Practice quotes - Thursday
November 1, 2007
HoustonTexans.com
Bill Baptist
Kubiak said that tackle Rashad Butler should be active for the Raiders game.
Head coach Gary Kubiak announced that quarterback Sage Rosenfels will start on Sunday at Oakland and noted that wide receiver Andre Johnson continues to progress. Rookie wide receiver Jacoby Jones spoke to the media as well.
Head coach Gary Kubiak
(on feeling better about what he saw on the field) “I like the way we practiced today. I liked the way we bounced around. We had a little edge about us today which we need to have. Everybody got some good work. Positives, (RB) Ahman (Green) practiced hard and well, so that’s very encouraging. (WR) Andre (Johnson) took another step forward, but we’ll see. It was a good practice.”
(on the team having more of an attitude) “If you play this game, you better have some type of edge and some type of attitude. That’s part of football. I guess I look at that from if you’re having to go find that, that’s not good. We better have it all the time. But I did see something different out here today from our football team’s standpoint, so we’ll see. Hopefully, that competitive edge, that nasty, you have to have that every day in this business or you won’t survive.”
(on if there is something he can do to get them started quicker) “We’ve actually started pretty fast for the most part this year. You go back, for a period of time, we’re starting fast. Jacksonville, we started fast. We didn’t have any points to show for a fast start. Last week, as a football team, you can’t start any... understand what I’m trying to say here. Don’t take this out of context. We had a three-and-out and we went right down the field in 11 plays and we missed a third down. For starting a game on the road, that was a good start. Now, at the end of the first quarter, it was a disaster. You’re right. Do you need to start fast in this league? Yes, but you need to play for four quarters. It’s not about one quarter. We didn’t start fast in Carolina and we ended up playing a great football game. I’m concerned about us protecting the ball, playing for four quarters, and going from there.”
(on if QB Sage Rosenfels is going to start on Sunday) “(QB) Sage Rosenfels will start the game. I’m hoping maybe (QB) Matt (Schaub) is available as our third quarterback, but that decision will not be made by me. It will be made by Kevin (Bastin) and our doctors whether they think he should be available for that situation.”
(on if QB Matt Schaub is the third quarterback, would he have a problem putting him out there if need be) “If he’s fine, which today he is moving around good, he’s feeling good. If they say he’s fine, then he would be an emergency player for us. If we lost two players, I know he could go in there and hand the ball of and function us through the game. Like I said, that’s not my call. They’re the ones monitoring his situation and they would have to tell me its ok if that happens he could do that. If they tell me no, then he won’t have a uniform on.”
(on how QB Craig Nall is picking up the offense) “It’s very, very difficult but at least he does kind of know what we’re doing terminology wise. We tried to get him as many snaps as we can with the scout team. He has a limited package so if he has to go in there and play, it would be very limited in what we’re doing. At least it’s nice to have somebody who’s been in a pro game before.”
(on flying out on Friday) “I’ve been a part of it. In San Francisco, we did it all the time because we had a lot of long trips. Our trips here in Houston are not very far. I don’t think you’ll see us doing this a bunch. I kind of like it from the simple fact that we are 12 games into the season when you count the preseason. A lot of football’s been played. Other then work and practice, our guys haven’t done a whole lot together and we’re taking it as an opportunity to come in here and get our work done tomorrow morning, go out there tomorrow evening, spending some time together as a football team in a different environment then meetings and practice. We’re going to go out there and do that and then get our mind right Saturday and get our rest and go take our shot because it’s important that we get to this break feeling better about how we’re playing.”
(on QB Sage Rosenfels and if becoming a starting quarterback in the NFL often depends on opportunity) “Well, my perspective on that is I hope that you think you’re always competing for a starting job. If you’re a player, it’s only natural to know that if you’re standing behind a certain player that you’re probably not the starter, but in your mind you can’t lose that edge. You’ve got to feel like if you play good enough or do things good enough that you’ll have a chance to start, so as I said yesterday it’s a big game in his career, it’s in a very important game for this team. He knows he’s starting, he knows he’s the guy, he knows he’s got to go lead this football team in a very difficult environment in Oakland, so there’s a lot to gain for Sage Rosenfels and a lot to gain for our team, so I’m expecting him to play well.”
(on if QB Sage Rosenfels could be a starter in this league) “Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind. From day one that I came here, I told (former Texans general manager) Charley (Casserly) we’ve got to go get him, and I think he’s very capable of starting. And he has a long, long career. You don’t ever get settled one way or the other, and here’s an opportunity for him to prove that to a lot of people.”
(on T Brandon Frye) “I think he could get involved here as we move forward. He’s an athletic young man that we’ve worked at tackle that we think may need to go in at guard, that’s one of our questions about him. But he’s been practicing very well and these young kids that are practicing well and earning the right, we want to take a look at them. (Rashad) Butler, I expect Butler to be active this week. He’s come a long, long way and I think you’ll see more of that, because these kids, I tell them all the time in practice, ‘Hell, if you do it, I’ll find a way to get you up,’ and I want to be true to my word with this team.”
"He knows he’s the guy, he knows he’s got to go lead this football team in a very difficult environment in Oakland, so there’s a lot to gain for Sage Rosenfels and a lot to gain for our team, so I’m expecting him to play well.” - head coach Gary Kubiak
(on where T Rashad Butler plays) “Well, he can go either side. He can play right or left (tackle), so I expect to go into the game with him as our swing tackle – he’s been that good in practice.”
(on the team having had their eye on T Rashad Butler for a while now) “Yes. When we got him, y’all know the story. The kid was very light. He had lost a lot of weight. He had an issue that they couldn’t keep weight on him. We got down here, we think our guys got it under control, we’ve put some good weight on him, I don’t know if it’s like 12-15 pounds. He’s been able to hold the weight, that’s been an issue for him as a player, and now he’s holding it. He’s out here playing extremely well in practice. Our players want him up. They want him up because of the way he’s practicing, so he’ll get his chance this week. He’ll be up.”
(on if WR Andre Johnson looked spry in practice today and whether he may play on Sunday) “Yes, he did. I would think right now it sure looks that way, but let’s see. Let’s see how he comes out of today in the morning. Let’s see how he does tomorrow. There’s a long way to go, but it sure looked like he was making progress toward being ready to go.”
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