Rams v. Texans: Gary Kubiak's Monday Afternoon Press Conference

In the wake of yet another demoralizing loss (this time to the Rams), Gary Kubiak spoke to the media this afternoon. Topics included Danieal Manning's injury, Matt Schaub's health, the Texans' amazing ability to beat themselves with penalties, chatting with his boss, and embracing the folly that is Derek Newton starting at right tackle. Here's a link to the full transcript. I've taken the liberty of pasting some of the more informative and/or maddening quotes for your immediate reaction in the Comments.

(on if he can give an update about QB Matt Schaub’s ankle and FS Danieal Manning’s fractured fibula) "That’s not true on Danieal."

(on if FS Danieal Manning doesn’t have a hairline fracture and an update on QB Matt Schaub) "That’s not my understanding, not the way I understand it. As far as Matt, Matt is actually getting some injections as we speak. Obviously, he’s very sore and beat up on the leg, ankle, everywhere. We’ll have to see where he’s at, but probably got a little bit lucky there. Danieal, the way it’s described to me as of right now, what I know right now, he has a significant knee injury and it’s something that’s going to take some time. We’re trying to evaluate exactly how much time before we make a decision moving forward. That’s what’s being evaluated right now."

(on if QB Matt Schaub is unable to start this week, if QB T.J. Yates will start) "No, here’s what I’ll do. I think Matt’s going to be an end of the week decision one way or the other. I’ll prepare both Case (Keenum) and T.J. and we’ll go from there at the end of the week. I think with Matt, it’s going to be the end of the week before we know anything, so I’ll prepare the other two to play."

(on what he’ll need from the other safeties with FS Danieal Manning being out for a while) "Obviously, Shiloh (Keo) moves up right away. So they’re interchangeable from that standpoint. Brandon Harris can also go back there and play some safety. We’ll have to see where this evaluation goes. Are we talking about having to replace somebody for a long period of time? So we’ll have to see."

(on how he evaluated QB Matt Schaub’s performance before he was injured) "I thought he played better yesterday. He moved the football. He moved the team. Obviously, we weren’t very good at all in the red zone. But I thought he stepped up and improved. You can always play better, but I thought he was doing things much better yesterday."

(on how much he’s surprised about some of the lopsided scores in games and also the penalties since it’s uncharacteristic of his team’s) "Well, it’s surprising, shocking, use whatever word you want. It is what it is. That’s my responsibility. What did we have, seven penalties yesterday? I think they might all have been in the first half if I’m correct. It helped put us a in a hole from that standpoint. Penalties and turnovers have been our Achilles heel for a good month now. It’ just, like I said, you just continue to look at, try to improve upon, try to talk about, try to practice, try to do everything you possibly can to get them corrected."

(on what he can do as a coach to alleviate the penalty issue) "You’ve just got to emphasize in every possible way that you can on the practice field, in the meeting room. That’s about all you can do. Just paying as much attention to it as you possibly can. Actually, that team we played yesterday had more penalties than us. That’s hard to believe. It didn’t feel that way for us as a team."

(on if he can put a finger on why the team is having so many penalties) "No, if I could put my finger on it and make it go away, I would. I just only know how to just work through it and continue to do everything you can to alleviate it and get rid of it."

(on if he has any idea why special teams have been an issue) "We’re inconsistent, just like a lot of things that are going on with the team. It’s not about one group as I said yesterday. We had some mistakes yesterday. We had a turnover for a touchdown. Had a couple of issues in return. But like I said, it’s a team thing. It’s not about one group. Obviously, they’ve got to play better than they’re playing, just like the offense and defense, same way."

(on if he’s worried about his job) "No, I don’t worry about myself. I think I’ve probably been asked that a few times in my eight years. I’ve got a lot of people to worry about, a lot of players, a lot of coaches. I think it would be very selfish if I worried about myself, so no I do not."

(on special teams issues) "The biggest thing is we’ve got some young players that we have to get better real quick. We’ve got some issues from that standpoint. We lost A.J. Bouye yesterday to a hamstring. That was an issue during the game. He’s been playing really well for us on special teams. I just think it’s about settling down and getting them to do the right thing. We’re working hard, they’re working hard. We as coaches just have to help them be more precise with what they’re doing. Like I said, it gets back to everybody, not just one person or one group."

(on if he can share his conversations with Bob McNair) "Will I share my conversations with Bob with you? No, I won’t do that."

(on if he has had conversations with Bob McNair) "Yeah, I do talk to him quite a bit though."

(on how he would evaluate T Derek Newton’s play and if he will continue to start) "Yes, he will start. I thought he played better yesterday maybe than the past two weeks. We did spot Ryan (Harris) for him for a couple of series. He’s a second-year tackle in this league. He’s playing against a lot of good players. He’s continuing to grow up. It’s a little inconsistent right now, but I can say that about a lot of thing, but I can say I like Derek’s effort and I like Derek’s future. We just have to hang in there and keep working."

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