Post-Game Quotes: Texans Beat Broncos

Courtesy of the team's official site, here are some selected quotes uttered in the aftermath of the Texans defeating the Broncos in Denver yesterday:

Gary Kubiak:

On the nature of QB Matt Schaub’s injury:

"He got hit and his ear was bleeding real bad on the field, to be honest with you. That was the biggest reason he even came off the field, but he’s fine. Boy, he played like a champ today. I knew…it’s easy to say now…but I knew this guy would play well. He was very focused last night, as a player, I meet with him every night before the game. I’m always impressed, but I was extremely impressed last night by where he was going into this game and he really did a great job leading this team."

On Schaub bouncing back after getting hit:

"He’s taken too many hits, and I’ve told you all that. We’re sitting here with two sacks, maybe, on the season and it looks great but I can tell you that he’s getting hit too much. We played [T] Ryan Harris some in the game, you guys saw that, so we’ve got to continue to take a hard look at ourselves but he’s the key to what we do and we can’t come out of those games telling him he did a great job of getting rid of the ball but taking 10 or 12 big hits in the game, and he did today, so we’ve got to protect him better. But he was exceptional."

On his impression of Schaub’s injury – did he suspect a concussion?

“Our doctors…any time any player is on the field they go through the same protocol so the minute I went out there, [team doctor] Walt [Lowe] told me he’s fine, he’s got a big cut on his ear. So, obviously they took him off the field and I knew it would be a play or two before he came back, but he was obviously very sharp. He was talking to me out there and Walt follows the same procedure all the time.”

On other injuries:

“[SS Quintin] Demps has got a thumb issue, I’m not quite sure exactly, but it’s a thumb issue. We casted it and he did play the rest of the game.”

Matt Schaub:

On third quarter hit:

“I felt fine, you know, I just lost a little piece of my ear – I was bleeding and my helmet came off so I had to come out for a play, but I was fine.”

On Broncos’ LB Joe Mays apologizing after late-hit penalty:

“I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but after the game we shook hands and talked about it – no hard feelings – it’s football. It’s a physical, violent game. He said it wasn’t nothing intentional – nothing personal and, hey, we move on.”

Duane Brown:

On QB Matt Schaub receiving the game ball:

“I told [QB] Matt [Schaub] five times today, ‘he’s the man.’ I’ve been telling people for a long time that he’s an elite quarterback and we have to put him up there with the best in the league and he showed it today. He stood in the pocket, took some brutal shots and never blinked. He put up big numbers against a pretty good secondary.”

Andre Johnson:

On the 3-0 start for the Texans:

“It feels good. I’ve been through the worst of the worst with the organization. We’ve climbed that mountain. We are still climbing trying to get over that hump, but we have a great team. We know we have a good team. The thing is just being consistent every weekend, going out and trying to get wins.”

On his third-down catch in the fourth quarter:

“We lined up in one formation and shifted to another. [CB] Champ [Bailey] was playing outside of me and I knew I had an out-breaking route. I started outside and pushed back up and broke out and [QB] Matt [Schaub] gave me a chance. I went to Matt earlier before we got the ball and said, ‘I’ve been playing [terrible], just give me a chance, don’t give up on me.’ He came to me and said that I’ve been playing too much football to get down on myself. He gave me the opportunity and I was able to make a play.”

Joe Mays:

On whether he expects a fine for his hit on Houston QB Matt Schaub:

“Oh yeah. I’m expecting that, but it was not my intention to do that. I’m just trying to play fast. It’s football. We all come out here, we love it, we play fast. My intention was to hurry him, to get the ball out, or to get a sack. He kind of ducked his head toward the end, and it ended up being a helmet-to-helmet. I can’t take it back, so I guess it’s on to the next game.”