LIVE: The Houston Texans address the media after the win over the Cardinals

LIVE: The Houston Texans address the media after the win over the Cardinals

All right. First and foremost, just for me, give glory where glory is due. All praise, honor, and glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thankful as always for, you know, what he’s allowed us to do, what he allows our team to do. just continue to believe, continue to fight through any battle, any adversity we’ve faced, and continue to come out on top. So, really proud of our guys, proud of our coaches, our team coming out today, playing true complimentary football handling this game the proper way and finishing how we know how to finish. What do you think about Jard’s performance and how he how the running game really helped elevate you all on offense? Jaward did outstanding job for us uh for the young man to come in and for his first game uh to have a debut like he had. I mean, of course, he broke a record most yards as a Texan in their debut game. He ran the ball very very well, efficient, showed some the explosiveness, showed the speed that he’s has and that we’ve seen, you know, in practice and practice squad for us. It just shows again like whenever your number is called, are you ready for that opportunity? And no one knows until you get that moment and it’s about you taking advantage of that moment and not looking back and I thought Jaw handled it very well. How rare is it for a guy to go make that imp? [Music] Yeah, there are a ton of guys in this league that have made it right being undrafted practice squad and when they get their their opportunity like they make the most of it and they don’t look back. I mean, I just look at Aziz and he was a guy who was, you know, undrafted, right? And he found a way to break it break into the league and become a starter. just when he was given the opportunity like he did outstanding job of it and Jaw you just taking advantage of of what you’ve been given. You never know how guys will respond but we’ve seen flashes of it in practice. For him to come out and do it today, it was uh really really cool to see and really proud of him for just staying the course. It’s easy to get discouraged like when you’re not getting called up it’s easy to get discouraged but I think he’s handled himself the right way every week and he’s took advantage of today. Could you please explain? I thought at least from my perspective maybe and you had a closer view when when they said Blake did not report as eligible because I I thought I saw him walk up to CL do the motion and they moved the whole play then also we come back and said number 57 did not report and I’m sitting there trying to understand when did he not report because I saw him go up to him. Could you explain or what did tell you after the play? Thank you for seeing that because No, we Blake has done a great job of re of reporting uh every time that he he’s went into the game and I think he does it every day in practice. He’s looking back at me reporting. He looking back when we do have a practice officials at the game in in practice, he looks back at those guys. He makes sure he reports every single time. So, not quite sure uh what happened there, but uh you know, it’s something we’ll just look at, make sure we’re on it every single time to make sure we’re looking the receiver, the uh referee in the eye, making sure we have the proper eye contact and making sure he sees that, you know, we’re reporting eligible. Can you talk about what’s working for the offensive line? I mean, obviously, you talk about Jordan, but it all starts up front. What are they doing right, and is this group just getting more comfortable being together? Yeah, we’ll keep I’ll have to go back and look at the film, but from my vantage point, looked like we were finishing blocks a little bit better uh today. Still always room to clean some things up, but for the most part, I thought we finished better. Therefore, we were able to have, I think, a better average in the run game today. Just as you about Blake Fischer, but overall, we talked earlier in the week in previous weeks about the offensive operation being cleaner and a sense of urgency. Just curious from your vantage point how that obviously you guys score 40 points. There was still a little bit left out on the red zone, but you guys obviously were productive. What did you see in terms of the operation and how clean you guys were? Our operation was was really uh really great today. CJ, starting with CJ, I thought he did a great job of managing the operation pre- snap in and out of the huddle. Like he did an outstanding job today. It starts with him. Uh well, it starts with Kaylee getting the calls in, going to CJ. I thought the communication was seamless. I thought the guys did a great job communicating, breaking the huddle, getting lined up, and that, you know, that’s lowhanging fruit for us, right? And we did a great better job of improving that. And now we got to find a way to still finish. There’s still some things that we left out there, not only on the offensive side, but on the defensive side as well. We left a lot of plays out there that we just have to keep playing up to our standard, right? And that’s all that’s what we judge ourselves against. A standard. A standard is a standard. doesn’t change. So, we’ll continue to look at the tape intently to see what where we can get better. I do want to compliment our special teams thought for Jamal Hill the way he came out on kickoff and really set the tone for our special teams unit. That’s what we needed. We needed that big play. One of our keys to vigor was taking the ball on special teams. He comes out and he does that. So, it was great to see him make an impact play there. And also uh for our just blocking unit, all the guys did a great job of blocking, allowing Jay No to hit some explosive returns. And something we’ve been missing a lot in our return game, we’ve been one guy away. And I felt like we did a great job of sustaining our blocks today. And when we do it the right way and we do it well, we have an explosive returner that can flip the field for us. So really proud of our special teams. Not only them, Tommy did outstanding job punting the football, giving us a backed up op. were able to go three and out there late in the game and capitalize with points. So, it’s just it’s beautiful to see it done the right way. So, really proud of everybody. The play where Woody go in for a touchdown. Was that purposeful? Of course you did. We was designed perfectly perfectly random play snap it right back to Woody. No. Yeah, we got to put that one in. No, it’s uh you know, sometimes the ball has to bounce your way a little bit there. A little miscue there with Jake and CJ and uh you know, Woody very heads up play to be able to just get on the ball, press forward and get in the end zone. Not how you draw it up, but sometimes when things are going your way, you need some plays like that that happen and uh so I’m happy we were able to get on the ball most importantly. Woody didn’t concern. Yeah, Woody could have came back in the game, but for where he was, you know, he got his ankle tweaked a little bit there early in the game. So, for where he was, felt like Jaw All right. And uh and Dar were doing a really good job. So, wanted to just keep rolling with those guys, make sure Woody is good as we continue to go into the week. Coach, you talked about the offense. This was a collective effort today. 140 on the ground. CJ Stout, no interception, offensive line. Clean game from that unit. But eight different receivers touched the ball today. CJ did a good job of spreading the ball out, stepping up in the pocket to make plays, extended plays. Uh, was that a part of the game plan this week to make sure everybody kind of touched the ball or uh from your view, what were some of the things that CJ Stra did today to help the offense uh score points? And CJ played very clean, efficient game. I thought he did what I’m what I’m most proud of him is I think he did a great job of just his decision making when it comes to the plays. It’s not that he’s just looking or staring at one person. He’s going through his progression the right way. And you’ll see multiple guys catch the ball and make plays because he’s not just eyeing in on one single target. He’s going where the play dictates for him to go, what the coverage tells him. He’s making the right decisions. And that’s where he he’s grown. He’s improved a lot. And I’m excited to see him like since he’s come back each week he’s gotten better each week. And so probably the best game he’s had this year, right? Our entire offense has done a great job protecting the ball. We have to continue to do that. Protect the ball and on defense special teams take the ball away. We get opportunities and that’s how you go out and win games. I just want to ask you about your interior defensive linement. I know your edge guys get a lot of attention. You’ve asked about them before, but could you just talk about how they complement each other just across the board, the interior guys with your outside guys who everybody else knows? Yeah, our defense doesn’t go without our interior guys playing playing big for us, right? Starting with rankings, Tommy, like they do an outstanding job. Rio steps in like we roll those guys a lot, try to keep them as fresh as possible and they do a great job. We understand we have some diff difficult run schemes that we’ll see a lot of gap run schemes that people uh try to attack us with and and those guys do an outstanding job playing with awareness but also still playing physical right getting after condensing the pocket allowing our edge rushers to do what they do right and really swarm on the edges but we can’t play great defense without those guys up front so thought you know coach Rod has done a great job you know working with that entire D line and really hats off to the interior guys where it’s grimy, it’s tough on the inside, they don’t get a lot of love, but they are the most important piece for us. This was one of the more balanced performances on offense um and largely because the running game played really well. Do you feel like that may be the key to you all really unlocking the potential that you have on? Uh the run game is always the key for me. It’s like we were able to execute it better today, but that’s always the key going in. You have to be able to run the football really well. No matter who you’re playing against, no matter where you’re playing. So to see it like show up today. Hopefully guys understand that’s the formula. We just have to stick with it. Um I know the balance offense attack is good. Can you just talk about Nico Collins making another milestone third year in a row, thousand yards, what just what he means to this team as offense? That’s big playmaker. Nico is unstoppable. I mean, he uh he does a great job. Anytime the ball is in his vicinity, like I I know he’s some type of way he’s coming down with the football. He a guy who doesn’t say much, but he’s had an outstanding outstanding year again. Like, and we’re not even done. And then he’s, you know, eclipse that thousand yard mark. Again, I just proud of him for how he shows up, the consistency at which he operates with every single week. The joy that he brings and shows up with the smile, the energy on his like it’s it’s unmatched. So, you love to see a guy like that doing well. All right. He doesn’t he’s not able to do that without CJ, you know, him finding that connection. So, they’ve done a really great job and got one call back on one of his biggest plays. I hate that for him, but he shows up no matter what. No matter what the coverage is, no matter who he’s up against, he’s always going to show up big for us in any game. Six wins in a row. What is just your overall thoughts on how you guys have been able to win six games in a row and position you guys yourself to be able potentially win? Yeah. For me, I know you guys don’t want to hear this. I didn’t even know it was six in a what he just told me. It’s truly it’s it’s that it’s that one game at a time mentality, man. I know nobody wants to hear it, but that’s that’s what I believe. That’s the whole what we can control is one game at a time. Come out, handle business, right? Each week, that’s what we have to keep doing down the stretch here. And we got to go out, handle business. I told our guys, you go out, handle business each week, then you’re just putting yourself in a better spot. So you just keep going out controlling what we can control. Not really focused on all right what everyone else in the AFC is doing. Focus on the Texans. Focus on you know stepping your game up and playing better. All right. Thank you guys. How y’all doing? Can you just talk about one just a balanced attack that you guys had today able to run the ball and then you got so many receivers involved and then also just follow up about Nico getting his third season in a row with thousand yards. Um yeah, I think you know that was a goal of ours, you know, coming out to KC week, you know, was just um you know, not leaving anything out there, you know, in the run or pass game and I think, you know, in practice, you know, we communicated a bunch and then it went to the game and it, you know, it went over to the game and we executed at a high level. So, um I think it goes back to our preparation. I thought we did a good job of that. And um yeah, I’m just super proud of Nico. You know, I just it’s my brother, man. I missed him on a couple out there. I owe him a couple more, but I’m just really proud of him and, you know, the work he’s put in on his body, on his game, you know, um, and I think, you know, he’s one of the best in the league and it’s proven every year. So, let’s keep this streak going. How do you feel about how you guys are playing overall this long winning streak and now yall are in the thick of the playoff race? Yeah, I think, you know, like we started off a little rough, of course, and then, you know, you want to be playing your best ball in December, you know, going into January and I think, you know, since we’re doing that is really good, but there’s always things to improve on. Um, and you know, we left we left a little bit out there, but I feel, you know, like we got better uh than we did last week. You got better from the last week. And every week we just keep progressing. I think that’s all we can do right now. Yeah, man. Jar is my dog, you know, um, somebody, you know, who I got to see come in and, you know, put in work and been making plays for a long time at practice and camp, you know, in preseason games. you know, he gets a shot today and I thought he took full advantage. You know, he’s a brother in Christ and you all know he was relying on the Lord and um you know, I’m just super proud of him and you know, his his um ability, you know, to make cuts and you know, set up blocks. I thought he did a great job and he’s just he’s super fast. So, I tried to get out there on one of them and block form and he a little too fast for me, but um I thought he did amazing today. I’m super proud of him. How important do you think it is for you all to sustain the type of run game that you all had today for you all to be as successful as y’all want to be offensively? Yeah, I think it’s super important. You know, we got to always uh, you know, establish line of scrimmage. That makes, you know, the play action game and, you know, the boot game a little easier, you know, and then draw back pass as well. So, you know, that’s always key to victory for us is being able to run the ball and it was one today and thought we did a good job of it. We asked you a moment ago, but they they caught y’all, you know, speaking after they showed the graphic of him through the three years and thousand yards. I was curious on if you could share a little bit of that moment. We saw you on the sideline celebrating and also uh the the how clean the operation was that was here talking about that. That’s something we talked about during the week. What did you think about how how clean you guys operated today? Uh yeah, I think you know me and Neique, you know, we’ve been together for three years now and somebody who I’ve seen work like I said before and just, you know, um done a great job, you know, being a leader. You know, he stepped up a captain this year. You know, to see his work pay off a little bit, you know, is amazing and it’s dope. So super proud of him in that, you know, we just, you know, showing each other love and like we always do. But, um, and then, you know, our operation, you know, something that coach challenged us on this week, you know, and that starts with me. Um, and so I just got to be able to communicate in the huddle the right way and um, you know, do the right things to get us in the right position. So, um, you know, I’m I’m really happy with how we did it today. Of course, got a couple penalties on it, so we got to fix figure that out. Um, but, you know, I thought overall we got better in that in that area. You mentioned how Ron had always been making plays, especially in practice, training camp, preseason, obviously gets his first shot. When you see him starting plays, rips off that 50 yard run. What is it like watching that in the moment and being a part of that, watching that up close? Um, you know, it’s surreal, man. I think, you know, for me, I’m not really surprised cuz I know how good he is, you know, but, um, I think even for him, you know, like just to see them, you can see in his eyes pregame and I’m like, man, I’m here with you every play. I got your back. whatever you need, man, you let me know. Um, and you know, he didn’t really ask me any questions. He knew all the plays. He was prepared, you know, making the right cuts, you know, making the right reads, you know, being good in pass protection. So, um, I thought he stepped up big for us, man. And, you know, I’m just super proud of him, you know. So, I mean, he’s been a baller. I think he’s going to keep going. CJ, one of the things, um, we asked you about was the offensive line. You said they finished blocks really well today. Can you just talk about the progression of the line that has really been coming together and um from where you guys started how you feel about that? Yeah, I think you know from you know where we were in the beginning to now you know we got our our guys who we going to roll with you know pretty much the rest of the season and I think you know they’re doing a good job communicating you know I think it starts with Jake you know and Titus you know those guys you know being the leaders up there and then Trent you know and Ed and Tay you know applying force and you know u being really good in the run game and pass protection so you know everything you know starts with them you know I think um they’ve answered the bell you know um these last couple games and done a really good job you know and It’s we’re never perfect, you know, but I just ask for them to give effort and I think, you know, it’s it’s amazing, you know, the effort I see, you know, me extending plays and them being the first ones down there helping me up, you know, I I remember all those things. So, really appreciative of those guys. Hey, I wonder if you could describe what Mark’s touchdown snap kind of went between your legs. It seemed to be some confusion. What happened there? None. Yeah. No, I’m just kidding. Um yeah, I think you know uh you know I probably said gun in the huddle or something and uh you know I went under center and I should have been in the gun and then the ball snapped and you know Jake still thought I was you know under center so I mean uh in the gun so you know I put that on me. I got to you know be able to communicate but um you know um at least we got in the zone. Pro like that go early in the game and he houses it like that. Obviously already go into the game pretty confident confident guy. What does that do for, you know, the confidence and the swag going forward to kind of start the game like I think it was like secondary game. Yeah, it’s always big. You that was a goal of ours was to start fast. So, you know, um I thought, you know, Nick did a great job of creating separation, you know, before the snap. I’m like, “Hey, man, stay alive right here, you know, like they they a lot of situations in there. We knew where they were going, man.” So, you know, he beat his man, you know, I beat the help, you know, and he, you know, turned good into great. What excites you most about guys are playing right now, what you’re able to do as a team. Um, I think, you know, just three phases of football, you know, we’re playing together. Um, I think, you know, uh, offensively, you know, we’re getting better every week, getting hot. So, I mean, we’re getting hot at the right time. You know, we’re we’re starting to we’re trending up, you know, you know, towards December going into January. You know, we got to just keep this going. You know, it’s it’s going to be u, you know, one game at a time mentality. You know, one play at a time mentality. You know, then we’ll look up at the end of the year and see where we’re at. You mentioned earlier you guys started started a little bit slower since then. Obviously, you guys have been nine and two since. Um, from your perspective, what do you think is the biggest reason how you guys have beat up become become one of the hottest teams in the league? Uh, I think the finish, you know, I think look back at those games, you know, we we were in the games and there’s always plays here and there that you want back, but I think at the end of the day, like when you got the ball or you need a stop, like we want to be the guys on the field. So, um, you know, I think the the ability that we’re finishing with now, you know, in these close games and, you know, in games like this, you know, take care of business when we need to. So, for me, I think it’s the finish, you know, and us, you know, uh, playing hard every play all the way to the end and then, you know, pulling out the dub. All right. Thank you guys. Have a good one.

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