Quotes from after the game on Saturday: HEAD COACH BILL O’BRIEN (Transcribed by Ellie Pardee) Spoiler (on Ryan Fitzpatrick’s play tonight) “He had a good week at practice. He’s getting more and more comfortable with the system and I thought he went out there and played a good football game for the team. He got us into the right plays, he checked the ball down, he had a good two-minute drive, so it was a good step in the right direction.” (on what went into the decision to put Ryan Fitzpatrick back into the game) “It was planned that way and hopefully, it would work out that way. In my own mind, to put (Tom) Savage in there and see how he would react to that situation, to be in there fairly early in the game, and if we had a two minute drive at the end to put Fitz (Ryan Fitzpatrick) in another two-minute drive. He’s had several of those in practice, one last week in the game and it worked out well that we were able to get him back on at the end of that half.” (on the importance of Mike Thomas, Keyshawn Martin, Travis Labhart and the slot receivers in this offense) “It’s usually a guy that’s a quick guy, a guy that’s an instinctive player, a guy that helps us on special teams, got good hands, a tough guy, and all three of those guys fit that mold in a way. Mike (Thomas) did it last week like you said, didn’t play tonight but will be back against Denver more than likely, and then Keyshawn (Martin) and Lab (Travis Labhart) did a nice job tonight in there and they both did some things on special teams, which was good. They both had a couple of returns, which were nice, so it was good for those guys to do that.” (on Jadeveon Clowney’s tackle and sack on back-to-back plays) “I think anytime a player makes two big plays like that, no matter who the player is, whether it’s (Jadeveon) Clowney or (J.J.) Watt or (Brooks) Reed or J-Mo (Tim Jamison), (D.J.) Swearinger or K-Lew (Kendrick Lewis), whoever it is defensively that helps the sideline. I can remember in other places I’ve been, when a guy makes a defensive play that’s a big hit, it really lights up your sideline. So it’s great for the defense, it’s great for our team and I thought it helped our whole sideline.” (on the performance of special teams and the difficulty in deciding who makes the 53-man roster) “It’s going to make it really hard because I thought some of the guys did a nice job on special teams in both games. In special teams in the Arizona game, with the exception of the kickoff return, the special teams was pretty good there and it was decent again tonight. So we work a lot on it and we spend a lot of meeting time on it. We talk to these guys quite often about complimentary football. We had a great example of that when we kept Atlanta pinned back down there deep then we were able to block the punt then run it in for a touchdown. That’s a great example of complimentary football. We talk about that all the time and the guys were able to see that come to fruition on a game field.” (on the draft picks playing well the last two games) “We’ve been, to this point which has only been a month in to training camp, we’ve been pleased with the draft class overall. Again, (NT) Louis Nix III hasn’t been in there with the knee issue, but he’ll be back. But overall I think you’ve seen a draft class that has been improving and a hard working draft class that needs to keep getting better.” (on what it means for Duane Brown and Chris Myers to show compassion for Falcons T Sam Baker before he went into the locker room) “One thing about this team, the 90 guys that are here, 89 I think it is now, we have a good bunch of guys in this room, so it’s a lot of fun to come in here and coach these guys, good teammates, hard workers, guys that really care about the team. They care about their fellow colleagues out there, the other guys on the other team when something like that happens. We’ve got a bunch of guys with a lot of character so that was good to see.” (on the performance of the Texans coaches tonight) “I thought the coaches, we did better, but it’s a long way from where it needs to be. You know our communication starts with me and our communication amongst each other, and then from the sidelines to the field has to be better, but I know this that it was improved over last week. Just like the players, we are just like the players. We are trying to get better every week.” (on the offensive line’s performance tonight) “Those guys looked like they played a decent game. I haven’t watched the tape yet, but it looked like those guys, some of them were called to action a little earlier because we didn’t play Duane Brown and Chris Myers. That was good for those guys to get a rest and get these other guys some time. What we thought there was we had practiced two hard days against Atlanta and those guys had taken a lot of reps, basically played the equivalent of two games or at least a game and a half at practices, so we felt like it was a good chance to get our young guys a lot of work so they were able to get out there and do some good things.” (on if Jadeveon Clowney is where O’Brien wants him to be at this point in the preseason) “I don’t think anyone is where I want them to be. I think we’re all working to get better. I believe that JD (Jadeveon Clowney) has come in here and worked hard. He had the surgery there and he’s come back from that and fought through that. I think there are a lot of guys that I could say that about. No one at this time in training camp is 100 percent and we’re all looking to get better. I don’t think any one of us is where we want to be or where we need to be, but we got better tonight.” (on Jonathan Grimes and Alfred Blue playing well tonight and the depth at the running back position) “I’ll look at the tape, but overall I think you’re right. Those guys ran the ball hard and did some decent things in protection in the passing game. We’ll look at the tape, but overall I think it’s a good position for us. They need to keep improving just like everyone position. Hopefully, that position stays healthy.” (on situational preferences for Jonathan Grimes and Alfred Blue) “I think on those drives where you saw that happen I noticed (Jonathan) Grimes had carried the ball and lot and caught a pass and was a little bit winded. I think he’s in good shape, but he had a few plays in a row and subbed in. It had nothing to do with 35 to 35 or 20 in or anything like that. It was just, hey, he needs a break. Put (Alfred) Blue in there.” (on QB Case Keenum’s performance tonight) “I thought he did some decent things. He led some good drives, he has good command of the offense, he’s getting better, he’s a guy that works extremely hard, he’s a really good teammate, he comes in early, he stays late, so he just needs to keep improving.” SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR BOB LIGASHESKY (Transcribed by Omar Majzoub) Spoiler (on how he views the kicking situation right now) “I still think it’s a competition. That’s what we have been waiting for. We wanted to see them during a game, but that was just one game. We will evaluate it, work on it this week, and we will get another opportunity against Denver.” (on what he tells K Chris Boswell after missing an extra point) “Same thing you tell anybody. It’s on to the next play. You can’t delve into what happened. It’s not what happens to you. It’s how you react to it. It defines who you are. It’s time to just get ready for the next play.” (on how much the special teams unit has improved) “Winning validates what we are trying to do. We have some things that we can build on, but obviously we have a long way to go.” (on if there was anything different in practice this week) “I think practicing against Atlanta provided us with great competition. We got a little better feel for where were at. I think the practices against an opponent instead of going against each other really helps us develop.” (on individual players making the team through their performance on special teams) “It’s a unit that is working together that provides an opportunity for an individual to make a play. We will just continue to grow as a unit in every phase.” (on the coaches working together to monitor all phases of the team) “We all work together. I meet with all the guys and they come to all the meetings. They know exactly what we are trying to accomplish, so they give really good feedback after the meeting on how it was presented and how we can improve. It helps us interact with more guys.” RUNNING BACK ALFRED BLUE (Transcribed by Omar Majzoub) Spoiler (on the difference this week) “I think the practice against Atlanta all week and the intensity out there made us better as a team. It helped us and we learned from the Arizona game. We just came out and played at a high level.” (on the entire draft class progressing) “As a whole, I think all of us are getting better. Coach (Bill) O’Brien tells us we just need to come out and find our role. Our draft class is trying to show Coach O’Brien that they belong.” (on scoring the first touchdown of the preseason) “It felt good. I was excited just to go in their end zone and go up by 7. Words can’t explain. Let’s just say I was very excited.” (on rating his performance this preseason) “I can’t really rate myself. I just go out there every game and every practice trying to impress the coaches and show them that I can be a valuable asset to this team.” (on the difference between college and the NFL) “I would say it’s the speed of the game. Everybody knows what they are doing out there. It’s smarter players. If you are on that field, it’s because you know what you are doing.” (on his versatility in his offense) “I feel good. You can put me out there five wide. I’m like a receiver out there. My ability to the offense is a great asset. “ OUTSIDE LINEBACKER JADEVEON CLOWNEY (Transcribed by John Byczek) Spoiler (on his sack) “It means a lot, man. Trying to help the team out, you know, do my part and rush the quarterback and make plays for the team.” (on what coaches told him after those consecutive tackles for losses) “Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep rushing the quarterback, making plays and helping the team win.” (on how his played helped his teammates) “Oh, yeah, all the time. Winning. When we’re winning, we’re having a lot of fun. We won tonight and we had a lot of fun out there tonight. We still have a lot of corrections we have to make to keep getting better.” (on what it was like for him to have those two big plays) “I don’t know, man. I just tried to get back there. I just had my eyes on him at first and then once I flew off, kept my eyes on that quarterback, tried to get a strip sack.” (on getting in a three point stance) “Oh, no, I wasn’t even supposed to. I was just falling over so I just put my hand down, so I tried to catch myself. I like both stances. I like standing up now, it’s a lot better.” (on getting to practice with the Falcons) “I think taking the loss we took, we wanted to come out here strong against the Falcons. Guys already said we were just going to come out here and practice hard and get better, don’t worry about the last game and show the Falcons what we can do, and that’s what we did in practice.” (on the mindset going into this game) “We have the same mindset going into every game – try to win the game. This game was a lot better for us. We were a lot more focused, we knew what we were getting into because we scrimmaged against them two days in a row. So, we kind of knew their tendencies and everything so we were just preparing for them as much as we could.” (on what he learned from this game) “We learned a lot. Just mental mistakes like where to line up at. You learn how to get after certain guys. Speed. They play a little different from Arizona, so you just have to prepare for each team and just get better and better.” (on D.J. Swearinger getting unsportsmanlike conduct) “That’s him. He emotional. He loves the game. He’s just showing his emotions out there. I don’t think he knew it was a penalty, it was just him being D.J. I don’t think anybody said nothing to him. He was just like, ‘Come on, man. What happened?’ But that’s D.J. being D.J.” (on what coach told them this week and after game) “Come to play, come practice hard, we’re going to get better this week and everybody came in. We didn’t let that last game get to us, we just came in here and worked this week and we felt like we were better guys off practice this week. We’re just going to keep getting better and better. We have to go to Denver, get better against those guys, just work and keep working.” TIGHT END ANTHONY DENHAM (Transcribed by Zach Mayer) Spoiler (on if his quickness off the line is what intrigues coaches about him) “Yeah. I’m a deep threat as a tight end. I’m very versatile with running routes. Being a former receiver in college and high school running routes is very easy for me. It’s a mismatch in a way going against linebackers or little DBs. It’s very fun being in the slot running routes and the coaches enjoy putting me there but they know I can fill any other position in that situation.” (on what it means to block a punt on special teams) “It means a lot to me. It means that the coaches’ faith that they put in me showed off and paid off and me making that play puts different perspective on the coaches and when they go and look at the players and decide who they release and whatnot, them seeing me making big plays on special teams would play a big part in me staying.” (on blocking a defender that lead to a touchdown after blocking a punt) “Yeah. I was actually trying to scoop it up but he beat me to it. (Jonathan) Grimes beat me to it so I tried to be a team player and I made a key block for him.” TIGHT END C.J. FIEDOROWICZ (Transcribed by Omar Majzoub) Spoiler (on bouncing back from last week’s loss) “It was a good way to bounce back. Obviously, last week was not something that anybody wants to be a part of. I think our time of possession was like 10 minutes. We had that in the first two drives tonight. It just felt good to take control of the ball and be a well-balanced offense. When you can bounce back from a game like last week and show up like we did tonight it is really going to give us confidence going forward.” (on the rookie draft class playing well) “Whether it’s (Jadeveon) Clowney or Andre Hal getting a pick-six, I feel like all the rookies did a great job. Max Bullough, an undrafted guy, did a great job. We take pride in it. We come out here and grind all day in this heat. When it pays off, it feels good.” QUARTERBACK RYAN FITZPATRICK (Transcribed by Seth Medvin) Spoiler (on his scrambles in tonight’s game) “The running skills, something I don’t like to rely on, but they do just come out every now and again.” (on his ability to throw on the run, in specific the second quarter touchdown pass to DeVier Posey) “Yeah, I mean, it’s good to get in those game like situations where you’re out there. In practice it happens, there is a quick whistle a lot of the times, so the different, out of the pocket, broken play type stuff; it’s good to get some blows in real game action. So it is good to have it today.” (on if he knew he was going to go in for the two-minute drill at the end of the first half) “I mean, he mentioned it to me on the sideline after I had come out. Yeah, but you know, it’s just we’ve done so much here with situations and I thought it was great practice for me to go back in and get a two-minute drive. I was excited to go out there and compete with the guys.” (on having the same emotions after last week’s loss to Arizona and it showing you can’t overreact in the preseason) “Yeah, I mean I’m monotone sometimes too. Yeah, I mean, the preseason is just a process, you know. Last week we’re disappointed obviously, with the way we played. But we came back, we had a great week of practice and I think it showed up not just with the first team or second team, but really with everybody that went out there today in all phases it showed up. We’re looking to again move on from this one, learn some stuff and then another great week in Denver.” (on how important was it for him to have a nice bounce back game) “I was disappointed in myself last week. I think the team too, laying a goose egg and all that. We had a bad taste in our mouth, and so getting out there and getting a decent effort today, certainly a better feeling in the locker room.” (on if the offense was the same but the execution just better compared to last week) “Yeah, I mean, again, we’re not really game planning a ton. We’re not really opening it up a ton. But I think it was just better execution today.” (on what the team did differently in terms of their approach this week) “Well I think having Atlanta in for a few practices really sharpened our focus, had us, we had two really intense, competitive practices. And I think that was a really good thing for us, and hopefully will be a great thing.” (on if it was a good thing for him to against a different team sooner rather than later) “Yeah, I think when you have a poor performance out there, the best medicine for it or the best way to get over it is to get back on the field. And so it was, it’s nice to have Atlanta come to town and get out there and practice against a different team in competitive situations.” (on the play of the running backs, especially Jonathan Grimes) “Jonathan did a good job tonight. He’s been a guy that has been very consistent throughout the offseason. Had a little injury where he was out a little bit, but very consistently got his head in his playbook and knows what is going on out there, and so you love that as a quarterback. And he had some really nice runs today.” (on if he heard any of the criticism this week) “I think during the season I think you hear it more and maybe you pay attention to it more. The preseason, we’re really just so busy in here with all of the stuff and you know, here from whatever it is, the hours that we are. It’s hard to hear it during the preseason, but you know, the big thing for me is the opinion of the guys in this locker room and the confidence of the guys in the locker room. And so this was a step in the right direction for us.” (on linking of with DeAndre Hopkins tonight) “Yeah, and he will be a guy that we’re going to try to get the ball to this year. He’s a really good player. Like we said, it’s the preseason. You’re not really scheming all the different things right now. He’s certainly a guy we’ll want to get it to.” (on connecting on some pass with C.J. Fiedorowicz and his progression as a pass-catcher) “He’s been getting better every day. I think he’s a guy that has improved every day. You know, reliable target, but we really, you know, we’ve had a good time having a good time kind of watching him develop so far. He’s doing a good job. But obviously, as a rookie, hasn’t been in there in the real stuff, so he’s got a long way to go. But he’ll work at it, which we like.” (on how smooth the play calling coming in from the coaches is going) “Yeah. That is what, you know, the whole preseason is a great dress rehearsal for that to. Just the communication and maybe the things I want to hear or don’t want to hear. So you work out all those different kinks. Even starting with the pregame routine and just working on all those different kinks. It’s getting better as the games go.” RUNNING BACK JONATHAN GRIMES (Transcribed by John Byczek) Spoiler (on when he saw the punt get blocked) “Yeah, because my job on that is to actually see the ball kicked. I’m looking and then I heard it. I heard that noise and I turned around and their guys were looking up for the ball, couldn’t find it, I saw it hit somebody’s leg.” (on his job on punt return team) “Make sure the ball is kicked. Make sure it’s not a fake.” (on a good night by the special teams) “Yeah, the special teams looked good. I think we improved a lot from last week. We harped on it. We made the changes. I’m sure it wasn’t perfect, we still got stuff to learn, but we definitely got better.” (on evaluating his performance running the ball) “I did OK. I might have missed some holes in the beginning. I definitely want to see the film and see what happened. I always try to run as hard as I can but I think I could probably do better on some reads.” (on getting a niche with the special teams) “Oh, right, definitely. Any way I can help the team, I’ll take it. I just want to contribute positively in all aspects of the game if I can.” (on improving through the week) “I think we definitely got better this week. We definitely wanted to make improvements from last week because it just wasn’t quite there, we didn’t get our rhythm. We got the ball rolling, we moved the chains and that was good to see.” WIDE RECEIVER KESHAWN MARTIN (Transcribed by John Byczek) Spoiler (on having a better mental attitude after a win) “Well, I wouldn’t say we weren’t concerned. We just wanted to bounce back from a loss like that. Like I said, every week we just try to get better, we just going to build off this and just try to get better next week.” (on benefitting from practicing against Falcons) “Yeah, definitely. That was my first time every doing that but it definitely helps the team out, the intensity, the practices we have were good. Everything we did, it was pretty good.” (on getting first win in a while) “Yeah, it definitely feels good. Anytime we get it win that feels good.” OUTSIDE LINEBACKER WHITNEY MERCILUS (Transcribed by John Byczek) Spoiler (on how important it was for him to have the game he did) “Very important. It just shows improvement and all that, especially when the coaches go and watch it they’ll see that I’m improving day to day. Hopefully I’ll just keep improving and I’ll finish on those plays.” (on seeing Jadeveon Clowney make two big hits) “It’s exciting. We just get so happy for everybody to just make plays on defense. It all just gets us hype and more motivated to go out there and make more plays.” (on feeling good to put a game like this together) “Yeah. It just shows improvement all across the board – special teams, defense, and offense also. It just shows that what we have here can be very, very special.” (on breaking the losing streak) “Yeah, yeah, finally breaking the streak. We just got to continue on improving each and every week and that’s what we’re motivated to do. Came out here and we definitely did it today.” S D.J. SWEARINGER (Transcribed by Zach Mayer) Spoiler (on how the feelings about tonight’s game compares to last week) “Aw man. Now—whenever—we haven’t won in fifteen weeks so this is great. Rolling feels great. I was joking but I was like, ‘Man, I haven’t won since Madden.’ But it feels great and we wanted—since Madden. Since I played Madden, man. But it’s all good and we’re going to build on this. We’re going to keep it up.” (on how long it’s been since the Texans’ last win) “Oh, it’s a long time. Since September of last year, so we’re going to keep building and keep getting better for sure. “ (on what made the biggest difference this week) “Just practice the way came and approached practice Monday. But Monday, to Tuesday, to every day. We approached it as a game day. Every day we approached it that way and it just paid off. We’ve got to keep doing it.” (on what it means to make big plays on defense and special teams) “It gives your team a huge momentum. It gets our crowd into it. It just gives the whole team a momentum boost and makes everybody want to make plays so it’s great for us.” (on how they will carry this win over to the practices with the Denver Broncos) “Really just keep going. You see how it is. This week of practice helped us. We want to go down and play a team that just was in a Super Bowl. It’s going to be a big challenge for us and we’ll be ready for it.” (on if he got a taunting penalty) “I did get a taunting penalty. I don’t understand why. I was just celebrating with my teammate but the rules are the rules and you’ve got to find out what it is and kill it.” (on if he knows what part of the rule he broke) “I don’t know at all. I know I was celebrating with a teammate so I thought it was legal. But we’ll find it and correct it.” HEAD COACH MIKE SMITH (Transcribed by Rachel Jacob, Hannah Pietsch and Laci Theriot) Spoiler (opening remarks) “It was very obvious that we didn’t play well in any phase of the game tonight. We had breakdowns in all three phases. We had way too many penalties, weren’t able to convert on third down, weren’t able to get off the field on third-and-long, had a punt blocked, returned field goal blocked – not anywhere close to the level that we need to play and perform at. We’ve got to get much better.” (on WR Julio Jones’ return and T Sam Baker’s situation) “Julio got an opportunity to get out on the field today with the rest of the offense, and that’s always a good sign. We wanted to get him a prescribed number of plays. We got him very close to the number that we wanted. In terms of Sam Baker, I don’t have an update. We’ll have more information in the next 24 hours, and as soon as we do, we’ll let you guys know.” (on some of the breakdowns that led to giving up explosive plays) “We didn’t tackle well. We had some mental errors where the rotation was not in the right direction, and you’re going to give up big plays. We had some third-and-longs that we didn’t convert on. We had that one explosive run where we lost leverage on the backside. Those are areas that we have to address. It was not the type of football that we know we are capable of playing or the type of football that we are going to play.” (on what he saw in the offense that was not working on third downs) “Again, we’ve got to be effective on third downs. We’ve got to try to get ourselves in the third and manageables. We didn’t do that as well as we needed to, and we didn’t convert. I thought early on that the pass protection was sufficient. I think later on it broke down. We had way too many penalties there, especially in the second half. We were called for offensive holding a number of times to call back positive plays, and those are areas that we’ve got to address.” (on having more pressure on defensive front and outside last week) “I think yes, there was more probably pass rush in this game than last week. The big thing for us, we’ve got to address things that we didn’t do well and there are many, so we have a lot of work that we need to get accomplished. Everyone knows that the third preseason game is the game when you go through dry run in preparation for the regular season. My hat is off to the Houston Texans, they came out and played a good solid football game. We did not match it.” (on OL Sean Renfree’s game performance) “I thought Sean did some nice things when he had his opportunity to get in there. Again, some of the plays later on in the game may look like one thing happened on the field and could be something completely different. I don’t want to talk specifically about plays, but we all have to be seeing the defensive the same way and know what we are running when come out of the huddle.” (on positive with RB Devonta Freeman and DE Ra’Shede Hageman) “There will always be positive guys individually, there will be some guys that did some good things. We had a touchdown called back on what I thought was a very nice run, a good cut by Devonta. Again, standing on the sideline, I was just trying to observe as much as I could and take it all in. I thought, from what I saw, Ra’Shede did some good things. There are always going to be positives, it is never as bad as you thought, but never as good, but right now, it is not the type of football that we want to put out there. I think every man in that locker room would tell you that.” (on moving Jake Matthews to left tackle) “Again, I don’t want to speculate in terms of what we would do. We would have a number of options. Again, our number one goal would be to put the five best offensive linemen out there. We obviously know that he is one of the five best because he is a starter. Is he our best left tackle, our best option? That is something that we will have to determine if we have to address that.” (on how T Jake Matthews played) “I think that Jake did some good things. He got matched up and had some tough battles, but I think that he did a nice job. He is going to be a good player in this league.” (on the trouble the Falcons had with special teams) “We usually don’t have those types of issues. That is something that in the preseason, you’re using a lot of different guys in different positions, basically trying to evaluate how those guys are going to be able to handle the different positions. When you get ready for the season it’s completely different in terms of the way you game plan. Right now, we’re giving lots of guys opportunities to participate on special teams and see what roles they can’t handle. We had some issues tonight on special teams that we will definitely address, but again there is no game planning we are just trying to get an evaluation process on all these guys.” (on penalties and defensive holding being a problem during this game versus last week) “It was called more times tonight. Obviously we were flagged more. I thought our guys did a good job in the first game. We’re still going through a process of how this is going to be called. This is a point of emphasis that the league has mandated and we’re going to be going through, all of us, coaches and players, in terms of how it is going to be officiated through the preseason, but we can’t have holding penalties on third down and long. You just can’t do it. It gives people a new set of downs.” WIDE RECEIVER DEVIN HESTER (Transcribed by Edgar Veliz) Spoiler (on what positives, if any, he took from the game) “There are really no positives; we just didn’t come to play today. We just didn’t play today. We didn’t play Atlanta football today, It’s tough. It is all on our part and we have to find a way to narrow the mistakes and the penalties. We have two more preseason games to try to get this stuff fixed.” (on his role with the team) “It is kind of similar to what we saw today. It’s the return game and here or there in the offense.” (on his goals moving forward) “Just be a solid return man and get the offense great field position and some points on the board. When it comes to offense, give a spark here and there and help the offense where I can.” CORNERBACK WILLIAM MOORE (Transcribed by Edgar Veliz) Spoiler (on the amount of penalties) “Hopefully during the season you won’t have over 200-something yards worth of penalties. We have to expect that in the preseason. The referees are trying to prove a point. There are some things that they see that hopefully during the season they let go.” (on regrouping and focusing on the next game) “That is number one through all of this. You have to remember that right here of course we didn’t match the intensity and those guys came out fired up ready to play. I feel like we didn’t come out from the first quarter. You have to keep in mind that we didn’t game plan for these guys. Next week we will have the opportunity to game plan and that is very important in the NFL.” (on the competition at the safety position) “Both of those guys (Dwight Lowery and Kemal Ishmael), I really don’t know the competition, I don’t really know the depth chart. That is for the coach to decide. From my standpoint you have to include (Dezmen) Southward also. All of those guys stepped up and played. I really don’t know Dwight’s status as far as his injuries, concussions, etc. I don’t know. But Kamal has been stepping in. He came into OTAs and I told him this is not down time. He came in and it’s like a whole other Kamal. It looks like he’s been in the NFL for four or five years. He is showing so much experience right now. The interception today was a prime example. That was a tough interception, to catch through a tight end’s hand. Kamal showed tremendous stride to show where he is at.” (on his progress this preseason) “Of course there is room for improvement. I feel like I haven’t lost a step as far as being physical. I feel like I still continue to grow as a player. There are a few things here and there that I have to critique if I want to be an elite player.“ (on his personal goals) “I want to be one of those safeties who can be important in the run game and still come down with five or more interceptions. I’ve been knocking those goals out since I stepped foot in the NFL and I want to raise the bar.” (on what the team needs to do to improve) “As a team we have to finish and come out the first quarter. There’s not much you can take from a preseason game because you are trying to find which guys will make the roster. At the same time we have to come out from the beginning to the end throughout the whole season. No one is going to take it light on us.” RUNNING BACK JACQUIZZ RODGERS (Transcribed by Edgar Veliz) Spoiler (on what the team has to work on to improve) “We have a lot of work to do. We have an off day and then come back ready to work on Monday and fix the things we need to fix. We have to be ready for our third preseason game, which is a tune-up before the regular season.” (on any positives from this game) “We had some positives in the run game. We have to go watch film to figure it out. It is not the way we want to play football, it is not the way we want to go out. So, we have things to fix.” (on his role in the offense) “Right now everyone is just trying to define their role and work throughout preseason. So when that time comes everyone has their role to find and go from there.” (on playing in his hometown) “It is always good for my family to see firsthand. Have them get a chance to experience watching me live. They probably haven’t seen me play since high school (Lamar Consolidated).” QUARTERBACK MATT RYAN (Transcribed by Lance Jaramillo) Spoiler (on getting in a rhythm with his offense) “We had a couple of opportunities on third down and didn’t’ convert as many as we needed to, obviously, to keep those drives going. I thought we ran the ball pretty effectively, but had a few plays here and here that got us off schedule and when you do that against a good defense, it’s tough to overcome those mistakes. We had opportunities to make plays, but we didn’t make them. Those are things moving towards preseason game three that we can correct.” (on Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones being back on the field) “I thought Julio (Jones) looked good. It’s good to have him back. Obviously, he’s a dynamic player for our offense and somebody we feel like is a game changer. I thought he did a nice job out there tonight. Certainly, I think there will be improvement for all of us from week two to week three, but I think it was a good start. It’s amazing how a play here or there changes how a game feels, how a preseason game feels when you’re only getting a couple of drives. We had an opportunity on the first third down situation. We took a chance down the field. I’ve got to give him a better chance to keep his feet inbounds, but that’s one of those things that moving forward we need to make those plays and I think we will.” (on being disappointed about not having longer drives) “Obviously, every week you want to start fast and we did a good job of that last week and didn’t do a good job of that this week. One of the areas we were effective last week was third down in that first unit and tonight we weren’t very effective on third down.” (on what the failed drives had in common) “I think it was the third downs. We had chances, we had opportunities and we had some third and manageables that we feel are- those third and five, third and six- those are third downs that we feel we should execute at a high percentage, and we didn’t do that tonight.” (on Houston Texans OLB Jadeveon Clowney) “He’s a very good player. We knew that in the practices we had this week. He lives up to it. He’s a big, athletic guy; very quick and had two plays that threw us off. The sack and the tackle for a loss in the running game, so I’m very impressed.” DEFENSIVE END OSI UMENYIORA (Transcribed by ReShun Gilmore) Spoiler (on what went wrong on the defensive side of the ball) “We are going to go watch the tape and see what happened. Obviously, we don’t like the results of today’s game and we’re going to see what exactly happened when we watch the film.” (on if the team gave effort) “I think we’re trying, but judging off today’s performance I think we’re going to have to get better in every area.” WIDE RECEIVER RODDY WHITE (Transcribed by ReShun Gilmore) Spoiler (on DJ Swearinger hit) “He can talk all day, but you have to be able to play. All that rah-rah at the end of the day means nothing. You have to go out there and make plays. So my thing is he’s still young. I hope he does well in this league but once he starts playing and making plays he will be a good player.” (on what to judge from preseason games) “Nothing. You get nothing out of exhibition games except for a lot of peoples conditioning, what shape they are in, and if they are able to go 60 plays or not. You learn how far your young guys have to go, grasping concepts and things you want them to do, but other than that the veterans go out and play. Everybody just tries to get through this thing and try to stay healthy as possible and make it to game one. Like today, our left tackle got hurt and we don’t know if he is going to be ready for the season or not. It’s stuff like that, that tells you a lot about these games. I know you can get hurt at practice but playing unmeaningful games and getting your left tackle hurt, I just don’t know. I don’t know what you judge from these preseason games. I’m not a fan about them, but we have to play them. So you have to go out and do what you have to do.” (on offensive cohesion) “We’ve been doing good at practice, making strides. You never want to be peaking at this point. You always want to be peaking at week one. We have a ways to go. We missed some things out there on the field, we made some bad reads from the wide receiver position and the quarterback position, so we have to fix those things. You never want to go out there and score 35 points and think you’ve made it, so you always want room for improvement. So tonight was a good thing for us. We didn’t do too well. We had three and outs and things like that and it’s good so we can learn from that.” QUARTERBACK T.J. YATES (Transcribed by Lance Jaramillo) Spoiler (on his performance overall) “It was bad. Not a lot of stuff went right. There was miscommunication out there on the field. Bad passes. Just about everything went wrong.” (on if playing against his former team affected him) “Not really, it was just poor execution on my part and the whole offense’s part when I was in the game.” (on what he wishes he could have done better) “Put guys in better spots, run the ball more efficiently, not throwing it to the other team would help. Stuff like that.” http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...-Falcons/2ac07f3c-60a3-4320-b19d-480595ce1530 Here are quotes from Bill O'Brien from Sunday: Head Coach Bill O’Brien Spoiler (on the progression of the 2014 rookie class and playing well) “Those guys, from the time they’ve arrived here (have progressed), for the most part, I don’t know if it’s 100 percent. I think we’ve got some guys in that class that need to pick it up. When you’re talking about Xavier Su’a-Filo and C.J. Fiedorowicz and (Jadeveon) Clowney, Dre Hal, you’re talking about some guys that have come in here and worked very hard and have been very coachable. They’ve got a long way to go, they’re rookies, but to this point we’re pleased with their progress.” (on G/T Xavier Su’a-Filo’s progression individually) “He has played more consistent than he had coming into this game. We moved him around a lot. This game, I think we played him exclusively at the guard spots and I feel like he competed. He’s got a few things, just like everybody, just a few things he needs to clean up. He’s working extremely hard and I think he’s going to continue to get better.” (on undrafted rookies ILB Max Bullough and TE Anthony Denham) “Max has come in here and really picked up the system well for a rookie. You’ve got to be able to come in here and communicate the way he does. He’s put himself in a position to earn playing time and get on film and that’s a good thing for him. Denham, on the play that he made last night, it’s a heck of a play. He blocked the punt, and then he peeled back and made the key block to score the touchdown for Jonathan Grimes. Jonathan Grimes was very alert in picking that ball up and running it back for a touchdown. Denham has a long way to go. Denham is a guy that is an extremely hard working kid. I think everybody is familiar with his background and what he’s overcome in his life. He comes to work every day and he’s out there every day, which is a good thing.” (on C James Ferentz) “Yeah, I’ve known his dad (Kirk Ferentz) for a long time, especially when I was in the Big Ten, but I definitely knew him before just because I had worked with other son, Brian, who was the tight ends coach at New England and now is the o-line coach at Iowa. I’ve known James for a while. James is a guy that we brought in during the spring and when you look at him, he’s not the biggest guy in the world, but he’s strong. He’s tough. He’s very, very smart. He’s obviously a coach’s son. He’s a guy, much in the mold as a Max Bullough, that has earned himself some playing time and earned himself the opportunity to get on film and be evaluated and that’s a good thing for him.” (on QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s performance against Atlanta coming back from the Arizona game) “He did a good job. I feel like that’s how he has to play for us. I felt like he played smart; he was comfortable. We had three timeouts on that last drive. When you have three timeouts and over a minute to go in a drive, you can check the ball down the field. They may play a prevent type of coverage and if the back is open, just check it down and let the back gain 10 yards and keep going because you have timeouts. That is a good example of him understanding the situation and being comfortable with our offense. We’ve all got improvements to make, myself, him, (George) Godsey, everyone. I felt like he took a big step, especially relative to how he had played the week before, he took a step in the right direction yesterday.” (on if he has planned out the practice schedule in Denver with John Fox) “It will be similar to Atlanta. I have to call him, to be honest with you. I have got to get on the phone with this afternoon to shore up some things, but I would see that it is similar to Atlanta. We’ve got the practice schedules pretty much worked out. We’re going to go against them Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Just for you guys’ knowledge, we’re going to meet tomorrow. We’re not going to be practicing tomorrow. We’ll get on the plane tomorrow, get up there, get acclimated to the hotel and it will be three tough days. I told the team that last night, it’s good to come out with a win. A lot of guys played well. We’ve got a lot of improvement to make and it will be good to go against a team that was obviously a Super Bowl team last year with a hall of fame quarterback and excellent players on both sides of the ball. It will be a challenge for us.” (on the illegal contact penalties called on the game and those point-of-emphasis this season) “I think those were penalties. I felt like those were calls. But when they say ‘We’re putting an emphasis on something,’ isn’t it a rule? Are we emphasizing one rule over another rule or this rule gets emphasized? I think it’s a rule, so they call it. I’m with you, just sometimes I don’t understand ‘We’re emphasizing this.’ Well, it’s a rule, so if you break the rule, they’re going to call it. I think our guys throughout the game tried to play it the right way and we’ve got to show it to them on tape and show them ways that they can improve their technique. Some of them were double-move type routes that we’ve got to do a better job playing. Other routes were ones where they were after 5 yards and we contacted them; that’s the rule. You cannot do that. We show it to them on tape and we try to get it better this week.” (on S D.J. Swearinger’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in second quarter against Atlanta and if the thought it was a fair call) “Well, you don’t want guys to be penalized in ways that obviously hurt the team. Our guys last night were juiced up. They were excited. They couldn’t wait to play. It was a home crowd and they were excited. I think football is an emotional game. That one call there that you’re referring to, I think (Swearinger and teammates) were talking to each other. The official there made the call. That was the call. We’ve got to do a better job of understanding the rule there and understanding how we need to deal with that when we’re out on the field. I thought our guys played with a lot of energy and that was good to see.” (on Denver Broncos QB Peyton Manning) “I’ve been fortunate because I coached Tom Brady and I actually had (Peyton Manning) in the Pro Bowl, so I was around him for five, six days in the Pro Bowl. That’s where I got to know him, in that setting. Just a really bright guy. A guy that just absolutely loves football, loves to talk about football, loves to ask you questions about what you do in your system. Our systems are similar because (Denver Broncos offensive coordinator) Adam Gase is up there. He worked for Josh (McDaniels) when Josh was there. So the systems are similar. The respect that you have for these guys; to play that position at that level for that many years, for those of us in coaching, we know that that is a very, very difficult position to play at such a high level for 16, 17 years. I just have great respect for Peyton.” (on rookie TE C.J. Fiedorowicz) “He’s a big, strong, physical player. Intelligent player for a rookie. He’s come in here and learned the system well. He’s a good blocker. He did a good job in the passing game. We’ve got to change his hands a little bit on how he catches a couple of those balls. But we’ll work on that a little bit more with him. He caught the ball. He knew the depth of the route. He knew whether it was man or zone. So he made a big improvement off of the Arizona game. He made a big improvement and now he’s just got to keep improving. But we like what we see with him.” (on if NT Louis Nix III is on track to play next week) “Yes, yes and he’s got a lot to do to catch up.” (on if G Brandon Brooks is expected to play next week) “We’re working toward that, and he’s got a lot to do to catch up.” (on if NT Louis Nix III needing to get into football shape is the main thing for him) “Football shape, football knowledge, NFL knowledge, what it takes in this league day in and day out, yeah.” (on the decision to not play DE J.J. Watt, T Duane Brown and C Chris Myers) “Yeah, that’s a good question. We felt like, I’m glad you asked it because we felt like we got a lot of good work against these guys in the practice week we had. When you looked at the reps, it was basically a game and a half for a lot of those guys. Chris and Duane and J.J. and a couple of other guys there that didn’t play as much last night. Those three guys didn’t play at all. Ben Jonesgot a ton of reps. He played two series last night. Guys like that. So, we felt like they got so much work during the week that it was a little bit different. OK, they got their competitive work against (Jonathan) Babineaux, (Paul) Soliai and those guys, so let’s go ahead and not play them in the game. That was a staff decision and I thought it was the right thing to do.” (on if the practice structure with Denver will be similar to Atlanta and if there is a possibility the veterans will sit out the game) “Yes. I do. We’ll see how it goes this week, but it will be the first two practices are full pads as its planned right now, Tuesday and Wednesday, so we’ll get a ton of reps with our first group. So we’ll look at it. We just talked about it our meeting. We’ll look at it towards the end of the week and decide at that point like we did this week. I see it going in a similar way.” (on the play of T Derek Newton) “You know, he had a couple penalties like you guys saw. But I really have enjoyed coaching him and being around him. He’s a very coachable guy. He’s played both tackle spots, primarily right tackle. I think it’s important to understand when you go from really playing mostly right tackle and then you’ve to go put your left hand down on the ground or get in a left-handed stance, most people don’t even think that is anything. That that is just easy to do. That is very difficult to do. Other than the three penalties, I thought the guy played pretty well for us. I’ve been pretty pleased with his progress and his ability to do different things for us. I’ve just been pleased with the way he’s played.” (on Falcons RB Antone Smith saying Jadeveon Clowney ‘is just another guy’) “You’d have to ask Antone about his opinion, but I think that Clowney has come in here and worked hard, he’s a very instinctive player for a rookie. He’s a hard working guy. He’s a guy that when he’s played in these games, he’s played well. He’s been able to show his pass rushing abilities. He’s been able to show his defense against the run ability. He’s dropped into coverage, so he’s done a lot of different things for us and he just needs to keep improving and that’s what he’s going to do.” (on QB Tom Savage not throwing a lot in this game and if that was part of the plan with him coming into the game) “We go into the game with a plan. He didn’t know that he was going to go into the game at that point and I wanted to see how he would handle that. Those are hard things, when you’re a rookie and you go in there and it’s a home crowd, It doesn’t matter that it’s preseason or not, to be thrown in there like that. I thought he did for the most part a decent job of just managing that part of it, being able to communicate the play, point out the protection blocking or the run blocking. I thought he did a good job of that, but he’s got a long way to go, just like most rookie quarterbacks have a long to go. In the preseason, for any rookie quarterback, you’re not seeing anywhere near what you’re going to see if you’re going to play in the regular season. You’re not seeing anywhere near what you’re going to see from a defensive schematic standpoint, so he understands that. He’s got to get better at the basics of it and he’s a hard working kid, he comes in here early, he stays late. If he continues to work like that, he’ll get better and better.” (on RBs Jonathan Grimes and Alfred Blue) “I thought both of those guys, for the most part, ran the ball well. Both guys made runs where they had to make people miss. They had to break tackles, things like that. I think both guys are still a work in progress as it relates to protections. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not so good, so we have to get them better at that. I thought overall, they played well in the running game and they both played well on special teams.” (on the importance of getting a win as a new coach) “Any time you win, it’s important. Any time you go out on the field and beat a quality opponent, which everybody in the NFL is a quality opponent, you go out there and you win, that’s important for everybody in the organization especially the players. To know that all the work they’ve put in in 17 practices, and it’s been a tough camp, they’ve worked extremely hard to go out and finally reap the rewards of a win, that’s important. That’s a good thing. Whether it counts or it doesn’t count in the standings, to me, it doesn’t matter. When you go out there and represent the city of Houston and represent the Houston Texans you’re going out there every time to win and that’s what we’re going to try to do.” (on QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s mobility when in trouble in the pocket) “I thought it was good. I thought those were good decisions. He was decisive about it. It was kind of like a parting of the Red Sea and it opened up and he took it. I think on both of those he gained over 10 yards and I thought that was good for our football team.” (on the communication in the secondary) “I thought it was better. I think that Kendrick Lewis does a really good job back there of getting everybody on the same page. I believe D.J. (Swearinger) played better in this game. He played his assignments better in this game and I think a lot of that had to do with the improved communication. I thought the communication on the sideline was better between player and coach and I think it still needs to improve.” (on the backup quarterback situation on the team) “I think that Case (Keenum) went in there last night and did a good job for the most part. Sometimes he’s got to learn to get rid of the ball a little bit quicker, things like that. I felt like he moved the team and that was good to see and then Tom (Savage) is still a little bit behind Case. Tom has just got to keep working at it but I think that both guys, they’re fun to coach now. They work hard, they’re smart, they ask good questions, they love to compete, so really at the end of the day that’s what you’re looking for and then you just want them to be able to go out there and execute the offense and help the team win, so they’re both trying to do that.” (on getting WR Keshawn Martin in open space) “He’s one of the most improved players on our team from the time we arrived here until now. He’s a guy that we’ve, obviously he’s a special teams kick returner, punt returner, and then we’ve played him at all the spots offensively in the receiver position. We’ve played him on the outside, we’ve played him on the inside, and he’s improved a great deal and last night I thought he played a good football game and he just needs to keep getting better and better because he can help us.” (on if he went to mass this morning) “I didn’t. You got me again. It’s one of those things. I went to my kid’s baseball game. He played over there at the (Emery/) Weiner School over there, so that’s my excuse.” http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...n-Sunday/2fa17837-9872-44c0-98a0-0a80052ac328 The Texans won't practice on Monday. They'll have meetings in the morning before hopping on a plane and head for Denver.
Case did OK but I don't see how anyone can say he did better than Fitzpatrick. On Case's first drive where they got backed up near the endzone, Case nearly had his body crushed trying to evade the rush. After that first initial drive he looked more composed but still can't say he outperformed Fitz.
I'd say its not really comparable since he was going up against mostly 2's. The key is will Keenum bring anything new to the table that he didn't already show (in regressing fashion) last year. Namely, his ability to read the defense at the line, and change the play-call (or make the quick reads). I saw Fitzpatrick check out of a couple passes for successful runs on that TD drive... and those are the sort of thing that BOB and the coaching staff are looking at when they're citing "progress". We know Case can make some throws... albeit inconsistently... its the mental aspect of the game that has people questioning his abilities.
Well there's a pretty big difference between the starting O line that Fitz got to work with and the backups that Keenum had to deal with, also a pretty big difference in the talent level of the RB's in the first half and the RB's in the second half. One thing the Texans don't have is depth in the O line and as soon as the starters went out, the running game shut down. That's not a coincidence. When your RB's are getting you less than 3 yards per carry and your O line isn't blocking well, it puts a lot of pressure on the QB to make things happen because he'll be in 3rd and long situations really quickly. I'd like to see Keenum with the ones in the next game, if only for a few snaps to see what he could do with a better surrounding cast because he still looked pretty good with the end of the bench guys
Sure... all valid points. I just feel Keenum gets waaaay too much "benefit of the doubt" from some people. Its always because the coaching sucks, the line sucks, the RB's suck, the WR's suck, the defenses they played were awesome, etc. I firmly believe that the Texans coaching staff can get enough info on his ability not just in games (regardless of who he's playing with/against), but in practice... running him through scenarios of "what do you do here?, what adjustments do you make when the defense is doing this?, who's the right target given this formation and considering the defense will do this... etc." I think he can make the throws fine... its all the other stuff that I've always had far more concerns with.
Say what you want about Fitz, but that TD throw off his back foot while scrambling to the right was a beautiful thing. Schaub could never have pulled that off (remember the Raiders game?). And don't forget about his 2 3rd down scrambles that both resulted in 1st downs. Credit where credit is due.
You're probably right, he does likely get too much benefit of the doubt. You can argue why that is, whether it be because of UH homerism or because people see him flash brilliance every now and again and think there is more of that somewhere. When I watched the last preseason game, I saw Fitz playing a lot better, but most of his passes still looked weak and a few of them probably should have been picked off but he read the play well and made the right throw. His problem is that he physically can't throw the ball well enough a lot of the time. When it comes to Keenum, he's got the arm talent, the best throw all game long for either team was Keenum's pass to Travis Labhart. When seeing things like that it's hard not to think that if he was given the experience he could be a better option than Fitz simply because he can make the throws and he's more than capable of scrambling when need be.
Snap counts: Jadeveon Clowney made two of the biggest plays in Saturday night's win over the Falcons. And he did it while he played just nine snaps. Eddie Pleasant (46 snaps) and A.J. Bouye (41) led the way for the defense. On offense, rookie center James Ferentz -- from Iowa -- played all 68 offensive snaps. He started the game for a resting Duane Brown. Alex Kupper played 53 snaps and rookie second-round pick Xavier Su'a-Filo played 45. Here are the full offensive and defensive snap counts from Saturday night: Offense James Ferentz: 68 snaps, 100 percent Alex Kupper: 53, 78 Xavier Su'a-Filo: 45, 66 EZ Nwachukwu: 40, 59 Ryan Griffin: 35, 51 Tyson Clabo: 35, 51 Derek Newton: 35, 51 DeVier Posey: 34, 50 Mike Farrell: 33, 49 Matt Feiler: 33, 49 Keshawn Martin: 30, 44 Case Keenum: 26, 38 Jonathan Grimes: 24, 35 Sam Longo: 23, 34 Ryan Fitzpatrick: 23, 34 Travis Labhart: 20, 29 Zach Potter: 20, 29 Tom Savage: 19, 28 Garrett Graham: 18, 26 Ronnie Brown: 18, 26 Alfred Blue: 16, 24 Ben Jones: 15, 22 DeAndre Hopkins: 14, 21 C.J. Fiedorowicz: 13, 19 Alec Lemon: 11, 16 Joe Adams: 10, 15 Wiliam Powell: 10, 15 Anthony McClung: 8, 12 Toben Opurum: 6, 9 Jay Prosch: 6, 9 Lacoltan Bester: 4, 6 Anthony Denham: 3, 4 Defense Eddie Pleasant: 46 snaps, 69 percent A.J. Bouye: 41, 61 Josh Victorian: 39, 58 Brandon Harris: 36, 54 Chris Clemons: 34, 51 Whitney Mercilus: 32, 48 D.J. Swearinger: 32, 48 Max Bullough: 30, 45 Lawrence Sidbury: 26, 39 Jawanza Starling: 26, 39 Chris McAllister: 26, 39 Julius Warmsley: 24, 36 Akeem Dent: 23, 34 Andre Hal: 23, 34 Jeff Tarpinian: 23, 34 Tim Jamison: 23, 34 Jason Ankrah: 22, 33 Keith Browner: 20, 30 Ricardo Mathews: 18, 27 Jerrell Powe: 18, 27 Justin Tuggle: 16, 24 Quintin Groves: 15, 22 Jeoffrey Pagan: 15, 22 Marcus Williams: 14, 21 Austin Brown: 13, 19 Kendrick Lewis: 13, 19 David Hunter: 13, 19 Chris Young: 12, 18 Mike Mohamed: 9, 13 Kareem Jackson: 9, 13 Jadeveon Clowney: 9, 13 Junior Mertile: 7, 10 Terrance Lloyd: 4, 6 Brooks Reed: 4, 6 http://www.csnhouston.com/football-houston-texans/talk/snap-counts-texans-win-over-falcons
Agreed. But if the coaches have to choose, they're going to support the guy who makes the right reads and adjustments, even with iffy throws... vs. the guy who doesn't fully grasp that aspect, but can spot the ball on a dime (and that being said, Case's throws aren't "that" good... they're nice at times, but he also missed a couple of throws near the red zone that needed more zip and accuracy... including the pick). Trust me, I'm all for blaming everything but the actual QB... I still feel the Texans failed David Carr more than David Carr failed the Texans (that being said, far more expectations from Carr than Keenum). But in this situation, I think Case has gotten more than a fair shot (8 games with the old regime, and training camp with the new regime) to stick... regardless of who he's been playing with.
I discount a lot of those 8 games though because it was clear that Kubiak was itching to pull him to put Schaub back in and what was left of the team had all but given up on the season and the head coach by the 3rd or 4th game he started. Add to that he was dealing with 3rd and 4th string RB's and you have a situation that no rookie QB would have looked good in.
Sure... but guys with promise sometimes find a way... or at least not regress. The offense, as "decimated" as claimed, still looked better with Schaub when he came back. Kubiak's offenses are also typically dumbed down/QB-friendly, that guys like a rookie T.J. Yates can even sometimes look serviceable. I also look at it as better players around him may have "masked" some of his defciencies/mistakes more than anything... which doesn't mean he's the answer, just means he's a bad QB playing on a team loaded with talent. Again, I think this coaching staff has enough to judge these guys based on the analytical work they put in practice/game-film sessions/AND the game situations. Even if they throw out Cases' 8 regular season games from last year, they'll make their decisions based on more than what they see in these pre-season games (as they should).
The bolded part is what I don't really buy, when Schaub came back in the game, I never for a second thought that he'd get the ball in the end zone and usually he didn't. Sure defenses stopped blitzing once Schaub got back in there, but that was because why blitz when you can just sit back and get an interception? Schaub's line after the 6th game where he went down to injury was 69 of 125 for 758 yards with a 55.20% completion percentage, he threw 2 TDs and 5 interceptions and his QB rating was 62 Keenum's line last year was 137 of 253 for 1760 yards with a 54.2% completion percentage, he threw 9TD's and 6 interceptions and his QB rating was 78.2 Both struggled under bad circumstances, but Schaub struggled more than the rookie did. Of course, none of that is relevant today. Schaub is gone, and Keenum still has to prove himself to beat out Fitz, I was really just saying that I hope they give him a look with the one's so it's a fair competition. Neither Fitz or Keenum are the QB of the future so it really doesn't matter.
So if Keenum had a hall of fame coach with the best o line in the league and Adrian Peterson to hand of to he would be great right? You are pulling out every excuse you can for this guy. I am just waiting for the O'Brien hates him/didn't give him a fair shot excuse. Awesome throws like the one down the sideline mean nothing if you throw a pick later that same drive. He needs to show consistency, something he has never done.
I didn't say that at all now did I? Straw man arguments don't further the conversation, they just derail the thread. If he had a HOF coach, the best O line in the league, and AD at RB then we'd obviously get to see a best case scenario of what he could be, but that doesn't ensure that he'd be great....only that if he could be a great QB that we'd get to see it.
Yea... To Atlanta's defense. Lol... But Fitzpatrick will have his good moments to go along with his bad.
