[Preseason Gm 3] Texans at Saints

Quotes from Wednesday's practice:

Good comments from Wade about playing in base defense during the preseason. Also, he answered a question about what happened in the 4th quarter during last year's regular season meeting with the Saints.

Head Coach Gary Kubiak

Spoiler

(on how practice was today) “It was good. It’s a challenge. The sun peaks at noon so that’s something we got to get used to and it’s very hot for us, so it’s a challenge especially early in the season. But I thought our young guys were much better with what we wanted today.”

(on the preparation for the New Orleans game) “We approach this game just like we would a regular season game. Everything we do, how much we do, how much we teach, the schedule throughout the day, we want them to go through exactly the way we’re going to do it against Miami. From that standpoint, we’re doing everything we would do normally.”

(on if the team will continue practicing outside) “Yeah, I don’t like practicing on that turf, y’all know me. We actually do our walkthroughs in there, and I’ll let (Special Teams Coordinator) Joe (Marciano) do special teams in there, a lot of young players on the special teams. But once we start practicing, we’re going to go outside regardless of how hot it is. I just have to monitor and make sure. We’ve held up pretty good since I’ve been here. But the key is teaching your players when they have to be ready to go. In my opinion, if you practice at nine in the morning, they are going to get used to going at nine in the morning, and they showed that yesterday. But we got to get used to being at our best at noon.”

(on ILB Brian Cushing sitting out) “I told you guys yesterday, with us being in pads today, we were physical in practice for an hour today, so I never thought twice about that one. We’ll see. Hopefully he’ll be out there tomorrow. My plan is for him still to play; he’s doing well, he’s feeling good, he wanted to go, but we’ll see where he’s at tomorrow.”

(on any other health issues) “Yeah, we have a sad situation. Y’all asked me about Sunny (Harris) yesterday, I actually had the muscle wrong but Sunny was in an individual period yesterday and tore a tricep. We found out after practice yesterday that we lost him for the year. So, it’s a very unfortunate situation and makes it tough on us right now, especially with (NT) Shaun (Cody) out. He had been playing really good for us, so he’s gonna go on IR, and it’s a concern right now. Other than that, (WR DeVier) Posey did not finish practice today; his calf was bothering him, but I would expect him back tomorrow.”

(on if they are looking to bring somebody in since multiple players are out due to injury) “Well, let’s say we’re moving some people around. It’s hard with the CBA rules right now; even if you went out and found somebody, they couldn’t even play on Saturday, the way you have to have the acclimation period, so it doesn’t do you any good. Now, are we having to take a look at ourselves as we move forward, having to play two games in five days? Yes, Rick (Smith) and I have to do that.”

(on NT Hebron Fangupo) “He’s doing fine, he’s going to get a chance. He’s been getting a chance to play and this Saturday and Thursday night, if Lonnie (Hebron Fangupo) wants to make it in the league, boy, there’s no excuses. He’ll get every rep he can possibly get, he’ll get to play a bunch. So we’ll see how he shows up and plays but what an opportunity for him due to the circumstances right now.”

(on when he’ll make the decision on the battle at the right side) “I don’t know. I would like to think I come out of this game and I do it. I have a pretty good feel for it right now, but I want to see how things go this week. As I told you before, (G Antoine) Caldwell has had a very good camp; I think he’s held his own and he’s played like a starter. He’s held up which has been hard for him, physically. I think the other two, it’s an interesting battle because they’re a little bit different players. If we started today, I might even play them both somehow, some way. I want to see how they respond going to New Orleans, the noise, the turf, the speed; I want to see how they play, so we’ll see.”

(on NT Shaun Cody) “He’s doing really good. He worked out yesterday; he had another injection at some point, either yesterday afternoon or this morning, I’m not sure. So on the injection day he does not do any work, so he’ll go back to work tomorrow. But everything’s pointing in the right direction toward him being ready to go.”

(on this weekend being a really good, important test) “Yeah, I think so. I think last week was. Like I said, we both played our one’s the whole first half. It was the most physical preseason game I’ve been around. Obviously, I want to play them more this week, so from a repetition standpoint, yes, you’re going out there to play as much as you’re going to play in the preseason. We have a lot of things going on with our team, with guys down and this and that, so that’s a good test for us, too. Last year throughout the course of the season, we answered the bell with those problems, and we’re actually having to answer the bell here in preseason missing some players and those types of things. It is good, and we get to go play in noise. It’ll be packed just like it was playing at our place last week. For a preseason game, it was as loud as it’ll get, and New Orleans won’t be any different.”

(on what they’ve learned from the fourth quarter of last year’s Saints vs. Texans matchup) “Well, when you’re playing that guy (QB Drew Brees), it’s going to take all day to beat him. That’s the type of player he is. It was a hell of a game; I think it was 17-16 going into the fourth quarter, and then they did some things on us that caused us some problems. But it’s a unique test for our defense because they went from getting the ball ran at them hard last week, lined up and getting pounded on, and now this team can run the ball on you but they love to spread you out and throw it around the yard. It’s a good test for us because we’re going to see it all throughout the course of the season.”

(on this being a very important game for CB Kareem Jackson) “No doubt. And he’s missed some time so it’s very important for him in the back end. I’d sit here and tell you today we’re trying to settle on our fourth, fifth corner, sixth guy if we keep a sixth, so that is a big battle going on if between (CB Alan) Ball, you look at (CB Brandon) Harris, the player he’s become, (CB) Sherrick McManis has been doing a great job and he’s an excellent special teams player, and then you’ve got (CB) Roc (Carmichael) who’s a guy we’re counting on taking a big step this year. So, there’s some dynamics there, and they will be tested this week. It will be a difficult decision. Safety as well. Got a lot of guys that can play in this league and we’re all healthy so those will be some tough cuts.”

(on if the decision of who to cut from the defensive backs will be easier to make after the Saints game) “I think we’ll get to see a lot more from the standpoint as compared to what San Francisco chose to do against us. This team’s going to throw the ball and challenge our corners, so they’ll get plenty of work.”

(on if anyone’s stood out for the third quarterback position) “I don’t know. Those two guys next week are going to play a great deal for me, so that will have a lot to do about it. Two totally different players; one’s a veteran who I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of what I can do, he understands what we’re doing, has started in this league so you know what you’re getting there. Then there’s a young guy with a lot of ability and a lot of upside who has shown that upside on a daily basis. So, that could be a tough call for me and this team, but that’s a good thing.”

(on if he wants to see WR Keshawn Martin return some kicks) “Yeah. First off, I know he can do it and that was the thought process, to have him do some in the preseason. He came so far, so quick at wide receiver that we did not want to put too much on his plate too early. So he keeps coming as a wide out, I think (Special Teams Coordinator) Joe (Marciano) and I have a real good feel of what he can do for us in the return game, and I just want to keep him going right now at receiver. Plus, I have to give (WR) Trindon (Holliday) every opportunity to prove he belongs here, and like I said for two weeks, he’s definitely done that.”

(on the kicker competition) “I think it’s right down the middle, as I told you. I think Randy (Bullock)’s one kick behind Shayne (Graham) if you look at the preseason as far as field goals. Think they both kicked off well. If you look at the big picture, we’re charting every darn thing they do. It is so close. We let them kick today competitively, turn some of the noise on today, they both kicked well. It’s another tough, tough decision; hopefully we can get it right down the middle between New Orleans and Minnesota and it sorts itself out. I’m going to lean on (Special Teams Coordinator) Joe (Marciano) heavily. Joe’s been doing this a long time, and I’ll lean on him as we make this decision. I knew it’d be tough, we knew the minute we brought in a veteran kicker like Shayne we were making it really hard on our young guy, and that’s a good thing because it is going to be hard. To ask the young kicker to be our guy off the get-go you got to know he’s hardened and tough and can handle things, so that’s why we wanted the competition and Shayne has definitely held up his end of the bargain.”

(on if he’s leaning toward one of the two kickers) “I’m not leaning any way, I’m right down the middle right now. I gotta lean here in about eight days.”

(on if he’s leaning toward K Shayne Graham because he has NFL experience) “That’s everywhere. I just talked about a quarterback, I got the same situation there, I got the same situation at corner. (CB) Alan Ball’s played a lot in this league, (CB) Brandon Harris hasn’t played much corner. There’s a lot of those decisions you got to make. I got (Special Teams Coordinator) Joe (Marciano), I got (Defensive Coordinator) Wade (Phillips), I got (Offensive Coordinator) Rick (Dennison), I got to go in there and listen to everybody and do what we think’s best for the team.”

(on the punter competition) “Well, I think Donnie (Jones)’s done a heck of a job, he’s winning the job. Obviously (Brett) Hartmann’s situation is unique. We like what we’re seeing from Donnie, I think he’s an excellent holder, too, so that’s been a positive force. Brett’s behind not even knowing that he can’t play for three games but he’s also behind physically because he’s coming off of his knee situation. But we know he can kick in this league, but it’s something that he’s got to pay the price, so to speak, and make his way back.”

Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips

Spoiler

(on if he expects his starters to play about three quarters against New Orleans) “We expect our number one’s to play about three quarters of the game. I’m looking forward to that. We’ve practiced hard and we’ve done pretty well in the preceding games. You’re going against the all-time best passer in the history of football. That’s going to be a big challenge, plus they’ve got a great offense. They were at the top of the league offensively, obviously. We expect a tough task, but we’ll see how ready we are.”

(on it being the perfect test for his defense) “Yeah, it’s a great test. We still play pretty basic in preseason. They probably know that. Last week, they knew it and ran on third down some against our dime defense and stuff like that, when they know you’re not pressuring. We haven’t shown a lot of pressure. I try to play our base stuff as well as we can play it.”

(on the nose tackle position with NT Sunny Harris now out for the season) “Yeah, we have the same two guys we had last year. Now (NT Shaun) Cody is obviously out for this game and we’re hoping he gets better, but we’ve got some other guys that can play nose. (DE Tim) Jamison can play nose. Also, even (DE Jared) Crick can play nose. I was pleased with Crick this last week, his first time to play. I thought he did a good job. He’s a good looking player, so we’re glad to have him.”

(on the training camp that NT Sunny Harris had until he got hurt yesterday) “Sunny did well. He did so well that we started working him against the first team, against (Chris) Myers and guys like that. We thought he held up well. He’s out for the season.”

(on if nose tackle is a tough position to learn) “No, it’s not a tough learning position, but there are still things you have to know. It’s a power position or it’s a technique position, it depends on what kind of player you are. Some of them, we stunt. It depends on what type of guy is in there, is what we do them.”

(on if NT Hebron Fangupo will get more playing time) “Lonnie (Fangupo) will get a good look. He’s got some potential. He really hasn’t shown it yet. It’s an opportunity for him.”

(on if he plans to play anything more than his base defense) “In preseason, I just like to see if a guy can beat one-on-one. I don’t really think you get a whole lot out of hitting a quarterback in the back with a cornerback and then saying he played good. He didn’t do anything, if nobody picks him up. We can scheme some things that we think can help. Our base stuff has to be good. It’s got to be able to hold up against anything. You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing. We’ll scheme some things during the season. We’ve got some things that we feel like we can do, but I’d rather see one-on-one coverage to see if we can cover a guy, one-on-one pass rush to see if we can rush the passer, one-on-one against the run to see how you get off blocks and those types of things. That’s why last week, the quarterback ran with it a couple times. I’m not worried about that. We’ll practice when a team has a practice that runs a bootleg and those types of things. We don’t work on another team per se. We work on Miami or our base stuff.”

(on what happened to the defense against New Orleans in the fourth quarter last year) “We weren’t ready. We weren’t ready for that type of offense, as good as they were, to wide-open play. To be honest, we didn’t have enough stuff in at that time and we didn’t play the stuff we had well enough. We played our base defense pretty much the first three quarters and we had them down pretty good. When they started getting wide-open and with a great quarterback all the schemes they have, we didn’t have enough schemes to me, and the things we played, we didn’t play well enough.”

(on if he has any special feelings going back to New Orleans after he used to coach there) “Yeah, I have special feelings. I was in New Orleans. Of course, I’ve been in almost every city, so I have special feelings going back to most of them. I still have friends and so forth there. Drew Brees and I were together at San Diego and I just think the world of him. When I went there, they were 4-12 and he had a great year and we went 12-4 and went to the playoffs and the whole deal. He’s such a great guy. I’m glad to see his success; I don’t like it against us, but I’m glad to see him successful.”

(on playing in New Orleans and the Superdome atmosphere) “It will be a good atmosphere for us. I know especially for our offense because of the crowd noise. When you go on the road, you have to be able to handle crowd noise. I know our offense has been working hard on that and it will be a good test for them.”

NT Hebron Fangupo

Spoiler

(on his name and his nickname, Loni) “My real name is Hebron – like LeBron, except Hebron. I have to explain that a lot. But in Tongan, my name, Hebron, is Hepeloni, so everyone calls me Loni for short back home.”

(on where his first name came from) “It’s from the Bible. It’s a place in Jerusalem. It’s where Abraham was buried.”

(on whether he prefers to be called Hebron or Loni) “My boss/wife (Rebekah) prefers Hebron.”

(on Head Coach Gary Kubiak calling him Loni, and whether his coach or his wife is more important) “My boss. I don’t go home to coach! (laughing)”

(on his opportunity to play more due to injuries to others at his position) “I’ve been taught ever since I got to college, when you get the opportunity, take it. I never wanted to take an opportunity in this fashion and it happen this way because going through camp, you build relationships with every man you run with, you do drills with, and you tend to care for them. Personally, I actually pray for each one of them every day. This opportunity coming, I’m not going to take it as jumping in to take his (NT Sunny Harris) spot or anything. I’m coming in and I hope to get the opportunity to make the Texans fans proud, myself proud, the coaching staff proud, and especially my wife at home. This is an opportunity to provide for her, so I pray for that opportunity every day, but I never wanted it to come in this fashion. One promise I will make is I’ll hold the point. I’ll do my best out there.”

(on the conflict between praying for his teammate’s speedy recovery and also praying to get an opportunity) “I think about it every day. It’s a rough sport – you’re playing with guys and you build relationships with guys that you just want to beat up sometimes. You beat up on each other, but we all know it’s part of the business, but I pray for everyone to have good health. Like I tell the players, we played in the fourth quarter; the third team barely got some time, but we’ve got to pray that we walked off the field. We’ve got to be grateful for what we’ve got. So I pray for (NT) Sunny (Harris) to be healthy. I’m bummed, I just heard that he’s out for the year. You’d best believe I’ll be on my knees in a few minutes and pray for that man, but the opportunity is here and I’ve got to grasp it for my family.”

(on whether he is 100 percent recovered from the knee injury he suffered during Organized Team Activities) “Yes. No doubt. I’m 100 percent. I’ve been practicing the whole camp; I try to practice without it (his knee brace) just to train it, but everybody insists that I get it on. The doctors got to see me before the first (preseason) game, so the doctors said I’m good.”

(on his weight) “I can weight whatever you want me to weigh. If you want me heavy, no problem; if you want me to lose weight, just give me time. I’ve got to stay under 325; I weighed in, I think it was this morning, at 319.”

(on playing in Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips’ defensive scheme and being asked to get into the backfield) “That’s a struggle I had coming in [because] normally I like to shoot the gap, but playing against our offense, it’s more like a zone style, which they go side-to-side a lot and every time I shoot the gap, I’ll get reached or something, so I had to change up my stance for practice. I felt like I was playing a new offense I had never seen played like that, so I stand more in a two-gap stance, and I read off the center. Wherever he goes, I try to pound him and grind him. So I felt I had to change up my game a little bit. It was a struggle trying to adapt to our offense, but I’m really comfortable going into the Saints, I love playing a team that brings it to you, and I love a double-team, I love playing it straight-up. But I’m glad I get to play against the Texans at practice. I get to learn more of that zone stuff.”

RB Arian Foster

Spoiler

(on if he’s approaching preseason game 3 like a regular season game) “Just like that, just like a regular season game. I’m expecting to get a pretty good work load so whatever time I get, I’ll manage.

(on if there’s anything specific he’s working on) “Yeah, I don’t want to share with you. But there’s some things I’m working on. I feel like I got some fine-tuning to do.”

(on what point his body is “regular-season ready”, if there is such a thing) “Yeah, there is such a thing. You can feel it. You kinda have to know your body and most people do. Most people don’t, actually. But you kind of get a feel of where you are, how many hits you need to take because as a running back, you got to feel those hits. That’s just something you have to get accustomed to throughout the year. So, you kind of know. I feel like I’m getting there.”

(on where the offense is compared to the top ones in the league) “I think we could be one of the top offenses in the league, barring injury, because our running game; we have depth at the running back position. Wide receivers, we got (WR) Andre (Johnson), he’s the best at what he does. (QB) Matt (Schaub) can compete with elite quarterbacks in this league. I think we have some young receivers that are ready to step up and be big time players. There’s not telling, it’s all up to us, though. We got to execute as an offense.”

(on the competition of guard and tackle on the right side of the line) “I think competition at any level is going to make your team better, make yourself better because it pushes you to be the best you can be for your team. We got a good competition going on over there, and I can’t wait to see how it pans out.”

(on how the young receivers have impressed him and exceeded his expectations) “I try not to put any expectations on anybody, but it’s still impressive too see what they’re doing, especially (WR) Lestar (Jean) and (WR Keshawn) Martin. Speaking from personal experience, when I first stepped into the offensive huddle and I see (WR) Andre (Johnson), I see (QB Matt) Schaub, I see these big-name guys, it’s intimidating at first. But they‘re performing. I think when you perform under those circumstances and do what you’re coaches ask of you, it’s impressive. I can’t wait to see how they develop throughout the course of the year.”

(on if he has a special relationship with WR Lestar Jean because they were both undrafted free agents who made a name for themselves) “I don’t think that being undrafted had anything to do with our ‘special relationship,’ but he worked out with me some of this offseason. I asked him if he wanted to help improve some of his speed because I thought he had a lot of talent, and he said ‘yeah’ so he came and worked out with me a lot during this offseason. I feel like he got better, I don’t know if he thought he got better but I feel like he did. So it was good to see him blossom. I already knew he was going to be good since last year he was making noise. I’m excited for him.”

(on what it means to him to help out his teammates) “It’s coming from a good place; I don’t do it to make myself feel any better. But you see younger guys and they look at you like the guy in the league that’s a good player, and I still don’t see myself like that. I kind of still see myself as a guy that’s grinding and doing what he needs to do to develop a name for himself in this league. So when you see younger guys kind of give you that eye, it’s an unspoken thing, but when they give you that eye, you kind of want to pull them aside and say ‘what’s up with you?’”

(on if not seeing himself as being a star player being a motivating factor) “I think it’s hard for me to look at myself like that because I have kind of humble beginnings. If I do start walking around here like I am ‘that guy’, that’s probably when I’m not going to be ‘that guy.’ I still don’t think I’m ‘that guy,’ so I feel like I still have a lot to prove and a lot to give.”

(on making the transition from preseason schedule to regular season routine) “I think it’s great because you kind of get into your routine as the season goes. You kind of have a routine as a player, you get up at a certain time and it’s just very, monotonous is kind of negative, but it’s just very scheduled. And once you start getting on that schedule, I think everybody secretly wants to have some sort of order or structure, and I think with that kind of structure you start progressing as a player. When you start getting in your routine you start hitting things you want to hit and just consistently doing the same thing over and over you, start to get better as a player. So to start that early feels good.”

(on the element of the unknown on the Saints’ defense, given the changes in personnel) “Yeah, you don’t really know what’s going on over there, they had a lot of turmoil over there and it sucks that it happened to them in the public eye. Sometimes you have to live in a fishbowl in this league, and all that happened in the open so they’re going through a lot of things internally. You don’t really know what’s going on so you kind of just have to focus on yourself.”

(on if he knows how many touches he will get Saturday against New Orleans) “No. I don’t control that. I’m a chess piece.”

(on how he feels when people say he is the best running back in the NFL) “I think it’s a subjective statement. It just depends on your cup of tea. If you feel like that, you feel like that. If you don’t. But I feel like my name’s in the hat.”

(on if his receiving skills set him apart from other running backs) “I don’t know.”

(on if it’s crazy for him to hear people say he’s one of the best running backs in the NFL since he doesn’t see himself as “The Man”) “I’m going to try and say this without being vain or coming off as vain, because I’m not. Anybody who’s good at what they do thinks they’re the best at what they do. But I come from a humble position so I don’t walk around thinking I’m the best in the league. I feel like I could compete with anybody in the league, so there’s a difference. When people say, ‘Well, you’re the best in the league.’ I say, ‘Well, thank you.’ But there’s other people who say, ‘You’re not the best in the league.’ And I say, ‘Well, thank you.’ Because either way, you’re keeping me a live, you know what I mean? I’m not really a ‘me’ guy anyway. It comes and goes. You’re the flavor of the week now. Ten years from now, they’ll forget about you and I’ll be meditating in Tibet.”

(on if it’s important for him to have a legacy 10 years from now) “Absolutely. I think it’s important to have a legacy however long from now. You want to be remembered as somebody who was an admirable person and not just a football player, a person. Obviously, whatever you put your time and your efforts into, you want people to think highly of it; not necessarily that you’re looking for validation or vindication from anybody else than yourself but you want the people around you that know you the best to know that whatever you put your time into was worthwhile.”

CB Johnathan Joseph

Spoiler

(on the challenge of the Saints and playing three quarters of this game) “Around the league, the third game is usually a dress rehearsal. The starters play the most snaps of any of the preseason games. For us, it’s the ultimate test going up against the high-powered Saints with Drew Brees at quarterback. Obviously, you have a ton of weapons at the wide receiver and the other skill positions, running back and tight end. It will be a big challenge for us.”

(on Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips saying it will be a good test for the defense) “We’ve got our work cut out for us. Last year, (Drew) Brees set a record for the most (passing) yards in a season. He’s been doing it year in and year out, putting up big yardage each year. For us, it’s a challenge knowing they are going to go out and go four or five-wide the whole game and spreading us out. For us, it presents a big challenge in several different ways for our personnel and the schematic. For us, it’s just a big challenge overall.”

(on the fourth quarter vs. the Saints last year) “You want to go out and face any challenge that is brought to us as a team. For us, we have to go out there and whatever they show us, be ready for it, whether it’s no-huddle, fast pace offense or just spreading us out and isolating everyone in one-on-one matchups. For us defensively, we just have to prepare all week and go. Whatever happens on Saturday, just let the chips fall.”

(on if playing the Saints as a defensive back is the ultimate challenge) “As a DB, but it’s not only the DBs. It’s the linebackers as well. But it starts up front with the front seven, getting pressure on the quarterback to make him uncomfortable in the pocket. For us, whether it’s the linebackers or the safety, they have Jimmy Graham at tight end and Darren Sproles at running back to create matchup problems for those guys. For us, they have some guys that can speed down the field for the long ball. So we have to be sound in our coverage as well.”

(on Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips saying they will only play their base defense) “I think that would be a good thing for us. It puts a lot of pressure on us on the backend, but you want to be tested early to see where you stand. You don’t want to go out there and just think you have everything covered. You want to go out there in certain situations and matchup with guys in different positions where they might be uncomfortable with. You just want to see how it works out. Going into this game, whether we play base or nickel personnel, we have one job to do and that is to win the ballgame.”

(on the tough preseason helping them get ready for a tough season) “Yeah and this will probably be the biggest game of the preseason and it just happens to be our third preseason game. We’re going against a high-powered offense and they obviously have a good defense as well. We’re more focused on the offense from our defensive standpoint. Going against (Drew) Brees, we couldn’t have picked a tougher opponent in the third game to go against. He’s going to present several problems for us and it will be a good challenge for us. We have a chance to come out of halftime and go out on the field as starters again, to warm-up and see how it feels to come out of halftime and get going.”

(on how much more comfortable he feels this year compared to last year) “It’s night and day to be honest. Last year, I just kind of came in a winged things around, just fell into place. This year, I’m more of a leader from the standpoint of getting guys lined up, not from the safety standpoint but calling out different route recognition and understanding my help inside and outside on the defense. I’m able to see things and recognize things a lot more quickly than I was last year, which will only help me play a lot faster.”

(on if he had embraced the leadership role among the defensive backs) “Yeah, overall, me and Danieal (Manning) have the most years in the League, at seven apiece. Overall, we’ve got a group. GQ (SS Glover Quin), (CB) Kareem (Jackson), (CB) Brice (McCain), all those guys have been two-year starters, three-year starters now so they have a lot of experience under their belts. It’s about getting those younger guys up to where we’re at now so that we can have everyone at the same point in case someone went down. For me, I just want to go out and lead each and every day on the field and in the classroom and off the field as well.”

(on the progress of CB Brandon Harris) “B-Money. Brandon, last year he came in as a rookie. It was a tough situation for him. They brought myself and another cornerback in and they had a ton of cornerbacks already on the roster. It’s a tough position to be in as a young kid, 21 years old and you’re drafted in the second round and they have high expectations for you, but you kind of have to wait your turn. He’s been patient and throughout his process, his play has taken off. It has skyrocketed the last three or four weeks of camp and OTAs. As a player, you see the confidence in him. He’s just waiting patiently for his chance to get out on the field and that’s all you can ask for as a player. He’s handling himself well on and off the field and in the classroom preparing himself for his moment.”

(on how much the players and coaches have a better handle of what they’re doing in their second season in the defense) “I think it’s given the coaches a better chance or opportunity to coach the younger guys. Last year there was so much on the starters and getting them caught up where they needed to be on the same page. This year, we’re kind of where we need to be at and we can discuss things amongst ourselves and things that we see and give the coaches more time to spend with the younger guys that may not get as many reps as the starters get.”

(on how beneficial it will be for the young player to play in a hostile atmosphere) “I think last week at home, they got a good glimpse of it. We had a packed house here as well. Now they have a chance to go out on the road and see how it is from the standpoint of being on the road. It will be a great wake-up call for the young guys here on the team to go out on the road and play in one of those hostile environments.”

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Thursday's quotes:


Head Coach Gary Kubiak

Spoiler

(on any health issues) “(WR DeVier) Posey and Cush (ILB Brian Cushing) did not practice today. Brian wanted to go, Kap (Director of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer Geoff Kaplan) thought that it was best that we work him out with the trainers today since he missed the last couple days, and it’s probably a good thing, too, because those other guys got the reps during the week. So he did have a good workout. I’ll probably make a decision on Brian tomorrow. My expectations are that he will play, he wants to play. But that will wait; we’ll work him out in the morning and see what Kap and them say. Posey did not practice at all today, did not work at all. And of course (NT) Shaun’s (Cody) still out.”

(on who will start at right tackle between Rashad Butler and Derek Newton) “Going up there to figure that out right now. They’re both going to play, they’re going to play three quarters of football throughout the game. Like I said, it’s a very good competition; they both have their strengths and we’ll keep plugging. This will be a good group they’re playing against; noise, turf, all that stuff, so we’ll see how we play. But that’s something we’ll decide in the next couple hours.”

(on if he thinks WR DeVier Posey will play this weekend) “No, I don’t. I think the fact that we have such a quick turnaround on Thursday against Minnesota in which you guys know I’ll play a lot of young guys. I think we’ll have to take that into consideration. But the thought was yesterday when they checked him out that he would be ready to go on Saturday, so we’ll see tomorrow.”

(on if snaps will determine how much time the first team gets) “We’re going into the game saying we’re going to play three quarters, but we’ll see. Sometimes you don’t get enough snaps, sometimes you get plenty after a half or a little bit over a half, so we’ll see. But it’s important for them to get, obviously, more than they’ve been getting in the past.”

(on what he wants to see from his first team units against New Orleans) “I just want them to keep moving forward. I think we’ve done that both weeks. I think we got off to a good start in Carolina other than the turnovers. Last week was a good physical test for us, this week very speed-type test for us on that turf with this type of team. I just want to see us keep moving forward. Obviously, I want to see us come off the field healthy because we’re not far away now. We do have two games here in a short period of time, so we got to do everything we can to get these other guys ready to play next Thursday. So just more reps and, hopefully, keep moving forward.”

(on if he has been doing anything to prepare the team for crowd noise) “Yeah, we’ve used it all week long. We practice with it even when we play at home sometimes. I think it’s important. Especially our defense needs to practice with it when we play at home because our crowd’s so loud. But, yeah, it’s something we’ve been doing since camp, and we used it today the whole practice.”

OLB Connor Barwin

Spoiler

(on how he thinks the Texans defense is viewed around the league) “Well, I’m not necessarily sure, but hopefully it’s viewed around the league as one of the hardest playing defenses. I think when you put on the tape, I think everybody sees that we play as hard as anybody, if not harder than most people in this league.”

(on the test the Saints present) “Yeah, that’s a little bit of a test with how much they go five out and empty, to not have dime in there a lot; that’ll be a test. It’s good to have in the preseason because you got to get good at your core stuff that you call. We’ll be running our base defense, our base calls and that’s what needs to be our bread and butter. There’s no better challenge than (New Orleans QB) Drew Brees and those guys they have over there.”

(on his best memory of the fourth quarter against the Saints last year) “There was no good memories of the fourth quarter last season.”

(on his approach for the third preseason game) “Well, you approach it like you want it to be your best outing. I’ve approached it all this week everything I’ve done during the regular week that I’ll do during the season. So you just try to get into your routine that you do during the regular season and, again, try to make it your best game so far.”

(on if the team talks about how the defense was referred to as “dirty” last season) “No, we have not talked about that at all but that week we did. That just goes back to playing hard and being aggressive. I honestly believe that teams and offenses view us as one of the hardest playing defenses. From the nose guard to the safety, I think everybody runs after the ball every single play. That’s almost a compliment when teams say you’re dirty when you know you’re not really a dirty team.”

(on his reaction to the penalties the Saints incurred this past offseason) “Well, that’s a deep question there. You know, I think my biggest reaction was, I heard the tape and the stuff about going to your head, I thought that was something that you would never hear around here because everybody knows what can happen with concussions. To bring that up and repeatedly talk about hitting someone’s head to injure them is something that would never be said around here. “

(on practicing against the Saints in past preseasons and never complaining about it) “Well, it’s a masculine sport; there’s not going to be anybody coming out here and saying they’re playing too hard, they’re playing dirty. Guys have pride and just aren’t going to say that. And those were practices, those aren’t games. And you go back and watch the games, I don’t really notice anything that they did but, obviously, there’s stuff being said behind the scenes.”

(on going back to practicing against the Saints in the preseason) “I enjoyed it. I thought the practices were easier because they were very competitive but they were shorter because you can’t go as long because of how competitive they were. So they were fun. I don’t know if we’re going to do that in the future, but I enjoyed them when we did them.”

(on if there’s something the NFL can do to cut out other types of injuries from the game) “Well, they’ve done a lot of stuff for that, too. This is the first year they’ve changed the rule where you’re not allowed to cut offensive players going from the outside in, which is good. But you can do all that stuff but, at the end of the day, we all know it’s a violent sport, and you obviously take the risk when you go out there.”

(on if he’s glad to see the cut rule instated) “Yeah, I’m real happy about that.”

(on how he feels about the new rules) “No, it’s all right. You guys all see there’s a lot of stuff being done for the offense to score and to protect the quarterbacks, so it’s nice we finally got one rule to give us some protection.”

K Randy Bullock

Spoiler

(on how things have gone for him during training camp) “I think everything’s gone well. It’s a very competitive situation. I think it’s helped both of us (he and K Shayne Graham) and it’ll be interesting to see how everything plays out.”

(on he and K Shayne Graham having a good relationship) “Absolutely. He’s definitely a friend. He’s helped me out a lot mentally; physically, seeing how he’s done everything. That helps a lot, having a veteran guy who’s been around for so long (for) a young guy trying to learn the ropes, it’s been very helpful throughout the process.”

(on there not being any backstabbing in his relationship with K Shayne Graham) “No, there’s no hazing or anything like that. He’s been very helpful, so it’s been a very good situation.”

(on if the coaches are paying more attention to the kickoffs or field goals) “They’re (the coaching staff) evaluating everything. You don’t have to worry about that. Everything’s going to be thrown into everything.”

(on how he felt he’s performed thus far) “I’ve been pleased with it for the most part. I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent. I missed a kick the other week that I’d like to have back, but it happens. The big thing is how I bounce back. That’s another thing that I’m sure they’ll be watching. That’s kind of the life of a kicker; having a short memory and making your next opportunity count.”

(on what it’s like fighting for the kicking job) “It’s competitive. It’s something that I come to work every day focused. I know I’m constantly under the microscope. There’s a guy who’s been doing it for a long time; if I’m not on top of my game, it’ll show. The mental aspect of it, it’s tough. But you’ve got to grind and be focused in and be ready to go whenever it’s your opportunity to go.”

(on how his past accomplishments have prepared him for the NFL) “I think it’s helped me a lot. My resume speaks for itself, but at the same time, that’s college. At this point, I’ve got to build myself a new resume and I feel like I’m in the process of doing that, being able to compete with a guy that’s been doing this for this long, I think it’s been very special. It’s definitely opened my eyes. It’s shown that I can do this and I have a lot of confidence.”

(on Special Teams Coordinator Joe Marciano) “Coach Joe (Marciano) is a good guy. He’s really been very helpful. He’s fun to work with. He’s got a lot of energy. He jokes around a little bit, but at the same time, when it’s time to be serious, he’s very serious also.”

(on if he has beat himself up for missing any kicks in a competition this close) “I guess you could but I haven’t. Like I said, that’s part of the mental aspect of being mature and knowing that you’re in a competition because one kick I don’t think will make or break a competition. It’s everything that’s being thrown into it. I did miss a kick, but at the same time, I’ve done very well in practice and I finished the preseason out strong. At that point, that kick’s over with. You can’t do anything about it. All you can do is move forward and focus on what’s next.”

(on if it’s hard knowing that every single thing he’s doing in the kicking competition is being carefully studied) “Not really. For me, whenever I go out there, there’s not much going through my head. I’m very relaxed. I’m confident and whatever happens, happens. You’ve just got to be able to rebound. If something doesn’t go right, you’ve got to shake it off and get ready for your next rep because they’re going to be watching that also.”

(on focusing on each kick) “The more you make, the more you’ve got to focus. You miss one, you’ve got to focus also. The mental aspect, that’s a big part of being a kicker. I feel like I’ve gotten very strong with that part. That’s very important.”

(on the difference between the college and pro games) “The speed of play. Everything happens so much faster. But at the same time, I’ve got a very good snapper, Jon Weeks, and a great holder in Donnie Jones. So the operation is there. All I’ve got to do is trust it. Everything happens faster but I trust it and I don’t really notice the speed of it too much now.”

(on what the pro game being faster to a kicker) “Just the speed of play, guys coming off the edge. You’ve got to be focused on your operation; getting the ball up quickly, making sure something can’t get blocked. A lot of times in college you might have one or two guys that are 6-6 with long arms that can get up. That’s everybody in front of me now. It’s not one guy you have to be worried about. You’ve got to be focused and make sure each swing is your best swing.”

K Shayne Graham

Spoiler

(on his thoughts about the kicker competition) “Well, I think personally, as a professional, you don’t really look at it as a competition. When I line up for a field goal, I don’t line up saying ‘I’m going to make this so I can win a competition.’ You line up because you’re a competitor and you want to make your kicks. I don’t count his (K Randy Bullock) reps, I don’t count my reps, I just line up and keep my focus on making my kicks because that’s really the only thing I can do to better myself in any situation; to win a job, to keep a job, to play for 10 years, to play for one year, is making kicks. That’s what matters. When you learn if you miss one, you don’t count that one against you; you just look forward to your next rep.”

(on how he feels about the coaches having to make a decision between him and K Randy Bullock) “I mean, really it’s not my place. As a player, you play, you do what you’re asked and you let the coaches make their decisions. No matter what their perspective is, this is the situation I’m in, and when I put my cleats on and line up, put my pads on, it’s to do better for myself and to perform well for myself and to do what I can do to help this team. Whatever decisions are made beyond that are out of my control.”

(on his relationship with K Randy Bullock) “We get along really well. There’s times when he asks advice on certain things because there’s a lot of things. He’s known the college side for four years. This is my 13th training camp so there’s things I can give him. But yet, as far as individual kicking, I really can’t help him on a technique side because we’re different, every person has a little different technique. We still look at each other as a friendly competition; we don’t have any animosity toward each, we don’t do things behind each other’s back, we don’t give bad advice hoping to screw each other up. So we get along great, it’s a good working relationship. But we also know that it’s high-stakes and we’re playing for the same thing.”

(on how he feels he’s done so far) “I think in the beginning of camp, I let a couple kicks in practice slip away from me, but I think I’ve been pretty solid since then. Not like I really did horrible in the first place, but I hold myself to a very high standard. When you miss those kicks, you just make sure you don’t buckle and fall apart; you stay strong and you stay steady and you keep yourself positive for what is ahead. And that’s all I can do in the homestretch is look to keeping strong.”

DE Tim Jamison

Spoiler

(on if he will move positions because of all the recent injuries) “Well, today I worked a little bit at nose. I’m just prepared to play whatever they want me at. We had some guys go down so coach wants to make sure everybody knows all three positions on that defensive front.”

(on if he has a sense of job security since he can play so many positions) “Yeah, the coaches always say ‘The more you can do to help this team, the better your chances of making this team,’ and that’s the approach I take to the game. I try to learn every position even though I’ll be mostly at the 3-technique or the 5-technique, still know what the nose man does just for cases like this. You never know what happens.”

(on how comfortable he felt playing nose tackle) “We play there a lot in dime situations because our ends play tackles in dimes. So when the quarterback’s in the center, we have our three in the shade. I’ve been in that position before, but it’s an adjustment, our run downs getting double teamed, stuff like that. But we’re in that position all the time anyway on third down.”

(on what he needs to do to stop Saints QB Drew Brees) “Well, you got to put pressure on him. He’s one of the best in the league. First, you got to defeat the man in front of you and hurry him and put pressure on him as much as possible.”

(on if he feels like he’s taking advantage of the opportunity to play while DE J.J. Watt’s out ) “I hope I’m making that impression. I always want to make the best of any opportunity I get to step on this field. J.J.’s going to be back; I just want to make sure that my teammates and coaches can trust me while I’m in there.”

(on what makes him a natural at the nose position, the way Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips plays it) “Well it’s not really a two-gap nose, it’s kind of like with shade. We’re one-gap, and I just got to play my gap. You got to stay low when you’re getting double teamed, but when I’m at the 3-technique I’m getting doubled a lot, too, so it shouldn’t be a lot different.”

(on what DE Antonio Smith says to him) “He’s a great leader on the field, off the field. He’s always teaching me different ways to improve my game. We go before practice and after practice on the one man sled, the one man bag and just work on different moves. We make each other better.”

(on DE Antonio Smith being a bit of an oddball) “I mean, he’s a fun guy. There are a lot of guys like him, just fun guys to be around, kind of give off that college feel. Not taking stuff too serious. Just in the locker room, on the field, off the field, great guys to be around.”

(on how he thinks the defense is viewed around the League) “Just guys that surround that ball, guys that are hungry out there. Everybody wants to make each other better, and we compete against each other in practice and make each other better. So more people around the ball, the better. So hopefully that’s what they see.”

(on if he thinks other teams are intimidated by him) “I can’t tell you. I’m not worried about if they are or if they’re not. Our job is to go out there and get the job done.”

(on what is the hardest type offensive guy to beat) “They’re all different. You might have some guy that’s just big and they can take up a lot of space. Some guys might be lean and got good footwork. Different moves work on different people. You take that all into consideration when you’re watching that film, when you’re studying that person.”

(on profiling the opposing players ) “Our coaches kind of do a good job in practice. So if a team we’re playing cuts a lot, then we work on drills in individuals to work on cut blocking and still be able to improve our technique.”

(on what his personality is like on the field) “ I don’t know, I like to hit a lot so I’m kind of aggressive on the field, I’m kind of laid back off the field. I just like playing the game.”

(on if he talks smack) “No, I don’t really talk trash, I just play.”

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...practice/c7f17843-887a-4628-81b0-d8d171d14e74