is as strong as anybody in the League."
Lions safety Duron Harmon on Watson: "He's a fierce competitor. His scrambling ability is elite. He's up there with the best of them. But the thing that he does really well, is he scrambles to throw downfield. He has speed receivers on the outside, obviously in Fuller and Cooks, who can take the top off the defense at any time. He always utilizes his feet when he needs to. So we can't sleep on him from running the football as well. He's just a great quarterback, a great talent, and somebody we're going to have our hands full with trying to get ready for on Thursday."
Lions CB Justin Coleman on Watson: "He's definitely a dynamic quarterback. Capable of creating the explosive plays, and extending the plays to allow the receivers to get open."
Patricia on the Texans offense: "I think with the speed that they added – obviously (Will) Fuller who was there – but Brandin Cooks is another guy that I know really well and his speed to go vertical, it just creates obviously the big play ability downfield, but also that intermediate route area between trying to stay close to the line of scrimmage to defend against the quarterback and then obviously deep shots. There's a lot of space in between that they really put the defense in a bind with."
Coleman on the Texans WR corps: "We basically have to make sure that these guys don't get over the top of us, and play good technique. We have to be aware of which guys in the game and just be on top of the game plan."
