They Said It: Post-Game Quotes From Week 2
Comments from the post-game news conference, following the Dolphins loss to the Texans at Sun Life stadium, dropping their record to 0-2. This is the 5th time in 6 years the 'Fins have started the season 0-2
Miami Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano
(On the play of the offense in the Red Zone) – "We didn't score in the Red Zone enough, so that's an obvious. We just didn't score in the Red Zone. We didn't execute. You were watching the same thing I was watching. We didn't execute. We had some plays out there, we didn't execute very well, we've got to do a better job."
(On the play of CB Nolan Carroll) – "We had double coverage, and we blew the coverage."
(On the play of RB Daniel Thomas) – "I thought Daniel ran the ball really well tonight. He was really good in between the tackles. Had a burst in there for a big guy. I was really encouraged and he was taking care of the football."
(On the turnovers in today's game) – "Down there a couple of times. I know we had the chance to score some points, I mean field goals…whatever they were. I mean we want to get touchdowns down there but at one point two field goals would have been pretty good. We didn't get either one of those. We were getting the ball at that end of the field, had a tipped ball. It's unfortunate, because I felt Chad [Henne, QB] played a pretty good game again out there. But the tipped ball ends up going into their hands and they end up getting the short field. Can't do that against a team like that. They move the ball too well and have too many weapons and we gave them some of those opportunities. Now, that being said, they kicked some field goals themselves today and it almost hurt them, but didn't hurt them. We didn't do enough to make it hurt."
(On the use of the no huddle offense) – "We knew that some point during the course of the game we wanted to go into that huddle. That's something that's obviously part of our package. We wanted to speed the tempo up a little bit. The field position had something to do with that. We started to create a little bit of field position that way and create for ourselves more opportunities by going into that in more series. I think that ended up getting us out there more on the field and created a little bit of havoc for them at the time. The guys did a good job of executing that."
(On the play at fourth and one with eight minutes remaining) – "Yeah, we were just going out there, trying to draw them offsides. It was eight minutes, eight-twenty left, that's more than two possessions if you can get them off the field. I felt like Brandon [Marshall, WR] could change the field position. I certainly did want the ball there at that point if we didn't make it. We ended up dumping the football there. Brandon did a tremendous job and then we gave up field position in three plays, we gave the field position back. I think the first two carries yielded twelve yards and had the ball at the 32-yard line or thereabouts. They ended up eating some time off of that, but obviously the objective is to back them up down there and for us to take out chances, knock them back in there, and to get the ball again on a short field."
(On stopping the running game) – "They had too many yards. We did a pretty good job I thought in the middle of the game. Not the beginning of the game, but in the middle of the game of being able to knock them back, play on their side of the line of scrimmage. At the end of the game they hit some cutback runs on us, they came out of the backend, and obviously we didn't tackle very well at the end of the game."
(On the team's consistency) – "Usually there's a guy or two involved in that in some way or another. I've seen at times today some progress. Our defense got a good offense off the field a few times when we needed them to. Offensively, again, we were able to move the football pretty well. I don't know what the numbers were. I think we moved the ball pretty well; we've just got to do a better job in the red area. We have to score touchdowns, we can't settle for field goals. I think that those things are positive things, but the consistency of being able to do it and to do it early in the football game and not put yourself behind to get into those situations."
(On the use of RB Daniel Thomas instead of RB Reggie Bush) – "Reggie's role is where Reggie is. Thomas was going good today, you know, and that's where we were. It was that kind of game. It worked out good."
(On the team being 1-11 over the last 12 games at home) – "It's baffling to me, it really is. I don't have any answers for it. We've just got to do a better job. I told you before, you look back at last year and its turnovers, a high turnover ratio. Today we turned it over twice and I don't know if we turned it over at all so it's two more in the hole. Last week, whatever it was, we would up one behind, so you're minus three in turnovers again and those things hurt you. There's some other things out there that we have to take ownership of. There are some things out there that we left out there on the field that we've got to take ownership of. It starts in practice and our team has to do a better job in practice."
(On CB Vontae Davis) – "It's two games in a row. It's a different deal today than it was last week, but it's two games in a row. You only get 46 of these guys at the game. When you turn around and start to look at the sideline and there's three or four of them that aren't out there, that means that somebody else is doing a lot more. So we need them all out there, especially when they are good players."
(On the disappointment of not being able to stop the offense) – "And they hit a couple of chunk plays there and of course that's where they hit the ball over the top and it's just that we didn't play it the way we needed to play it. And that's disappointing, really disappointing. I would hope that the guys in that room would say the same thing."
(On RB Daniel Thomas' fumble) – "I don't know if it was a turning point. I know that was a period where we had good momentum and we just hit them right in the mouth on that play. We'd been really getting the ball downhill and we ran a power play and the thing comes out of there for a plus ten run and the ball comes out. But Daniel's a good guy and he's going to learn from that. He played pretty courageous today, I liked what I saw out of the kid, he had a good look in his eye on the sideline. His effort was pretty darn good."
Miami Dolphins WR Davone Bess
(On the offense's performance today) – "I'm still trying to figure out what's going on. I don't know what happened (tonight). I'm going up to the facility tonight to watch tape and figure it out. I'm going to watch the tape and see how everything unfolded, because I honestly don't know."
(On Houston's defense and if they did anything the Dolphins did not expect) – They didn't do anything exotic or anything we didn't know, and that's the most frustrating part. But we just have to stay together."
(On how the different offensive components have come together and how they can improve) – "I think the main thing we need to do is just continue to stay together. That's the biggest thing. There are going to be times when the game doesn't go our way. There are going to be times when the game doesn't go the right way for the defense, but we got to have each other's back, even with the special teams game. But it's a long season man, so we just have to look at the tape, learn from it and get better in order to figure out what we want to do. Right now we are just twinkling our toes in the water, and I think we have the opportunity to be really good."
Miami Dolphins LB Kevin Burnett
(On the loss tonight) - "I don't think anyone plays this game to lose, so that's the goal every week. Yes, it's frustrating to lose. You prepare, you practice, and like I said, you give up your life to accomplish something, so yeah, it's very frustrating."
(On what happened in the fourth quarter) - "Case in point, they made more plays then we did. When you get a chance to get them off, you have to get them off and I think we did a good job of that today. I don't know what they were on third down, but it was good. In the end, they made more plays then we did. They sustained a key drive and they punched it in the end zone. You have to take advantage of, as a defense, when you have your thumb on their throat, you got to squeeze, and when you have them backed up, you got to hold them to three or less, preferably none. There are going to be times when the offense carries the defense, defense carries the offense, special team carries both, and today I think it was a total team loss. You can't put it on any one facet of the game."
(On only one takeaway in two games, from the defense) - "You got to do better. Any time, as a defense, you got to go into the game and get four or more three and outs and at least two to three takeaways a game, to have a chance against the offenses in this league, scoring 20, 23, 27, points a game. This is one of those quick strike offenses that can put up points in a hurry. You have Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub, you look at it and time after time they are going deep ball, after deep ball, after deep ball. They can put up points in a hurry, so anytime you can take the ball away, anytime you can get negative plays, it helps.
Miami Dolphins RB Reggie Bush
(On the fewer carries compared to last game) – "Fine. Like I said before, when my number is called I look to make the most out of my opportunities and Daniel (Thomas) was running the ball really well tonight and it the matter of making the most of our opportunities when we get in there. And this is a team game, this is a long season. In my experiences, we need everybody, it's not just a one-man show. We have to help each other out on every position so that's all."
(On the frustration of not scoring in the red zone) – "It's definitely frustrating. It's one of the things we talk about and we need to improve on. When you're playing good teams like New England and Houston, you got to come away with points. If anything a field goal, but you prefer a touchdown and there were few opportunities this game as well as last game to put points on the board, to make it a close game, even take over the game and we weren't able to do that today so that's something we have to improve as a team. We have to go back to the drawing board as a team and correct that."
(On what the team needs to do going forward) - "I think it's a little bit of everything. Mental mistakes, fundamentals, executing, when we do have opportunities out there and we had them today, we have to make them and that's what the good teams do. Take advantage of their opportunities."
(On losing on your home field) – "It's not a good feeling. I always believed that you have to defend home at all cost, no matter what. Home field is your home. I look at as an intruder coming into your home to rob you or something and you have to defend home no matter what at all cost and that's something we have to work on. That's something we haven't done the first two games and we got to correct it."
(On limiting his plays in the red zone) – "Not at all. If anything, that's where the confidence grows, you got to punch it in. If anything, you get creative in the red zone and I don't think that's a time to limit plays at all I know (Brian) Daboll is calling the right plays for us and we just got to make plays. The last two games has always come down to the visitors making more plays than us. Unfortunately, we had two turnovers in the game which killed us, which hurt us. We had opportunities, we just got to take advantage of them."
(On Daniel Thomas performance) – "He played well. I've seen it all training camp, all preseason so I'm not surprised at all he played well tonight, but we got to prevent those turnovers."
(On the rookies not know everything) – "From my experiences, you don't know anything. You have a lot to learn as a rookie. Daniel (Thomas) fortunately has group of veteran guys in the running back room and we try our best to help him out. He will be fine, he will be alright. He's a good player that brings another dynamic to this offense so he'll be alright. We just got to correct some of those mistakes."
Miami Dolphins CB Nolan Carroll
(On the Andre Johnson Touchdown) – "It was just miscommunication, that's all it was, between me and the safety. It was a slant and go, a double move. It was a surprise feeling, because you go through it every week in practice. When something happens like that, you just sit back and think, how do you have a lapse like that when you go through it every day in practice. You know he's the guy they are trying to target on the deep bomb. We knew coming in that that's what we were going to do, it was our game plan. He shouldn't of scored a touchdown, but you have to give him credit."
(On if he was taking the short on the touchdown) – "Yeah, I'm basically under him, I'm playing aggressive and underneath."
(On the coverage the entire game on Andre Johnson) – "Besides that, I think we did a pretty good job, as far as understanding what he's trying to do, what they are trying to have him do, and that was an example."
(On what he expects when he's covering Andre Johnson) – "I'm expecting the ball every time he lines up on my side. I'm expecting it just because I'm a young corner. I know they are going to take a shot, which they did a couple of times. I knew it was coming to me every time I line up against him. You have to have that mindset. You can't be lackadaisical, and think that it's not coming to your side. I like that feeling, especially the first part of the game, when they tried to take a deep shot a few times. I liked it, because I knew I was getting action my way."
Miami Dolphins QB Chad Henne
(On the way things went out there tonight)- "It was definitely tough sledding out there. We established the run game early which was good which is a positive. Just the passing game was up and down there for awhile. I felt we hurt ourselves a lot, getting down in the red zone and not scoring touchdowns…some turnovers there. Just a lot of things that we hurt ourselves with."
(On what you do to resolve the struggles in the red zone)- "Well, I mean, we just got to do better in practice on Friday. We got to execute better. I think we got to be on the same page a lot of the time. Teams are going to bring us pressure we got to get the ball out. If they're going to drop in zone we just got to keep working our feet. Especially with me, working my eyes and try to find the open guy. We just got to work harder down there."
(On his performance today)- "It wasn't my best. Obviously there was some throws out there that I wish I had back….some other things out there. I'll watch the film tomorrow and see what I can improve on."
(On the rhythm in the no huddle offense)- "I mean I thought we felt the defense was caught off guard. They were trying to do some substitution there, catching them in quick counts and getting the ball out quickly and that was a positive. But we tried to do it next series and they were showing us different looks there. It's tough, you're down 13 points, we want to get the ball down the field but we'll see what we can improve on."
(On the disappointment of being 0-2)- "Yeah, it's definitely disappointing. Obviously we didn't think we would start this way. We just got to get back to the grind, keep grinding. This is not acceptable losing games, losing games at home. We know that. We just got to be better in practice, better preparation and just play better on Sundays."
(On noticing the thousands of empty seats in the stands)- "Sure but I mean we're not paying attention to that. We're worrying about winning the football game. People who are behind us are behind us and if they're not then we're still going to come out on Sundays and play the game."
(On the touchdown to Brandon Marshall)- "That was, again, we were up-tempo offense there. You know just saw off coverage there. Gave him a signal and he did the rest. He did a great job of powering through. Good play there."
(On Daniel Thomas)- "I thought Daniel did a great job. He's running hard, had some good pad level there, fighting after some of the contact. I think if you ask him he'll want that one turnover back. But I think he did a great job. He stepped up and ran hard today."
(On what he says to a young player, fighting for extra yards and then fumbles)- "Just get the pad level down. Protect the ball at all cost. Obviously everybody wants to stretch for the extra yard and get more for it. But he did a great job today. We can't harm on him that we just got to say keep going, you've done a great job today and keep improving."
(On how he gets this team in the win column)- "Well just preparation. We're going into a hostile environment up in Cleveland. It's an away game. We got to come together, play better and just get our preparation better and play better."
(On if there was something they noticed in practice that became an issue in terms of the red zone)- "No I think we just got to execute better. We just to make more plays. If they're going to give reverse pressure we got to get the ball out. If they're going to zone I got to find the lanes and hold up the protections. Just more execution, execute the play, and if it's not there move to the next play."
(On if there is ever a negative feeling when they get into the red zone)- "No. We know we got to be better. We're going to practice to get better. This team is not going to go in the negatives. We are going to stay in the positives and get better at it and make more plays down there and score touchdowns."
(On the vibe on the sideline after the touchdown and a few stops by the defense afterwards)- "It really felt 'here we come'. This is our opportunity. We kind of got in the up-tempo offense. We moved the ball well on that first play. We got the turnover, that sets you back a little bit but still there is still time on the clock to get down the field and score points and we just didn't do that."
(On if his frustration level gets higher if they settle for a field goal in the red zone)- "Absolutely because as a quarterback you want to hit the plays down there, you want to create plays and score touchdowns. When you come out on a field goal, obviously you want points no matter what, but our job is to get touchdowns, not field goals. It's definitely disappointing down there if we don't get it done."
(On if you can win in this league just on field goals)- "Absolutely not especially if you have an offense that hits some big plays and does a great job moving the ball so we got to score more touchdowns, help our defense out."
Miami Dolphins T Jake Long
(On how the offense played tonight) – We have to watch some film and get better in the red zone. This is the second week in a row that we have struggled getting in the end zone. You know we need to get better at it (red zone offense), watch some film, and see what we need to do better."
(On Daniel Thomas) – "Daniel is a great back man. He has been doing a great job in practice. He's one of those backs that's fun to block for. He did some great things today, and you know we just have to keep opening holes for him and giving him the opportunity. He is one of those guys that has the speed to get around the edge, but he can also put his shoulder down and run you over, so you know. It's fun to block for him."
Miami Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall
(On the frustration of today's game) – "It's frustrating when you lose a game, especially at home. Any game you lose is frustrating, honestly I don't even know what happened, I'm trying to gather my thoughts right now and try to really see what happened out there because I don't know."
(On the lack of execution in the red zone) – "It's the same story from last year and was trying to move past that. It's just frustrating."
(On the feeling being behind only by 3) – "That point in the game it seemed like we were about to get things rolling, it was a great feeling on the sideline, great feeling in the huddle and we shot ourselves in the foot again."
(On the direction of the team moving forward) – "I don't know where we go, it's still early on in the season, I know we're going to have to watch the film tomorrow and be honest with ourselves and make the corrections and try to move forward."
(On the next three road games being a blessing in disguise) – "Hopefully it is, we may be a better road team, it sucks man because our fans were trying to get things going here in this community and get that spirit back up in our stadium and in our community. You have to win; you have to win at home to do that. It hurts when you can't perform in front of your home crowd because they deserve it, they are loyal. Every day I run into fans telling me they have been season ticket holders since '72, thirty-something years. You want to play for those people its frustrating when you come up short, it's embarrassing."
(On the drop in the red zone) – "It was difficult, whenever you can't make a play on the ball no matter how difficult it is, it's frustrating."
Miami Dolphins RB Daniel Thomas
(On his first NFL game) – "I felt pretty comfortable, with the exception of the fumble that is just something I have to work on."
(On how many carries he was expecting) – "I wasn't really sure; they didn't give me any indication on how many snaps I will play so they just told me to be ready whenever."
(On his evaluation of himself) – "Pretty good game we just didn't come up with the win. Like I said I had the turnover so I said it was pretty good"
(On his fumble) – "It was just me trying to get extra yards and everything and not carrying the ball with two hands, I had it tight but his helmet hit the ball right on so it just popped out."
(On the difference between the preseason and now) – "The coaches and Reggie (Bush) are helping me out with film study just read my keys and everything. I feel like those four preseason games really helped me and brought me up to speed for the regular season."
(On the point in the game where he started to feel comfortable) – "After the first carry, the first carry I got I didn't feel as comfortable but after that I felt on a groove."
(On the red zone problems) – "I'm not really sure, basically it's a lack of communication and execution, just some things we have to work on in practice."
(On if they need to practice better) ��� "I definitely agree with that, we have a lot of mental mistakes in practice and sometimes it carries on into the game so that's something we have to work on."
Miami Dolphins LB Jason Taylor
(On what it takes to get turnovers)- "Being aggressive. Believing you're going to make the play. Understanding what's happening around you and what the situations are, where the ball may or may not be going and being able to anticipate it. After that it's running to the ball in the air and the second effort things always help."
(On if this team lost some confidence)- "Yeah, to be honest with you I'm sure. Not everybody but I'm sure there is a faction of the group that's kind of trying to figure this thing out, figure out where we are. That's kind of the part of losing sometimes is you start to question, second guess a little bit, question yourself, question what you're doing as a team. Until you win those things will linger out there a little bit. I think winning cures all ills and we're kind of stuck in mud right now trying to figure out how to get everyone in this room to believe and play like they expect to win. Not hoping to win but expecting to win."
(On how important it was to get off to a good start and get some wins at home)- "You hate to let somebody else come in and lay stake in your own backyard. It's kind of what we did the last two weeks and we can't do anything about it. We can't sit here and mope about it. You can't blame the fans or anybody else, it's us. It's not coaching, it's not ownership, it's not fans, it's the players in this room that are doing dumb things and kind of getting in our own way. Until we stop doing that we are going to be sitting here with long faces and trying to figure this thing out."
(On mental mistakes and breakdowns on the defense)- "If you can't fix them then you got to replace them. I'm not advocating anybody losing their job or anything but this is a very serious business and this costs people jobs and livelihoods and what not. It needs to be taken seriously and I'm not sure we all understand the magnitude of what we're trying to do here and what's at stake. If you can't get it then get out of the way. We'll get somebody else that will."
(On after training camp and two weeks into the season that the defense is still having blown assignments)- "You know what, everybody is going to have them; it's going to happen. I'm not excusing it. I'm not saying we're going to tolerate it. It's going to happen. You can't have it happen at the clip that we're having them. We're just not making enough plays. Look, it's very easy when you lose a game to sit here and second guess everything and try to dissect and figure out. I know we got to fill the airways for the next seven days and I'm sure you guys will do a fine job of that. We're not in the problem making business. We're here to try and solve things and get things figured out and win ball games. For us to sit here and try to point fingers at this guy didn't do that, this guy didn't do that, there's a mental…that'll become a habit. What happens is you'll lose again next week and you'll look for new things to talk about. I'm not interested in the Internet. I'm interested in winning some games and we'll do that. We're going to do it. I don't careless who believes it outside of this room and who doesn't. You guys have been around me long enough you know that I'm not going to lack for confidence in this team or any team that I'm on. We're going to get this thing figured out."
(On the frustration with the inability to defend home field advantage)- "It sucks to lose. I don't care where you're playing. Whether you're playing on the moon, Antarctica, Dolphins Stadium, Sun Life, whatever it is excuse me. It doesn't matter. We can go play on (highway) 95. I want to win. Again we'll fill the airways for the next seven days about losing at home. We do want to defend at home. It is a goal of ours. We have not done that in the last two weeks but there are six more here at home. But it won't be for awhile. We're going to go to Cleveland next week and we're going to prepare to win a football game."
HOUSTON TEXANS
Houston Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(On the injury status of RB Arian Foster) – "He's fine. He obviously wasn't himself and he got pretty fatigued. He wanted to play in the second half but when he told me he felt a little tight in the locker room I said that's it. We're not going to do anything to set him back and hopefully that didn't happen."
(On the performance of RB Ben Tate) – "He's growing up before our eyes. Good teams line up and run the ball when everyone in the stadium know they can run it and a lot of it had to do with the guys up front. Ben..great job at the end of the game with those big three first downs and the last one there at the end. It's fun to watch. It's fun to watch a good player become a pro."
(On the final touchdown they scored) – "In the third quarter we just shot ourselves in the foot. We had big penalties. I think we had second (down) and 20 three times. I told the coaches the next drive, I said, I'm going to be real aggressive here and we're going to throw the ball and give 80 (WR Andre Johnson) a chance to make some plays and number 80 did. It wasn't a matter of who's out there, just something we're trying to attack."
(On the performance of his defense) – "In the first half we moved the heck out of the ball and poured it in the red zone but we didn't run the ball well in the red zone and the defense kept us in the game. We got the blocked kicked and they stop them, held them to field goals. The game kind of came down to red zone play and neither one of us really played good in red zone play offensively. Our defense made some big plays down there. The kick return was a huge one by Danieal (Manning) and that got us going. We played with some fire that last 10 minutes of the game and we got our juice back and finished the right way."
(On the performance of WR Jacoby Jones) – I'll have to go back and watch him but he made a big play (on the tipped catch) and Andre (Johnson) had his usual – seven or eight catches for 90-something yards again. It's nice to see Jacoby go in there. You know, missing Kevin (Walter)…Kevin's a big part of our football team. Offensively we've had to adjust two weeks in a row and we've found a way to do it. That's important to the longevity of the team. We can handle adverse situations."
(On CB Johnathan Joseph returning to play on a bad ankle) – That tells you how important it is to him. He made a big play early in the game. He made a great play at the end of the game when he hit the guy and drove him out of bounds on the route before the 4th down, I think. He's a heck of a player and sometimes you just gotta fight through on Sundays."
(On opening the season 2-0) – Well, we've been there before so we gotta make it different. It's a good start. It's two good football teams, go on the road and win the first one on the road is always exciting. We got some serious challenges coming up, playing a Super Bowl champ here in the next seven days."
(On the offensive drives that had stalled) – We had moved the ball so good, we should have had like a 24 or 27 point half and we had 16 points. It's hard because as a coach you gotta push them through that and you got to play better in the red zone but it can't keep you from playing good the rest of the game so you just say hey, we didn't run the ball good down there that's why they stopped us. I think we're over coming some of our negatives better as of right now than we have in the past."
(On the Dolphins play against them) – They spread us out and ran the ball and that was a little bit different than what they did last week. They are more of a spread football team this year and did some no huddle on us and that was tough with the heat out there. I think we held up well."
(On the performance of QB Matt Schaub) – "I think there's sometimes in a game, game-plan wise, you kind of chuck it out the window and say I'm going to put it on my best player - or on certain players. With 10 minutes left in the game I told Matt this ball's going in your hands this next drive. And he made some great plays, dumping the ball to Ben (Tate) when he got hit. He came back and played really well. He had a hell of a day."
(On the performance of P Brett Hartmann) – "I think he was huge today. We went young at that position. (Special teams coach Joe Marciano) got a lot of confidence in him. He was a big factor in the game. He had, what, a 69-yard punt somebody told me. Neil (Rackers) continues to be automatic and the kid's kicking the ball out of the end zone. Special teams-wise we're off to a good start this year."
Houston Texans RB Arian Foster
(On his hamstring tightening up at halftime) – "I pulled myself out because I felt it getting a little tight. So that's that."
(On how difficult it was to pull himself out of the game) – "It's tough, but I have to realize that it's only game two. It's a long season, so I have to get healthy."
(On his worries about injuring himself further) – "That's why I left the game."
(On how Ben Tate ran) – "He ran good, he did real well. Carried the load."
Houston Texans WR Andre Johnson
(On the magnitude of today's win) – "It was a very big win. We faced some adversity during the game, but when it all mattered we made the plays that we needed to make to win. Ben (Tate) came up with some big runs at the right time when we needed to grind the clock out. It was a big win for us. We'll enjoy it tonight, move on tomorrow, fix the mistakes and get ready for New Orleans (next week)."
(On his fourth quarter touchdown reception) – "I was just waiting for another chance to make a play after not making the play before down the sideline. When the play was called I was real antsy and was hoping that Matt (Schaub) was going to throw me the ball. It all worked out and I was able to make a play."
(On being antsy at critical times in the game and the missed reception in the third quarter) – "It is unusual for me to be antsy because you don't get many opportunities (to make a big play) and it was a big play in the game that I missed. When they (the Dolphins offense) went down and our defense held them to a field goal but if they go down and score a touchdown then that's a different ball game. Every time you get an opportunity you want to make the best of it and I was pretty frustrated after I didn't make that play."
(On his friends and family being in attendance) – "It's great. I grew up in this area and my childhood dream was to play in this stadium. This is my third time being able to play here and I ended up with 170 tickets. It's a lot of fun to be back home and play in front of my family and friends."
(On starting 2-0) – "We've been in this situation before. The only thing that matters is winning. You can be 2-0 but we have a new test next week. We'll be going against a hell of a football team (in the New Orleans Saints). We have to stay focused and not get complacent. This is a marathon, not a sprint and we still have to play 14 more games. Every week we are trying to go 1-0. We'll move on tomorrow, correct mistakes and get ready for New Orleans."
(On not capitalizing on early red zone opportunities) – "You want to score touchdowns and it didn't happen but the thing that I look at, compared to the team last year, is that when we go through adversity now we have stuck together and made plays when plays needed to be made. I think in past years we go through adversity, get frustrated and bad things start to happen. We've been through so much that we have learned a lot about ourselves and as a team. We just know how to go about things now and we are just taking it one game at a time."
(On the play of the Dolphins defense on his fourth quarter touchdown reception) – "I can't control busted coverage. When the play was called, I knew that I would have a chance to score a touchdown and that's what happened. I can't really comment on them (the Miami Dolphins secondary) busting the coverage. That's not my fault."
(Specifically, the play of Nolan Carroll during his touchdown reception) – "The way he (Dolphins CB Nolan Carroll) was playing me, I knew that it was six (a touchdown). When I came off the line and saw the way he was playing me, I knew that it would be a touchdown."
(On the play of the Houston Texans defense) – "They are playing great. Offensively and defensively, we both went through some adversity today and at the time that plays needed to be made, we stood up and made plays and that's what it's about. Whoever makes the most plays at the right time wins the game and that's our focus, just winning."
Houston Texans DB Johnathan Joseph
(On how big his interceptions was) – "It was like, exciting. First chance at an interception in a Houston Texans uniform, and Danieal (Manning) did a great job on getting his hands on the ball to help me out. So much credit to those guys."
(On going back into the game after getting hurt) – "They brought me in here to be a big-time player in this league. You have to play sometimes when you are banged up. You have to play through it. Today was one of those instances where I had the chance to go back in and finish the game back up."
(On how his ankle feels) - "Right now, I finished the game up, so that's a positive. We'll see how it feels tomorrow and we'll go from there."
(On if it's just a sprain) – "Yeah it's just a sprain. Nothing serious. Just being a little precautious about it. I had a chance to go out there and finish it up like I said. So we'll see how it is tomorrow."
Houston Texans QB Matt Schaub
(On the team being 2-0) – "We've been here before in this position. Last year we were sitting right there, 2-0 after a good road win. We're excited about the win today. It was a total team effort across the board. We made plays in every phase of the game but it's just one more piece of the puzzle. We're excited to be 2-0 but we're on to the next one. We'll take a look at this, as there are things to learn from, some positive things that we need to build on, but at the same time we just need to go out and find number three."
(On getting the late touchdown) – "That was huge for us. We had moved the ball all day but it was us stopping ourselves. We had some penalties on a couple of the drives that put us in some tough situations, some long yardage downs, but when that defense got that turnover and we were able to get seven out of it, that was big for us. We got a lot of positive things going from there but obviously when we get down there inside the ten, they were playing some of the pass routes that we had so we just need to punch it in there and get sevens. That's when you can build on your lead."
(On the last ten minutes of the game) – "We wanted to really keep our aggression. Even though our defense was playing well they have a lot of playmakers on their side of the ball. We didn't want to give them any life. We wanted to go down and get a touchdown and we were able to put some plays together back to back. Andre made a great play, the offensive line played outstanding all day long and our defense played well. We had a lull in the third quarter with some penalties and punting the football but our defense hung in there for us and made plays when we needed them to."
(On having the game in his hands) – "When you're a quarterback in this league you have to have that mentality everyday. Every time you go out there in practice or in a game situation, when a play is called we just try to go out there and make plays. If it's not there, we'll check it down and let our backs underneath make some plays. You just have to go and play ball and we were fortunate to have great play up front. Our line, our tight ends and our running backs ran the ball well today and the guys on the outside made plays."
(On the touchdown to Andre Johnson) – "Andre was our number one option on that play. He ran a great route, was able to get behind the corner and the safety hung on the inside so we had a good play in the back of the end zone. Dre's always going to be in the mix."
(On the success of the running game) – "Our offensive line did a great job. We're built for a game like that. Their energy and their consistency throughout the game really wore down their front. Ben was exceptional reading his blocks, making that one cut and getting the yards. Our tight ends working on the edge, they have good edge players and that was the key to the game, getting the edges taken care of and we were able to do that. We can build on that confidence."
Houston Texans RB Ben Tate
(On being tired and sore) – "Just a little bit, but it's football. That's what you sign up for."
(On how much he thought he would be needed in the game) – "You know, I tell you guys every week that I prepare like I'm a starter. You never know when someone is going to go down. Arian (Foster) hurt something and he couldn't go, and I prepare like a starter so I'm always ready."
(On if losing his first season to injury is still a motivator for him) – "Always, always I never forget. I will never forget what I went through my first year."
(On the last drive of the game) – "The main focus was closing the game out. Getting first downs and closing the game out. But at the same time I wanted to score. It's a reward for myself and the offensive lineman, you know they like to see a running back score, and I wanted to score. I was trying hard, but at the same time trying to hold onto the ball.
(On whether or not he was disappointed to not score) – "Just a little bit. It was a little disappointing, but it doesn't really matter because we won the game."
(On running behind the Texans offensive line) – "They played great, even though I didn't play last year I was a little upset that not even one of those guys made it to the Pro Bowl. I know and Arian knows that whoever is behind them knows they are going to do a good job. At least one of them deserves to go to the Pro Bowl this year."
